Crawley Late Summer Tri 26/9/10

Last event of the season and finished with a win!
Not over confident at the start given that I had spent the previous day lounging about with a hangover.
Bit nervous at the start of the 750m pool swim as I had put a predicted time down of 12 minutes thinking that it would force me to train to that standard. The serious training never really materialised so I knew I wouldn't do it. Gave it my best shot and was pleased to hold my position and not get caught by the person behind.
Transition was a long run away and I raced for the first time ever with a jacket on as the air temp was 8c when we arrived. Not super aero on the bike, but I passed quite a few people anyway. I certainly wasn't hot so it was probably the right decision to wear it.
Really unique XC run through woods that was very undulating, but probably suited me. Just tried to keep pushing all the way as it was only 6km.
Finishing time of 1.10 was good for the win by 3 minutes.
Jennie also had a good event improving on her previous time and beating quite a few people. She even overtook someone in the swim with her fast improving freestyle.
A perfect end to the season at a venue that is superb for sprint distance triathlon. Nice friendly club event.

IM Switzerland

Back home after successful first IM in Zurich last week.
Achieved aim of beating 10 hours with a finish time of 9.37.
Swim start was really chaotic. I was still standing in the crowd on the shore as the first swimmers were pulling out. It seemed a much too narrow start for 2200 athletes and we were bumping and thumping all the way round. The funnel in to the island at the end of the first lap was so crowded we were wading through the waist deep water. The second lap was slightly better but still busy at the bouys. 1.11 swim time was slower that I'd hoped, but at least I didn't dig too deep.
Glad to be on the bike and the pace was 40k+ for the first flat 30km but slowed a bit after that as the course went inland and got hillier. Lost my seat bottle to a pothole in first 2km so had to rely on feed stations for drink but they were good so no problems there. Realised I didn't have a disc valve adapter so would have been in trouble if punctured but luckily didn't. Got back ache after 140km so had to keep stretching it out. Glad to be off the bike in 5.05.
Took time in T2 to prepare for the run with some compression socks and some vaseline under my arms. Felt OK at start of the run but opted for a tactical toilet stop as I felt I may need one later. Took a while to get my bearings on the 4 lap figure of eight course, but kept the gels and fluid going in and never really had any bad moments. Had enough left to raise the pace in the final mile to finish in 3.14.
Final time was good for 24th in my age group and 3rd brit. I felt like I had a good race, but I've obviously still got a way to go to make the grade at IM distance.

Bec CC 25 18/07

Start of wind down for IM Switzerland.
Did this 25 to keep a bit a speed in my legs.
57.11 for 14th place. Not a pb but not too bad.
Did a quick run when I got back.
Feel good for next weekend. Can't wait to start really...

White Oak Triathlon 11/7

Final warm up race before IM Switzerland.
Good steady swim nearly catching the guy that started just after me.
Winding bike course was interesting. Included one very minor country road that thankfully was traffic free as it was only single track. Met the Dartford half marathon coming the other way which caused a traffic jam that I had to negotiate. Couldn't believe that I came across a set of traffic lights a mile or so from the end. I reckon it cost me about a minute as it was 3 way and I was stopped for ages. No marshall to credit time and the referee at the finish said that the lights had supposed to have been turned off. Didn't really change the final result but I still feel a bit annoyed about the stop. Had a good run without killing myself and finished in a time of 1.18 for 4th overall and 1st vet 40.

Big training week

Bala blisters just about healed. Final big week before IM Switzerland.
Did over 5 hours on TT bike on Saturday and felt good. Think I've got the position pretty well dialled in.
Quick swim this morning then 13 mile run tonight. Very quick recovery so pretty pleased.
Open water swim tomorrow.

Bala Middle Distance Tri

First big race of the season.
Drove up the night before and slept lakeside in the back of the van.
Typical Welsh weather in the morning i.e showers.
Got in the lake well before the start to try and get used to the temperature. Not as choppy as last year so had a better swim. Still way off the pace of the leaders but I'm used to that by now.
Glad to see the finish as usual and started reeling people in on the bike.
Went for 808s rather than the disk as the course has a fair amount of climbing in it. Steadily reeling people in and managed a top speed of 68kph on a descent.
The course is out and back- over a moor down the other side then back again. Good fast finish into Bala, but had schoolboy error in jamming gears on a climb by whacking both levers when trying to shift too late from 53 12. Had to jump off and back peddle it. Probably cost me at least 30 secs.
Quick T2 foregoing socks and didn't feel too bad going into the run. Settled into a steady 6.30 pace up to the turn then picked up to closer to 6 for the run back. Caught most of my age group, but 3 ahead at the finish.
6 minutes quicker than last year in 4.16. Pleased with 1.19 run at the end which was top 6 for the whole race. Not so pleased with the massive blisters though! Had a bit of food at the finish then had a lovely 5 hour drive home on my own mostly in pouring rain.

First tri of the season

East Grinstead tri.
500m pool swim which went OK. I wasn't really expecting much from the swim but it went OK- nothing special.
18Km bike (5th fastest) felt OK got a bit blocked by cars going into Forest Row so forced to overtake. 50k+ down the middle of the A22 passing cars isn't the safest way to spend Sunday morning but it probably didn't cost me that much time.
5km run (but I think it was short) 2nd place so no complaints.
5th overall and 1st vet, so I managed the podium at least.

Bike racing has started

Started off last week with Surrey League Handicap RR. Quite pleased to have finished in the mix for the sprint. Just a shame we never caught 4 riders from an early group. Nevertheless, a good evenings training.

Finished off with the Norwood Paragon 25. A chilly morning seemed to slow things down a bit. Caught quite a few riders but only managed a long 58. New skinsuit looked good though!

London Marathon

After last weeks trials and tribulations I made it on to the start line this morning.
Started in the good for age section which gave me a decently clear run from the off. Settled into a conservative pace around 6.20 ish.
Caught Mike K at something like 10 miles. Patted him on the back, but he seemed to be in a world of his own. I think he thought I was just clumsily trying to overtake.
Hit halfway in 1.23 and saw Jen shortly after.
Came out of docklands and felt smug watching the other runners just going in.
Got a good shout from Chris and Lisa and Tower Hill then just thinking about getting the last 4 miles over and done with.
Upped my pace at the end to make sure I came in under 2.47.
Final time 2.46.43. Pretty satisfied with my pacing and not too exhausted at the end.
Should be OK to get back into training again this week.
Time to focus on the bike now.

Let's do it.

Four months of training done. Last 26 and a bit miles to be done tomorrow.
Lost bag from flight just arrived by courier so I have some clothes to wear tomorrow.
Gonna watch Borat now and relax.

Halfway home

Made it as far as Madrid. Next flight in one hour hopefully.
2 week holiday turned into near 3. Should be back just in time for the marathon, but could have done without this.
Didn´t need the extra time for training as tapering for the marathon anyway, but did get in a couple of long swims and some steady bike rides. Left my Litespeed in Fuerte, so at least I haven´t got the hassle of travelling with a bike as well.

Training in Fuerteventura

Managed to go (relatively) easy on the vino and got some good sessions in.
Managed a 3800m swim yesterday for the first time ever. Felt OK at the end, but boy did it seem to go on for ever. A bit different to 10x100m with Chris!
Did a long run today 2 hours 25min for 18m. Seems much harder out here. I took a drink with me but I lost 2kg in sweat. That`s it now for long runs before the marathon. Looking forward to shifting focus to the bike. Might have a day off tomorrow.

17.5 miles running tonight and don't feel too bad at the end of it.
Running endurance coming together for the marathon.
2 weeks in Fuerteventura this weekend so might have to think about shaving my legs soon. Need a few good sessions in the pool there to stop Chris kicking my arse every morning.

SLH swim challenge

Followed Nigel Costiff's advice and overcame my normal reluctance to swim to take part in the 1 hour challenge.
Quite apprehensive before the start as I've never swam for an hour nonstop and I was worried about getting really bored just ploughing up and down. It was much better than expected as I was paying attention to the other 2 in my lane and lapping them kept the attention up.
My plan was to take it steady and I ended up a few metres short of 3250 so I was quite pleased.
Probably swimming a comfortable ironman pace as not too tired at the end.
Has given my a bit of inspiration to work on my swim.

Brighton Beacon Half Marathon

First half marathon of the year started with a PB by over 2 minutes with a time of 1.16.01 and 18th place.
Been doing a lot of base work since Christmas as part of my Ironman training plan, so wasn't sure how this race would go.
Pleasantly surprised to be able to keep a sub 6 min mile pace up given that I haven't done a lot of high intensity stuff. Maybe the core training is helping?
Filthy weather with continuous rain and plenty of wind, but it didn't seem too bad once racing.
Quickly got cold at the finish and had to make a quick run for the car before hypothermia set in.