Lanzarote 2008

This year, I once again went out to Lanzarote for some training with my running club, the Serpentines. It just seems to all make perfect sense when you are stuck here in the UK, trying to up the training a bit and the weather just always seems to get in the way. A week in Lanzarote was therefore much needed and it didn't fail to disappoint, what with 7 whole days of sunshine.

It is hard to adjust coming back to the humdrum life of being in work at the moment. Even now, almost a week after getting back, I am still missing the LaSanta routine of waking up, going for a swim, having some food, riding your bike for countless hours, having a swim, doing a run and then going out for dinner....part of thinks it is the perfect life, although I suppose it does not really pay the bills.

Anyway, the week all went well and I managed to get some good training in while I was there. The first day, we had a little TT of about 20k that hurt more than I was expecting. If there is one thing that you can be guaranteed of during any ride in Lanzarote, it is that there will be some hills. The TT didn't fail to disappoint, although, it has to be said that the hills on this course were tiny compared to what else you have on this island.

Over the next few days, we all settled into the LaSanta life and I had some good rides taking in most of the sites of the island. I was pretty pleased that, this year, I had opted to take my carbon bike as I think that hulking that Ribble up the hills last year was by no means a good thing - I don't care if it makes you fitter.





About half way through the week, a large bunch of the Serpies headed to Playa Blanca where we all donned our wetsuits for a bit of a sea swim. This year, I was again a demonstrator here, showing some of the beginners how to start, how to sight in the water and how to turn etc - pretty similar to the stuff that I do for Swim for Tri during the summer months anyway. It was good to have a swim in the wetsuit anyway, the last time was probably my last race last season.




During the week we also did another TT which was basically a climb lasting about 30 mins. This was pretty tough and even though I broke something on my bike on the way up, I still managed to maintain a relatively decent pace, I would like to have a go again however as I do think that I could have gone a fair bit quicker. The route up there is by no means nice, it is almost 2000ft of climbing and in a pretty relentless fashion, as can be seen from this this

On the last day of we are on the island, the Serpies hold their very own triathlon and this is pretty much the highlight of the week for people like me. Last year, I had a bit of an awful race, after coming first out of the water, I eventually finished in 4th after some bad riding and some even worse running. This year, I was keen to make some amends on that performance. I did manage to start well and eventually get first out of the water again...









Out on the bike though, one person went past me but I was determined to make sure that no one else managed to come past me this year. Thanks to having broken my front derailleur the day before, I was stuck in the big chainring (hard gear) for the whole ride, which is basically 7km of climbing and 7km of descending. The big ring worked okay though and I managed to get back into T2 still in 2nd place, albeit, I had lost a couple of minutes to the eventual winner over the course of the bike.





The run was going to be the most interesting section for me, as I wanted to see just how much I had improved. Before I went to Lanza I had taken a week off running as I had hurt my knee and I had hardly run all week while I was there, so I was not expecting too much. The run was a lot better than last year however and I eventually managed to come in 2nd place in a time that was 3 minutes quicker than last year.





So, all in all, it was a good trip...as always, I think that I should have done some more running, but that is just what always happens. At the end of the day, it is pretty hard to resist going riding on this..



When the alternative back here is...

Wokingham Half - New PB

After having quite a few weeks of doing pretty much nothing over the holiday period and subsequenly piling on a good few kg's, I always knew that January was going to be a pretty miserable month of trying to get back in shape. To be honest, it is a lot harder than you think, a message brought home all too clearly on a cold January morning with a rubbish 10k time....some 2 minutes slower than I had done just before the holiday.

So, come January I set out on a bit of a mission to lose the extra weight and to start trying to regain the fitness that I had. It was really hard at the start but I always knew that things would eventually come back, even if at times, it feels that it won't. It has to be said, the replacement of the rubbish treadmills in the gyms with new ones that felt so much better was a much needed comfort that meant that I did not need to do that much of my running outside in the cold. I soon fell in love with the treadmill again and started to do some pretty hard sets.

At the start of last week, I set out on a run from my place in Walton and decided that I would do a 12 mile run. Within a couple of minutes, I realised that I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to hit it as hard as I could for the entire 12 miles. I knew I was running well and the lack of extra pounds sure made things easier. I stormed round the course and pretty much managed to do equal splits for the course and averaging just under 4min/km's. This was certainly what I needed with my favourite half marathon looming on the horizon.

Wokingham is one of the fastest UK courses as it is pretty much flat all the way roung except for 4 short and sharp hills as you go over the motorway. It was on this course that I managed to break the 90 minute mark for the half marathon back in 2006 (even though the recorded time said 1:30:11...problems with getting your number recorded at the end). So, come Sunday, I was really hopeful of a 1:20 but I had some doubts in my mind as that would mean running 3:38/km which is pretty fast....in fact, it is even faster than my best ever 10k time, so I was perhaps being a bit too optimistic.

Anyway, when we got to Wokingham, the sun was shining and there was no wind at all - it was pretty much as perfect conditions as one could hope for. The gun went off and I soon found myself settling into a pace that did not feel too bad. I was aware that I needed to go through the mile markers in 6:07 to give me a 1:20 finish time, but after 3 or so miles, I was already well up on this, having been through most in 5:50 or thereabouts. To me, that means that I have loads of time in the bank. The good running continued as well, which I was really surprised by. I went through 6 miles in 35:35 which, considering my best ever 10k (6.2miles) time is 36:43, I knew that I was totally flying at this rate. I then went through 10 miles in 59:15, having done 1:02 in a recent 10 mile race, so all was going very well. The wheels did start to fall off here though and my mile times were really starting to slip, all the way down to 6:24 for my slowest one. The end was in sight though so I tried my hardest to just forget about the pain. The last mile really was quite horrible as I tried my best to stay with people coming past me. I did manage a good sprint finish though (see last photo below) and managed to come home in 1:19:04....I was totally shocked. In terms of performance improvements, this run had pretty much been the biggest jump that I have made since starting out with sport back in 2006. The only problem now is that I have a pretty hard 1/2 marathon to beat.







Oh yeah, and my girlfriend Paula managed a new PB as well....so a good day out for everyone! :)

F3 Winter Duathlon

Last Sunday I took park in my second ever duathlon (5k run, 20k ride, 5k run) which took place at the Olympic Rowing venue in Dorney. The duathlon is something that has never really appealed to me, not being the best runner and all that. However, I had not raced for a while and had also not been on the time trial bike for a long time, so when I saw this race scheduled for the weekend, I thought I might as well have a go.

The race was a pretty low key affair though, with only about, what seemed 100 or so competitors spread across the two races. Still, the weather was good, apart from a strong wind which meant that the downwind sections of the 5 bike laps were gonna be pretty fast, but the return legs were gonna be pretty grim.

The race finally got underway and I was pleased with my ability to remain in control and hang around in the second pack of runners. There was one chap who had gone out in the lead, but I was quite happy staying the with the 3 chaps close to me, even if just to sit behind them on the headwind sections on the run. On the final section of the run, I did try to break away, but alas the headwind was too strong and they all tucked in behind me. I got into T1 in 3rd place in the end I, but now it was time to get back on the trusty bike.

I quickly passed the second place coming out of the bike and now only had the good runner out in front of me. Thankfully, it was a 5 lap affair on the bike so it was easy to see when you were putting time into people. I quickly realised that I was gonna catch the lead runner in no time at all, but I was more worried about 3rd place as I was struggling to put some time into him and I assumed he would be able to run well on the second leg. I finally caught and passed the lead person on lap 2 and now decided to make a push for it to try and increase the distance between me and third. I did most of this on lap 4 when I really pushed hard into the headwind. This seemed to work and by the time I came in, I had almost two minutes on 3rd place which was hopefully going to be enough for the win.

The second run was more of a controlled effort as I made sure that 3rd place was not catching me too fast. In the end, I probs could have run it 30s quicker, but my 19min run, after my sub 18 on the first and a slow 34 on the bike (I blame the wind and dead turns) was enough for me to clinch the victory in this one.

The funny thing is, I have now done two duathlons in my career and won both of them quite comfortably. Okay, so neither of them were big events, but a win is a win :-)

Race report from Tri247 is HERE

Full results are HERE

PBPB

Well, the running form has continued for the last couple of weeks as well with two races and two more PB's at different distances.

Last weekend saw the second of the Regent's Park 10k races taking place. I had been running well and so, was really keen to finally break through the 37minute mark which seems to have stuck with me for so long...I suppose that is largely due to the law of diminishing returns though...Anyway, the race got underway in perfect conditions and the first couple of km's felt really fast, a quick look at the watch showed that we had just done two 3:22 km's....not exactly the best way to start out, unless that is, you are aiming for a 32/33 min 10k. I knew I would pay for them later though, so decided to slow down a bit and just try and stay with the right pace of about 3:40km's. In the end I managed to smash pretty much 30s off the previous PB (30s is a lot for me) and came home in 36:43 - finally, I had done it, I had broken 37. This also happened on a run which had not gone totally to plan, I had not felt that good for the whole race, but then again, who cares, I did what I set out to do.

Did another 1/2 marathon as well yesterday. Was listed as a XC event as it was going to be taking place along the Grand Union Canal near Watford - was certainly not smooth asphalt anyway! The gun went off and into the first corner and I was lying in second place as we made a small loop of a playing field to obviously just get the distance exactly right. Out on to the tow path and I was able to take the lead for about 1 and a half miles. I could not believe it, I was in a relatively big running race (300 people) and I was in the lead…me…I'm not even a good runner. Anyway, the eventual winner came past at about 3 miles and then just slowly made his way off into the distance. I was struggling though, not really sure why either as I am running fit at the moment. My breathing was all over the place, mainly as a result of constantly making sure that I was not going to stand on some dodgy ground etc as it was really pitted at some points, slippy in others and pretty rough all the way along. My aim was to go under 1:20 but the wheels were coming off a bit after 4 miles and I was slowly slipping off the pace, not by too much though and I still looked set to go under 80. I went through 10k in 36:48, so that means that I am not running my 10's as hard as I should be! Then, just after the 9 mile board, the wheels totally came off….as in, I went over on my ankle and it really hurt. 2nd place had not long passed me at this point, but I was still in 3rd, in a running race and I could not see 4th down the path. So, I decided to start trying to run on the bad foot…it hurt for a bit, but in the end I was able to get going again. I got through the next 3 miles in some discomfort, although, to be honest, I was only really interested in maintaining 3rd place. I finally got into the park where the finish was and was told by some spectator that I had about 100m on 4th. That sounded good to me, but I still started to pick the pace up a little just to be sure. With about 1k to go, I noticed some people with loads of dogs and they decided that it would be a good idea to all cross in front of me. Not sure what happened next, but I ended up kneeing their big dog in the side and almost falling over again…can people not look after their pets? (it was not on a lead). Still, made it round the corner and saw that the clock was saying 1:21 and 50 something, so I dug in and sprinted home to break 82 by 1s and cling on to 3rd. Not a bad result considering the lost time whilst working out if my ankle was still working and then running into a massive dog.

Have since looked at the stats from the watch and it looks like it was all steady climbing all the way as well…only 30m in total, but hey, uphill is uphill. Plus, the wind was blowing downstream as well…hard in places.

The Henley Half - New PB

Last weekend I had a busy weekend of running lined up...on the Saturday I was to start my cross country season with the first event of the season taking place in Ruislip in North London. On it's own, that sounded like a good idea, but I had decided that I was going to do that and then go to Henley the day after for the half marathon. Two hard races in two days is never really what you're supposed to do, but this is the off season, so why not. I have been running a hell of a lot more recently and have even managed to get up to 70k/week so my legs were in good shape.

The cross country turned out to be exactly, if not worse than I remembered from last year. There is something about XC that really does take it out of you. The course just seemed to be a mix between climbing hard hills and then trying your best to get your breath back on any flat or downhill, which there appeared to be very little of compared to the climbing, I appreciate this is odd...especially when you consider that we are doing laps! Anyway, the two laps and 8km took me about 32 mins so not exactly fast, but I was pretty tired. It was probably not an all out affair though as I thought that it would be best to hold a bit back for the bigger race. In the end, I came 113th out of about 300. Not great, but these XC races seem to have a knack of bringing out some really fast people.

Still, on Sunday we had the big race. I had entered the Henley Half Marathon under the impression that a run along the Thames was going to be a pretty fast affair and therefore I would be able to get a new PB. Especially considering my last one should be easy to beat as it was recorded back in early 2006. Still, having eventually looked at the profile for Henley and some of the results from last year, it quickly dawned on me that this was not a flat race. A quick check on Google Maps revealed a massive hill at mile 10...not really the best place to have one. Still, I thought that I would still like to have a go at the old PB, even considering the big hill...I had 1:26 to beat.

The race got underway and I soon found myself moving up through the pack of people. I finally got settled somewhere near the front pack and decided to just try and hold that pace. The new watch was giving me some valuable stats, so I knew how fast I was running and what my HR was. I had done a fair few 21/22k runs in the past few weeks so I know what I am able to sustain for the duration. Funny thing was, I was going pretty fast...finally going through 10k in a quicker time than I had recorded in a 10k race the week before where I came within 7s of my PB for 10k. Things were looking good, but at the back of my mind, I knew that I had "the hill" to deal with. We eventually reached it and I decided to take some smaller steps and increase the cadence. This seemed to work well and I was not losing too much time to the people around me. I hung in there for the mile or so of climbing, but I reckon that the hill put about 2/3mins on to my final time had the course been flat. Over the top and the steep downhill proved to be more of a pain than a relief as it was pretty steep so you cold not just let go and let the hill take you down. Anyway, getting back down to the flat was good as I now knew I only had about 3km to go. Time to put the head down and work on through the pain. The last km really did hurt, but it was worth it in the end. I came home in 1:22:36 and a reputable 16th out of some 1700 athletes, so a whole 4 mins quicker than the PB, and on a course which is a lot harder than Milton Keynes. All in all, a good day out really - especially considering the lung wrenching from the day before..

World Champs - More Photos

The Big One - The World Age Group Champs

Well, for 2007 my season is now pretty much over having just come back from the World Age Group Champs in Hamburg. The World Champs was my "A" race for the whole season so getting there fit, uninjured and ready to perform at the best of my ability has been my goal for the past few months and for pretty much all of this season. At the end of the day though, we can't have it all I suppose...let me explain.

Over the past couple of months there is no doubt that I have been getting fitter and stronger, gaining confidence and speed in each of the three disciplines. On top of this, at the last few races that I have been at, the Relays, London and TT4, I had been pretty pleased with my racing performance so I knew that when I set off on the now famed "Magic Bus" for Hamburg I should be very confident of a very good result - possibly my best ever in a triathlon.

The magic bus was full to the brim with people, bikes and an extremely large number of wheels....well, we all need training and racing wheels don't we?

Anyway, thanks to the wonderful thing that is TomTom, the journey to Hamburg was a total breeze, taking about 11 hours door to door. Was also really nice to not have to drag the bike etc around airports etc as well.

So, in Hamburg and it was time to start getting ready for the race in a few days time...I normally know exactly what I need to do to get myself ready for a race like this, but one of the big problems we had was that it pretty much rained from Thursday afternoon to Saturday night...pretty depressing really. We did manage to get out and do the bike course though so I was pleased with that, especially considering that it looked like it was going to be a pretty fast course. There was only a couple of hills and they did not seem to be too much to worry about. The swim also looked like it was going to be pretty easy as it was almost a simple out and back in the lake.

Come race day, I was feeling pretty upbeat about things, my legs felt strong and I felt like I was going to have a good race. Last year I was quite intimidated by the whole big event thing, but this year things felt a lot more relaxed, especially considering the swim, which I was actually looking forward to.

The 30-34 AG finally got into the water at 8:00am for our 8:10 start...



What followed can only be described as comical. The starting sound that they use in these events is something akin to a horn so when you have a boat nearby who decides that sometime close to 8:10 he will set off his horn, the inevitable will happen and 130 athletes will go sprinting off in the lake. The funny thing was, this happened twice and one the second occasion we did actually get quite far out before being turned around for the "real" start.

Out in the water I felt pretty good and was sure that I was having a pretty decent swim I thought. I went very slightly off course at the top, but was able to sprint back in and not lose to many place. In the end, I was out the water in 23:19, which considering the course was a bit long, was just about where I thought I would be.

Not sure what was going on with the swim hat/tea cosy..

The first transition, as seems to be the norm in World Champs was stupidly long and with my now numb feet from the swim, it hurt quite a lot as I ran the 500m to the bike. Still, I was looking forward to getting out there and really seeing what I could do now. I had already decided that I was not going to totally kill myself on the bike as I was planning on having a much better run.

Out on the bike though and this is where things started to not quite go to plan. I knew that I was going kind of fast, but just felt that I was missing that top end of speed that I normally seem to have. The gears I selected were lower than normal as well, perhaps a good sign that things were not going totally to plan. Still, I tried my hardest to concentrate and just worked on catching people up and overtaking them. I knew one of my mates was about a minute up the road, so he was my main target for the rest of the bike. In any other race, I probably would have been able to catch him in not much time at all, alas today that was just not to be.







Coming back in the from the bike, I knew that I was going to have to do a brilliant run to keep up with my mate who had managed to come in off the bike at the same time as me...albeit, he has beaten me in pretty much every run that we have even done together.



Out on the run though and I was able to keep my mate within sight so figured that if I just kept him there, I would be able to have a pretty decent run. In the end though, I got to about 3k and I just wasn't feeling the love. I think I lost concentration for a bit and then let my friend move away a bit. My legs were not feeling that good either. By the time I was coming up to the finish, I was pretty sure that I had not had the best race in the world.





So, at the end of the day, two out of three ain't that bad I suppose. I had managed to get to the World Champs fit and uninjured...for some reason, I was just not able to put that into practice and race as well as I should have. I suppose it is just one of those things.

The final results show that I was the 10th Brit in my age group and that I was 32nd overall for all countries in my age group. At the end of the day, that is a massive improvement from last year's 60th overall and one of the last Brit finishers in my AG. I