Skiddaw

Skiddaw is the 4th highest peak (3054') in England and is one of the classic fell races. The mountain is north of Keswick in Cumbria in the heart of the lake district.
On arriving in Keswick after a rather long drive (2hr45) I was met with pretty rough weather conditions. Heavy rain and strong winds. The registration in Fitz park is in the football ground club house and was an excellent facility with showers and refreshments.
The race itself is 9 miles and about 2700' of climb. A good field was ready for the off which included 4 salopians. One of which was John Nightingale,who I was glad to finally meet,albeit briefly. The route climbs gradually to start and then steepens as you get near the summit. All runnable mind. This year the weather was that severe that the route was cut short. You can't expect Marshall's to stand out in torrential rain and gusting 60-70mph winds. Although we had southerly winds making it quite mild the weather was horrible. So the final 1/2 mile or so to the summit was abandoned. On the way down it was hard to breath whilst running into the wind.
My race was going well on the climb despite a stitch early on,I was 5th to the turning point and felt strong on the initial descent. That was until I went the wrong way at a cairn of stones,I misread the flags which I guessed to mean follow in the line in which they were aiming. About 5mins later and a different valley later I realised I was in completely the wrong area. A sit down and checked the map confirming my fears of being miles away from where I was meant to be. I lost about 15mins,and sent me from 5th to about 60th ! I managed to overtake about a dozen on the final part of the descent to finish just inside the top 50.
Despite the terrible mistake the race was excellent with a friendly atmosphere,decent course and great value with a quiche and cake thrown into the £5 entry fee.
I will be back to register a more respectable finishing position.

Update

A rather embarrassing delay between posts. Where was I ?

May 9th - Did the Darley moor road race with a club mate. 55km of flat fast circuit racing. Ave speed of 26mph. I managed to stay in the pack but slightly missed the boat in terms of the sprint and came home out the points in about 20th. Great experience and training.

May 22nd - Proudly represented the county in the intercounties fell championships in North Wales. I was one of four selected on a very hot day and ran pretty well. I finished 24th and was second counter for Shropshire. Overall the team finished 10th county and beat some good more traditional fell teams.

May 24th-May 31st - Holiday in Corfu

June 2nd - Straight off the beach to do the Shropshire summer series race,Batch Bash. A good field for a mid week race. Ran ok considering the break and finished 4th behind Tim Davies and Steve Cale who both went under the previous course record.

June 9th - Tried my hand at a 5km road race. The Park Hall 5km is a pretty quick course and so gave me a reasonable chance to post a PB. Sure enough the run went ok,despite being rather one paced. Finished second in 16.19.

June 15th - Went to tame the "beast". This little fell race nr Mold called 'The Beast' was great 'till me and Steve Cale,while leading by a distance, got lost ! The beast had gotten away this time,but i will be back !

June 16th - Went to defend my Rodneys Pillar fell race title....and failed ! Not to worry i had a good run finishing 3rd behind Tim Davies and Steve Cale (these 2 are annoying me :-) ) knocking about 11sec off last years time.

June 23rd - Race number 4 in the Shropshire summer series. Pontesbury is a little toughy with 1100' of climb in less than 3 mile. Ran well to finish 2nd behind Steve Cale.

June 27th - Moel-y-gamelin fell race,10mile 2750'. A great race organised by a good friend Pete Norman up the Horse shoe Pass. I have done this race for the past 3 years and fancied my chances as my main trophy blockers Tim Davies and Steve Cale were not in attendance. Sure enough i went off quickly despite the heat and pulled out a good lead,had the luxury of easing back for the last 3 miles to register a pleasing victory.

Busy busy busy

Been a while since an update,so here it is.
Good news regarding the Great Britain call up. I had a confirmation e-mail from the selectors not long after my last post confirming I've made the squad. The World championships are in Edinburgh at the start of September. The course looks as if it might suit me with plenty of undulations particularly on the bike.
Race wise since Newlands has been pretty quiet. I fully intended to do the Wrekin streak on the Wednesday and the Llantysilio fell race on the Saturday. However my legs were in a seriously bad shape after the duathlon that I thought I'd done some damage. So I rested with some gentle rides that week instead of racing and went into Sunday feeling very heavy legged.
Sunday 25th April was my first ever road race. A cat 4 only 55km race around a business park in Solihull ! Not exactly the Giro d'italia but you have to start somewhere. I have to admit I didn't have a clue what to expect and went into the race with an open mind. Cat 4 is the bottom step of the ladder,your so called novices and I was expecting to see some old bikes and complete amateurs turn up...how wrong I was. It looked like a scene from Le Tour with lads warming up on rollers and team crews with spare wheels etc. I've seen all this before and started with a group of 70 riders preparing for the 35 lap x 1 mile course. The start was steady and I felt very comfortable,often just sitting in with the pack and chatting to Andy my club mate. It soon became obvious that due to the flat course and the strong wind it was almost impossible for anyone to escape in a break away and a last lap sprint was going to decide proceedings. As predicted after 34 laps we were as we were at the start,still in a huge pack waiting for things to happen. Just before the final lap I was sitting pretty in about 10th waiting for the last lap lunge for the line. The final circuit was a replica of the race in general with a rotating of small groups going from front to back and vice versa. So it turned out that with a 3/4 lap to go I was slightly boxed in over half way down in the pack. I went hammering around the outside into the wind over the next half lap to get myself somewhere near striking distance. I was looking good with about 300 yards to go in about 25th only 30 yards back,but with tired legs and using a lot of energy getting myself back into contention I struggled to find anything for the sprint and cruised in with the main pack. Andy made a slightly better fist of it placing some 30 yards and 20 places ahead to just miss out on the points (top10).
All in all a good experience and I'm now looking forward to my next road race this coming Sunday at the Darley moor racing circuit.

Newlands Duathlon

On Sunday 18th April I decided to drag a fellow Trismart club member and his wife and the next door neighbour up to the lakes for the Newlands Duathlon.
The event looked superb on paper with an off road run,a challenging road bike with a shorter off road run to finish.
I finished work on the Saturday at about 2pm and left for Keswick at 2.30pm. I arrived some 2hr 50 later in the heart of the beautiful Lake district. Weather was stunning for this time of year,pleasantly warm in the sun with a light slightly cooling North easterly breeze. I booked the clan into the Newlands hostel that was the base for the event and also a venue I had previously stayed.
My preparation for the race was far from ideal and after the "big event" buzz of the previous week in Milton Keynes I stupidly let slip some of the pre race disciplines you need to perform well. Thursday saw me down the local boozer for a mini GB call up celebration which although was hardly a "session" was not exactly ideal prep for a race. My day off was Friday,spent at the coast in Borth,very nice it was too. I didn't get to bed until late on Friday,another no-no. Work on Saturday followed by a long trip up to the lakes which left me feeling absolutely drained. Nothing a good nights sleep on Saturday could have fixed ..... the bed I was issued at the hostel was something I can only imagine you'd get in a Moldovan prison during the Iron curtain years ! The springs were almost visible through the mattress,so needless to say I had a somewhat disturbed sleep.
The morning of the race brought decent weather,an average breakfast and a pair of rather fetching black rings under my eyes !
The race started without any warning at all,and took the whole field by surprise. A simple "Go" was the shout as I was preparing for some final boring instructions,so it came as a pleasant surprise.
The first run was a tough fell run,7.5 km long with a steady climb out that turned pretty steep at the top,just below Catbells in the saddle of the two peaks. A descent followed down a rocky path onto the main footpath above the lane that goes alongside Derwentwater(I think).A final run back past a farm and down the lane back to transition saw me arrive back with a comfortable lead of about a minute. All was going well although I felt pretty leggy on the climb up.
The bike was hilly to say the least. 44km in total going over the two passes of Whinlatter and Honister. The second in particular was a challenge and I was glad of my compact chain set and was certainly not embarrassed to make full use of every last gear(many would have walked at the top as it's 25%). I had no energy whatsoever on the bike and felt like falling asleep at times in the pleasant sunshine. I was soon passed by one guy who was a good climber to be fair but nothing I thought was out of my reach on a good day. The bike route was technical in parts and care was needed especially on the descent off Honister. I was glad I drove around the route the day before as one corner in particular caught a few out as it was blind and tightened significantly as you rounded it. One other rider came up to me at the top of Honister,I managed to pull out 300 yards on him on the descent but he caught up with me on the next section and soon pulled away from me with 3-4 miles of the bike left. Despite riding poorly/tired I enjoyed the route,it was hard not too with such stunning scenery.
So into transition again,in third place this time,and onto the final 5km trail run. I was in "lack of motivation/enthusiasm" mode and was glad to get off the bike and enjoy the run to the finish. To say I dragged my heels on the final run was an understatement,but with a large gap back to 4th and 2nd in sight visually if not mentally I strolled in to the finish in 3rd place overall.
The times were 33min for the first run,1hr 32 on the bike (18mph) and 23min for the final run for a total of 2hr 32 mins. The winner was 5mins quicker.
Club mate Andy finished 9th overall,with his wife finishing in an excellent 3rd female,well done Claire.
In conclusion I struggled to get myself up for the race during the week leading up and during the race itself. I would certainly return to do the race again as the route was stunning and was almost too good to be a race as you don't quite appreciate the location whilst gurning away head down.
3 more races to go this week !

Last chance Saloon

Sunday 11th April was my second and final chance to try and gain a Great Britain spot at the World Duathlon championships in Edinburgh.
This time I was off to Emberton near Milton Keynes to see if I could improve on my National champs position which saw me miss out on a spot by 20 seconds ! This event is actually the 3rd of 4 qualifiers,but this will be my last chance as the final qualifier in Cambridge is already sold out,so the pressure's on !
The course looked decent with a multi lap run and an undulating 2 lap bike. The weather was set fair and quite mild,a god send seeing as the first wave went off at 07.45.
I went in the first wave and got quickly into a good stride on the first run of a pan flat course. Only complaint is the people who insist on pushing themselves to the front only to get overtaken within 100 yards.Why ?
I ran the 10km in 34.13 which was quicker than the nationals but to be expected due the flatter course. The bike again was my downfall,I can't get used to these tri bar things and spent most of the ride on the drops. I must admit mind that the lads coming past me had wheels worth more than my road bike. It's quite easy to ride at 1-2 mph quicker on a proper time trial bike with aero helmet and top of the range wheels. If you take this into account this can mean losing as much as 5-6 mins over an hour. This was to be the case as I came in at 66min for the 40km on the undulating course. Not a disaster but some lads at the front went sub hour !
So after losing up to 20 places on the bike it was time for me to claw some places back on the 5km run. I went well again on the final run and clocked 18.30 which measured slightly long apparently to gain back some places I had lost on the bike.
So where did this get me ?
Well I was about 40th overall out of the 550 starters and more importantly 12th in my age group. This was actually worse than my 10th at the nationals,panic was starting to set in but I soon dismissed this and just accepted that a) It's too late to worry now I've finished,and b)remember how 10th at the nationals gave me 5th of those who registered.
The only thing I could do was study the results when I got home and see who had beaten me..... and the results suggest that despite a 12th in age I was 3rd registered finisher. All those ahead of me had either already qualified at the other qualifying events or had not registered to be considered.
Great news ! There are 4 qualifiers from each race and so a 3rd will be good enough to get me a slot to the Worlds in September. I must add that this has to be confirmed but I'm 99% certain that I'm in and await an e-mail from the selectors.

In the mean time I have a Duathlon in the lakes on Sunday (18th) followed by a fell race wed,a fell race a week sat (24th) and my first road race (bike) on the sunday. That's 4 races in 8 days !! My legs are already screaming.

More Majorca pics

Another 5km climb from here takes you to the top of the descent into Sa Colabra(sp?). The day we went it was in cloud,which was a shame because you can normally see the road snaking it's way down hairpin after hairpin,over 10k to the bottom. Only problem is it's the only road down so enjoy the descent as you have a 35min slog back to the top.

Looking the other way.


The descent into Soller.


Dell Boy enjoying the cafe stops...a little too much !

Typical town along the many routes.


Daft or Silly ? Birchy acting the fool,although I was the one telling him to stand there...so work out for yourself who is the daftest and silliest "Buger" !

Managed to get a pic of the descent of Sa Colabra from Nick. Impressive

Majorca camp

A chance to feel the warmth of the sun and more importantly a chance to get some good miles in the legs ahead of the coming season. This was a Trismart organised trip and attracted 4 members as well as 4 non members to the delights of Porto Pollenca in Northern Majorca. All attendees were either Ironman veterans (over 40 completions between 5 of them) or road/track specialists of many years for 2 others,leaving me looking slightly inferior in the C.V department. I was however the youngest member of the Salopian travelling clan and intended to use this to my advantage.Majorca has some of the best riding Europe has to offer. In particular at this time of year whilst the Alps and Pyrenees are still snow covered, Majorca offers warm weather training with plenty of climbing to kick the legs into gear after a long winter. In the main the roads are smooth and rider friendly. No impatient yob trying to sneak past on blind corners over in the Balearic's ! Around the island are some typical Spanish towns with all the charm this part of the world offers. Clean and well kept villages with friendly service at the cycle approving cafes.We had no real plan for the week,we had some riders well into there training and some who had to think long and hard where they'd left there bike to hibernate over the winter. We started off as a big group and by the end fractured out into groups of two or three depending how people were fairing. Nick for example is well into his Ironman training with IM Lanzarote coming up(6th year on the trot) in 8 or so weeks time and has been regularly doing 80-100 mile rides. He is an example to all about commitment and discipline and deserves all his rewards,of which the first for the year was to be selected for GB in the European long distance triathlon champs this summer in Spain. His totals for the week are impressive,570 miles/55000' of climb including 3 back to back 100 milers, as well as 2x one hour swims and runs for good measure.For me I managed over 400 miles and 36000' of climb as well a 6m and 9m run post ride. I was pretty happy with my effort spending most of the week on the front and pushing on at all climbs to stretch the legs out. The weather was kind,only one day of light rain and generally in the region of 16c-18c. All in all a top week with good riding and great company.
This will hopefully stand me in good shape for the forth coming World Qualifier as well as a duathlon in the lakes. I've also got the bug for this road riding game and have already checked out the calender to look for future road races.
I've also got a call up for Shropshire for the National inter-counties fell champs in May. Things are pointing to a good year,now where is the summer or spring for that matter !

Late call up

I had a call late on Thursday evening checking my availability to run at the National Intercounties championships. Despite a pretty hard week in terms of training and feeling rather heavy legged I jumped at the chance to run for Shropshire and excepted without hesitation.
Not only was this the Intercounties champs,but the event was also a trial for the World Championships. Anybody wanting to run at the worlds would have to attend and do well at this race in Birmingham. In other words anyone who's anyone nationally was there.
The course was quite hilly,more drags than short sharp climbs and was pretty fast due to the lack of precipitation recently. On the start line were 300 of the countries finest,including 8 representatives from Shropshire about to sprint around four laps totalling 12000m (7.22mile). The start was a steady uphill for about 300m and the pace was even faster than I had feared. The trick is to stick with it,and try and get into some kind of rhythm without being sick. I dug in and began to find a little consistency despite my heavy legs from the weeks training(avoidable if only I was asked the week before). It's so important to know your own pace,if you start running above what is sustainable you will pay big time by the end of the race and lose huge chunks of time.
In the end I finished 181st out of 300 starters,which was quite pleasing giving the field. I beat some decent runners,and was second Shropshire runner home.
To put it into perspective,considering how hilly the course was I managed to run 5.39min miles which is pretty steady on the road let alone an xc course. Good day all in all and a great experience running against Olympians and the nations best for the county. Pleased with my result but always room for improvement.

National Duathlon Champs

Saturday was the national duathlon championships in Clumber park,nr Worksop. It was also one of four qualifiers for the World Championships in Edinburgh. The top four in each category automatically qualify for a GB vest. You do however have to register your intent to qualify with the British tri association (£10). So if you haven't registered,the place then gets passed down to the next placing and so on. As well as that you have 9 fastest losers placings. So 4 events x 4 automatic slots is 16 plus 9 fastest losers. A total of 25 places per age group.
The standard distance for this discipline is 10k run -40k bike -5k run. Over 650 people entered the event which was sold out weeks before. I decided to stay in a travellodge the night before due to the early start of 09.00,they tend to start early to avoid the traffic as much as possible.
I woke up around 06.00 Saturday morning to eat breakfast and was greeted by overcast,cool and drizzly conditions outside. I'm glad I made my way to the event early as the queue to get into the park and for registration was unbelievable. On the line were the best of the best for this kind of event and any poor preparation would be severely punished by such a strong field. I'd love to know what the average price of each bike was worth,well into the 3-4k I would guess.
The pre race music and MC was something more akin to a night club,with the Tim Westwood style commentary coming from a rather over enthusiastic microphone. "This is it,there is no hiding place at the nationals,this is what you've all been waiting for,this is where all those miles of winter training are going to pay off,are you mentally prepared to be a champion...." etc
I certainly wasn't prepared for him,and so was glad to start and get out of his earshot. The first run was a lumpy 10k,pretty much climbing on the way out and descending on the way back. Two laps of fighting for position on a pretty busy course. I ran well,knocking the edge off my pace to save for the bike and final run to follow and entered transition in 34.38. So far so good and onto the bike. Transition went smoothly and I quickly got into a good pace on the 2 laps of 20k around the undulating roads on Nottinghamshire. As mentioned in previous posts my cycling has been the one area I have neglected something terrible over the winter,and compared to the people I want to beat I was seriously under cooked for the bike leading into the event. This is how it proved losing many places on the bike. I thought I rode Ok but this is the national champs and "OK" is not going to cut it at this level. I came over the line in around 64 minutes for the 40k (25m'ish). The final run was tough,the cold weather makes your feet like blocks of ice on the bike and my feet were numb and swollen starting the run. I ran well again to complete the final 5km in 18.20.
Overall finishing time of 1hr 59m with an overall finishing position of 48th out of 650 starters and 10th in my age group. I now have to work out where this gets me in terms of qualification. The results were depressing to say the least. In my age group of the registered entrants I was 5th,20s behind 4th and the last automatic GB qualification slot ! This might still be enough as a fastest loser,but I'd rather make certain,so I've just entered the next qualifier in April in Milton Keynes.
The second picture I've posted is of me chasing down James Cracknell,multi Olympic gold medal winner. He came hounding past me on the bike but I'd have got him on the run if it was another 200m. He was blowing pretty hard over the line.

Sunday 28th

When reading during the week in astonishment that every member of the Mett office staff received a £1500 bonus for accuracy this week,I decided my natural instinct about there predictions must be unfounded and decided to take note of there Sunday forecast of Stormy weather to include heavy rain and strong(40mph)northerly winds.
Natural beliefs and instincts are very often based on a good foundation of history and experiences and sure enough I woke up on Sunday to dry and calm conditions !

So I'm glad my suspicions allow me to prepare for good weather despite a multi million pound department telling me otherwise. I woke up and had my bike ready for a nice ride in the local hills.

A steady 32 mile ride in very pleasant conditions and good company around the hills of Chirk and down the Ceriog valley. Pretty lumpy with a total 3166' of climb and including a tasty descent into the village of Glyn Ceriog.

21/02/10-27/02/10

Last week of Feb thank the lord. What a shocker in terms of weather. Some stunning clear skies at times but that all becomes irrelevant when you have 3" of snow on the floor when trying to cycle/run.

Sunday-Bike 39.41mi/2236'
Monday-Run 6.13mi/1338'
Tuesday-rest
Wednesday-rest
Thursday-6.84mi/1181' + 1 hr circuit training
Friday-rest
Saturday-rest

Totals Bike-39.41mi/2236'
Run-12.97mi/2518'

One of the lowest totals for a while. A good start with a nice bike ride on Sunday and a run Monday. Not sure what happened this week. Not a disaster,four sessions in six days is not something to be too worried about. Less than a week until my pursuit of a GB Vest for the World Duathlon championships and I've got mixed expectations. My running is OK but only time will tell if my bike will be strong enough at this,the first of four qualifiers and also National champs. I'm hoping that all competitors have suffered frustration like me with the weather over the winter and are not quite on top form.
On another note,only 20 days until my Majorca cycling holiday,oh yes !

A Bike ride !!

After waking up to 4" of the white stuff,today's planned long ride was not looking too promising. Just as I was settling down for a day on the sofa the snow was slowly starting to melt. By the time I'd had lunch things were looking better and I decided to take the road bike out for a spin about 1400. It was quite pleasant out,about 3-4c I would guess with little wind and occasional sunshine. I decided to take my Focus cayo road bike out,which is probably the most comfortable bike I've ever ridden. I set off passing through the local villages of Llangedwyn,Penybont and Penybontfawr and to the top of a climb sitting at over 1000' above sea level just past the village of Penygarnedd. Some nice views from the top gave me the perfect excuse to have a breather after the long climb. The long descent that leads into Llanfyllin is pretty long (3.5mile) drops from 1040' to about 640' it's pretty fast and is good reward for the previous climb. Not so great in winter as the wind chill is quite significant by the bottom.The rest of the ride is relatively flat with the odd pull. I Passed through the villages of Bwlch-y-cibau,Llansantffraidd and onto Llanymynech and Melverley. All in all a fun ride in surprisingly comfortable conditions. I would love to report that I was welcomed home with enthusiasm and open arms but I guess sometimes staying in bed is just too much of a luxury for some !



Total 40mile/2236' In 2hr 20min.

Good week

Sun-Off road duathlon 6m run,12 mile bike
Mon- 4.43m/1159'run 38min
Tue- 12.75m/2765' run 1hr 42min
wed- 4.63m *bike
Thurs- 6.74m/1000' 50min
Fri- rest day
Sat- 9.2m/2047'run 1hr 20

*Bike ride wed was cut short,left house with threatening skies only for it to turn into blizzard conditions within a mile. Not a huge problem but I couldn't see anything and every car had headlights on,so thought best to get home quick!

Total run 39.12m/8000'ish
Total Bike 17 mile !

More like it. Running went well this week,and I'm feeling stronger after every run. Saturday nights run was a joy,sprinted up the hills and watching the sun set early evening at the panoramic view point (2 mile from home) was one of those to savour(wish I'd taken the camera). I feel sorry for the slobs watching "you've been framed" at the same time who didn't appreciate such an experience..oh well there loss my gain.
Biking has again taken a back seat. The nights are drawing out and it won't be long before i can get out regularly after work without the need for lights. Sunday was due to be the day for a long ride. Woke up this morning to 4" of snow,the novelty has seriously worn off for me and it's starting to annoy me to say the least. We are owed an exceptional summer after this winter !

Race Day

Llandegla off road duathlon today. 5km run - 20km run - 5km run
After winning the coed-y-brenin off road duathlon in October I had high hopes of winning the Llandegla version. This event is no different to any other in terms of you never know who's going to turn up. So the simple plan was to go flat out and see who fancies it.
Despite being issued with a strange t-shirt to wear at registration (size large!) by the organisers I was prepared for action. The run was on fire tracks with some interesting single track sections. The pace was reasonable without being frantic and I entered transition on the shoulder of the first runner. Time of 13mins,meaning the run was more like 4k than 5. I had a mini disaster in transition due to losing my bike briefly,wasting 20 secs or so. The bike is the red route at Llandegla and starts with a long drag,nothing steep but enough to warm the legs up. I wasn't sure what position I left transition as a group of maybe 4-5 runners entered together,and with my disaster of losing the bike I wasn't sure what position I was in. I quickly caught and left two riders and pushed on hard up the climb. I asked the first marshal how many riders had gone through and I was a little surprised to hear him say I was first. So I put the hammer down and pulled a gap big enough to be able to look back and see a clear trail. Despite a mini fall on some left over snow on a climb due to some lady (trails were still open to the public) not knowing the difference between left and right,I continued to pull clear of the field.
My bike was starting to get on my nerves due to the continuous gear slipping,probably down to a bent hanger that needs replacing. So I was glad to get the bike out the way and onto the slightly different second run. I'd apparently pulled out a lead of around 2 1/2 minutes after the bike leg,and was able to enjoy the final run without working out of my comfort zone. All done without any drama and thus my first win of the season. I managed to pull out a lead of around 4 minutes,not that my trainers could take anymore abuse !
Finally I can justify the "trophies" in the blog title.
Best buy a new pair.

week 6

Mon - 6.1m/752'

Tues - rest

wed - rest

Thurs - 1hr turbo with hard intervals

Fri - rest

sat- rest

Total (sun-sat) run 17.6m/5250' + 1hr turbo

Very bare page this week. Felt a little tired this week after the valleys,also I've developed another sniffle which I've tried desperately not to turn into something worse. The main problem with racing regularly and expecting to do well is you have to balance between sufficient rest and training for the event. Which is why the two don't mix very well. Tomorrow (Sunday) I've got another off road duathlon,after winning the Coed-y-brennin duathlon last October I hope to do well again.
After this weekend I've got two weekends off leading up to the national duathlons at Clumber park. This means I've no excuses whatsoever not to train with up coming races in the back of my mind...famous last words !

Long mynd valleys

Race two of the year complete. A bit of an eye opener for me as to what standard I'm at and what i need to be. The two are quite different !
The Valleys race is tough and is a good test to see where you're at fitness wise,there is no hiding here with 11mile and 4500' of climb. You can get away with being slightly short of fitness on races up to 5/6 mile and little ascent but not here. The conditions were cool,with a slight drizzle,but with no wind they were just about perfect. The start line attracted some good lads including ex British champions and national representatives.As we set off I felt reasonable,lying in about 10th or so behind the big names. For some reason just after the first check point I completely switched off and missed the first gully losing maybe 30 seconds but more importantly the back of the leaders I wanted to stay in touch with. The race then has a flat fast section on the tops,i was feeling angry but comfortable. The fog was down on this section and the earlier mistake was annoying me as i was slowing to remind myself the route on many occasions,small things that are not required when in a group. It's amazing how much these small errors add up to account for sizable chunks of time.
I plodded on and the first fast downhill section saw me switch off slightly again and I hit the deck,scraping my forearms,which seemed to knock my stride somewhat in the next couple of sections. I was glad for some climbing and began to catch some of the better runners. Then comes the three big climbs,by now i was beginning to catch people,pulling clear of two runners and catching a third. The second of these big ascents is the Callow,I reached the top feeling strong but then made a right howler by baring right off the top after punching my number,down the wrong valley. I couldn't believe my mistake despite the 20 yard visibility i should have known better. I think I lost maybe 2-3 mins and was on "catch up" with a couple of lads I'd managed to over take previously. I got to the finish without anymore dramas in a time of 1hr 56,9th overall but most disappointingly 16 mins behind the leaders ! It was still quicker than last year despite the mistakes.
Lessons will be learnt today and i need to take note of them and move forward to make improvements. Firstly I need to do some more off road running,my ankles were quite sore whilst descending and i can only put this down to lack of running in the terrain and conditions. You can lose a lot of time on a fast descent if you're limping about. I also need to get some more climbing under my belt,I'm way off the pace with my ascending mainly due to the lack of steep hills in my training runs.
I'm pleased this wake up call has come early in the season and i've taken it on positively as I'm keen as hell about making the changes needed,I've not thought of anything else all day at work. The trick now is to put them into practice and hopefully see the improvements on the results sheets in weeks to come.

Week 5

I'll post this a day early as it'll be feet up tomorrow in preparation for the Long Mynd Valleys on Sunday.

Sunday - 12.75m/4656' LMV race route recce.

Monday - Rest day,put in some loft insula...almost fell asleep with boredom just writing that !

Tuesday - Rest day,lazy lazy lazy no other word needed.

Wednesday - 24.52mile/4503' 3hr 18, Went out with the boys on a mtb night ride.
Took the single speed out which was pretty tough going with the amount of ascent.

Thursday - 6.77mi/1002' 50min + circuit training,1 hour of mainly core work.

Friday - Rest day

Saturday - Will be rest day in prep for valleys.

Totals - run 19.52mi/5658' 3hr 51
Bike 24.52mi/4503' 3hr 18

I need to get out more if I'm going to achieve my goals this year. When i do get out the sessions are good. Glad to get out on the bike this week,even if it was just for one ride. As soon as the weather picks up and the light draws out i am certain that the number of sessions will increase....BUT.... with some of my main races very early in the season (Clumber park,national du champs + World Qualifier) in the first weekend of March i need to be doing these training sessions now.
Tough race on Sunday (6th) is followed by a Mtb Duathlon (14th) and then a night race (19th) so i hope i can juggle racing with training without one effecting the other.
This is sounding a little negative,however I must add that i felt strong on the bike the other night despite little riding and I'm only 2 weeks after a pretty fast 10k pb. However i want and feel i can push onto another level which means increasing training quantity. Make hay when the sun shines and all that...still young(ish),still keen,and not injured,so it's time to make some bales !!

LMV recce

Made my way to Church Stretton this morning to pre run the Long Mynd valleys race route. We had snow this morning (about 2") and so was expecting a fair covering on the tops. For some reason i've done this race for the last 3 years. The route begins fairly gently with a few little kicks and a flat fast section on the top.
The second half is where the pain starts. One after another comes 3 long steep climbs which all come within 4 miles of the finish and accounts for about 3000' of climb and 70% of the routes climbing all in the final third.
The race is next weekend and i'll be looking to go sub 2 hours again. I just hope the weather improves.

12.75mile/4656' 3hours (plenty of stops)

Week 4

Sunday - saturday

Sunday - race 10k (6.2m) 33.54min

Monday - club run - 6.03m/829' 43min

Tuesday - Rest day

Wednesday - Rest day

Thursday - run 6.71m/1035' 48min + 1hr circuit training

Friday - Rest day

Saturday - Rest day - went to watch Altrincham vs Wrexham (like Brazil c1970)

Totals Run 19mile/2000'

Funny week,i've been on a first aid course all week and it's completely disrupted my normal sleeping patterns. Not been able to get out on the bike all week,which is an absolute disgrace ! Hopefully a return to normal hours next week will bring some kind of routine.

First race of the year

Today was race number one of the season. There are normally some good races early in the year but due to the poor weather most have been cancelled or postponed. This was an event twice cancelled and was initially due to be held in December.
Telford 10k is a flat and fast course with a slight downhill start,which means any idea of "not getting carried away at the start" are thrown out the window.
If I'm to qualify for the World duathlon champs later in the year this distance is one I'm going to have to get familiar with,as it's the distance of the first run leg within the duathlon (10k-40k-5k).
I arrived in good time (50mins prior) and had a decent warm up with plenty of stretches,an area i am getting better at and seeing some positive results.
I started pretty well,felt quite comfortable going through the first mile (4.50) and tried to get in a group to get some rhythm going. However i managed to tuck in with a lad who had the most bizarre running style I've ever seen,legs all over the place. If i got to close i was being kicked !! So i pulled ahead of him and tried to settle into a good pace.
The last couple of weeks has seen me running pretty much at a plod mainly due to the underfoot conditions being so icy,and so with the lack of speed work this initial pace was completely foreign to me. However i stuck in there despite getting a slight stitch around the 3.5 mile mark. I ran through 5k at 16.40 and finally finished in a time of 33.54. I was pleased with the second half as i kept the pace up pretty well,we didn't benefit from the downhill start on the second loop.
All in all a good days work. I feel with a bit of speed work i can bring that time down by quite a bit.

Result 10k

15th 33.54

New week

A quick run down of this weeks training.

Sunday-Saturday

Sunday- Bike 32mile/2000'/1hr50
Run 7.91mile/1027'/59min

Monday- Run 6.32mile/57min

Tuesday- Day Off

Wednesday- Day off

Thursday- Run 6.76mile/1211'/50min + 1 hr circuit training

Friday- Day off

Saturday- Run 3.08mile/576'/21min

Totals- Run 24.07mile/2814'/3hr09
Bike 32mile/1hr 50

Another average week. Started well but maybe too much Sunday led to Tuesday off. Have to get out on the bike much more.
I've paid my money to be considered for GB representation at the World Duathlon Championships in Edinburgh. The first Qualifying race is at Clumber Park on the 6Th of March.
First race of the season for me tomorrow is the Telford 10k. Not expected anything special,but a sub 35min would be nice.

Good day

Sunday is my favourite day of the week. No work for starters,but it usually means a race or like today,plenty of time to get out and put some training in.
A quick text on Saturday night had a return of 3 other riders for my first road ride of the year. At 10am the four of us met up for a steady ride across the border into Wales and back. The roads were icy in places and due care was needed especially in the gutter where the sun was not shining.
I rode with 3 lads. Firstly Nick,he lives only 300 yards down the lane. He defies his years by comfortably riding with the best local riders.
Secondly Andy who excels at many disciplines from triathlon to fell running. He has recently exchanged vows with Claire and returns after possibly and understandably having his eye on other aspects of life other than training.
Finally Nick Thomas who is beginning to build up to Ironman Lanzarote. An event Nick has completed many times and regularly mixes it with the elite athletes in this tough discipline of triathlon.
Nick T had already ridden 10 miles to meet up with us. We did a steady/good paced ride,involving a few climbs and some good views(should have taken the camera) off into Wales.

Total 31.5 ml / 2000' (guessed ascent,garmin stopped.mileage correct)
ave. 17mph

After hearing Nick T had gone onto ride over 90 miles in 5 hours i felt pretty pathetic and so after a bath,an hours kip and a cup of coffee i dragged Nick (neighbour) out for a run. Nice and steady along the local lanes.
All in all a good days training with good company. Looking forward to racing now mind. Training is all good but i do enjoy racing.
Telford 10k next week,not done a 10k for years and not a race i particularly like but not much on at the moment.

Run - 7.91 mile/1027' 59.44 min

Week 2

As from this week i'm going to post twice a week,once on a saturday reviewing the weeks training and again on a Sunday detailing the days race or long bike/run.

So second week into the new year has gone as follows.

Mon- 1 hr turbo session

Tues - Day off due to heavy cold

Wed - Day off

Thurs - 6.59m/934' 48 mins
Road/lane run in tricky icy conditions

Friday - 7.16m/1191' 49 mins
Another lane run,picked up the pace a little tonight and feeling stronger.

Saturday - Day off

Week totals (Sun-sat) - Bike - 1hr turbo

Run - 25.69m/4523' 3hr 13mins

A decent week considering the continued icy roads and unavailable off road trails. Also the cold mid week put a stop to two days training. Feeling stronger and getting leaner day by day. Sunday will be on the bike with no race this week. Telford 10k next sunday (24th)

Day off

Full of cold,hope a day off training will stop it turning into something more serious. See how i feel tomorrow. Struggling to breath !

Does it get any more boring ....?

Turbo session in the shed !
This is possibly the most boring form of exercise. It is however very effective,an hour of solid peddaling is impossible to replicate on the road with junctions,descents etc. So this workout is a good way of cramming in a good session within a short space of time.
Hoping this snow thaws pretty quick so i can get out on the lanes and trails.

1 hour

Good start

Took a friend of mine on a jog around his local lanes. Many of them are still quite deep in snow and sheet ice was tricky in places. Plenty of climbing involved for a road run. Weather was OK once you got going,probably only around the freezing point but with a cold NE wind.

Dist - 11.95 mile
time - 1hr 35
climb - 2398'

Felt OK. Need to shed a few pounds to improve the climbing but pretty happy with fitness at the moment. In desperate need of a race,but everything is being cancelled due to the weather at the moment. Good start to the week.

Week 1 complete

Due to my Garmin training database running a week from Sunday-Saturday this is the last day of week one.
Went for a local head torch run on the lanes. Felt OK,the weather has changed sligtly. We have lost the stupid low temperatures,only to be replaced by a bitter northeasterly wind and temperatures at an almost barmy 0c !
Running is certainly better in these conditions than cycling. In fact it has to be many degrees below for running to feel uncomfortable assuming you have some good kit on.

dist - 5.36 mile
time - 39.12 min
climb - 946'

WEEK ONE TOTALS

Cycle

Dist - 38.04 mile (not including 2x rides to work,16mile)
time - 4hr 30 min
climb - 5200'

Run

Dist - 11.42 mile
time - 1hr 22 min
climb - 2080'

Two runs and two bikes are a pretty poor effort for the week. The distances are irrelevant at the moment with such tough conditions and the cycling is entirely off road. To put it in perspective,a 38 mile road ride in the summer would be a steady sub 2 hour ride. Total of 6 hours training is not bad and sounds much better than the mile totals suggests.
Took 2 days to realise that cycling 4 mile to work is not worth the hassle. It is not far enough to count as a session and all it does is waste 30 Min's of the day and makes me cold and wet. I think to drive home and get ready for a quality session later in the day is definitely the way forward.
Oh Well you live and learn....let's see what next week brings.

No end in sight

The big freeze continues. What's such a shame about this period of weather is that it's amazingly beautiful out there. Clear blue skies and stunning sunshine is only off set by the icy roads and cold temperatures. I biked into work again this morning,temperatures were as low as -9 when i arrived at work at 5.20am.
Found out the Telford 10k has been put off again until the 24th January.
Only the bike to and from work to show training wise (8mile). Will have to step it up over the weekend.

Ice ice baby...

The heavy snow turned to ice by this morning,but to be fair to the council they have been along with the plough and gritted which is a first for this winter down my lane ! I'm not sure what the temperature was this morning but the forecast was for it to get no higher than -1 all day. I'm guessing at 10am this morning when i set off on the bike it was no more than -4. I went to see a friend who is a teacher who's day of schooling was cancelled this morning. Went on the single speed mountain bike. A good tool in this weather as you can only get up to about 14/15mph without spinning out,that's about as fast as you want to go with the wind chill. I was starting to get a headache half way due to the cold !

miles - 18.82
time - 1hr 31
ave - 12.4mph
climb - 1080'

Very cold to state the obvious,very steady and restricted due to one mountain bike gear (32~16) and the fact i was braking on the descents to restrict wind chill to a minimum.

Snowed in..

Day off Tuesday mainly due to the snow.Finished work very late due to getting stuck in the snow for almost 40 mins.
Woke up today to 6-8" of snow.Not a chance of getting the van out the drive,so decided to bike into work.Only about 4 mile but was tough going on untreated roads.Another disaster in terms of training.8 mile is hardly worth noting so must make the most of rest day tomorrow.Plan to double up,will see how the weather holds up.

Night run

Ran with the club tonight along the canal towpaths and around Colemere.Pretty cold at -3 and quite icy under foot.

6.06 mile
42mins
100ft climb

Felt good,nice and steady.Must lose some timber to kick start some decent race pace.Hard going in this weather,dare not push too hard with conditions so difficult under foot.You can't train much with tears and pulls !

Sunday ride

My initial plan for today was to go out to Eastridge wood nr Shrewsbury to check out some new trails. I woke up this morning to treacherous roads and so decided to leave the van at home and do some local riding in search of some new trails. The weather was pretty cold (doubt it got above freezing) but gloriously sunny and not a cloud in the sky. Decided to use the singlespeed again for some extreme gurning !


For some reason local trails are never considered to be as good as trails further away,but a return to the local stuff soon reminds me that I'm lucky to have such good local rides. The lanes were icy and one particular ford had me on my backside due to a full lane covered for 25 yards in thick ice. Within the woods the trails were free of ice and snow and rode very well for the time of the year. I spent most of the day looking for some new trails within several woods and had little success. I spent a lot of time walking back up trails that looked good and so had another almost embarrassing mileage total at the end of the day. It certainly felt I had put in a decent days riding come the end so happy in that respect.

Miles - 19.22
Time out - 2hr 59 min
Climbing - 4120 ft

A good day in perfect weather (for Jan). This singlespeeding is becoming addictive,even lane plodding is made interesting due to the effort required up moderate ascents. Might try a night ride in the week.

Day two,first gallop of the year..

Worked this morning which had one positive,the walking managed to loosen the calf that has been a slight aggravation of late. Didn't get out 'till 1700 so stuck to the roads (yawn). We've had drizzle this afternoon and this was starting to freeze as I was setting off. I think I'm getting used to this freezing weather as I felt very comfortable in only a light t-shirt and very light gillet.

Distance - 6.79 mile
time - 47min 15sec
climbing - 706 ft

Felt quite springy tonight. Took it nice and steady due to the ice.
I have the rearranged Telford 10k a week tomorrow,so a road run was probably the right choice. In no kind of shape to think of any great times so plan on training pretty hard right up to the race next week.

Day one...

New years day. Woke this morning with only a mild alcoholic haze. A full day today with no work only brings the problem of what to go out and do. Well I tweaked my calf at work on Thursday which pretty much ruled out any running. I have just converted a spare hardtail mountain bike into a singlespeed and I'm keen to see how this strange concept works. I Decided to retrace my daily postman route in the hills to see if I can possibly get to any of the 100+ houses I have been unable to reach due to the recent bad weather. The ride was very slow due to the almost impossible conditions at times,ice rink like or compacted tractor tyred rutted snow. I also bumped into a few familiar faces on the route which led to some "weather talk" and 20 minutes of shepherding with one of the local farmers! A trek up to the local high point (1200ft) also kept my average speed very low. The average speed and total mileage are not a concern at this time,time on the bike is everything at this stage.

Time out - 2hr 25mins
Miles - 17.3mile
Climbing - 2664ft

Fitness wise felt pretty good,still a way to go but not such a low base to start from. The singlespeed is good fun and will improve fitness and climbing in particular pretty quickly. I didn't feel the calf,so should be good for a run tomorrow.