I went with a sleeved Tri suit and actually felt a bit hot on the run.
Race itself was good, nothing went wrong. Numbers seemed way down on usual, but the organiser said that the predicted bad weather meant a lot of no-shows on the day
Swim was good, no sharks @jeffb , I had a bit of a lonely swim all by myself in between the fast kids and the slow kids, & did have a bit of difficulty sighting as goggles seemed particularly steamy. New goggles day.
I forgot to pack lube last night & didnāt want to wake the house up rummaging around for it at 5 am, so went with Clover- the fake butter stuff- from the fridge. Worked fine, wetsuit slipped off a treat, although if ever racing in the vicinity of large marine predators I would think twice perhaps
Bike was lumpy and some narrow single track roads. I took it safely. Also at the bottom of the big descent into town, a Co-op lorry was reversing into the shop and completely blocked the road. How rude. I was carrying some good speed but had to come to a complete stop while it did itās business. On the plus side, new latex tubes did not spontaneously explode like on my test ride last night 246 AP/ 263 NP for 33.2kmh. Iām a little disappointed with the speed but maybe the course was not fast, will no doubt Strava-stalk faster finishers later to see what they did.
Run, ok but not amazing. I just wasnāt feeling it today. 40m43 although this did include a nasty hill and getting mildly lost in a caravan park after about 1km. Yep, the run course actually went through the middle of a genteel campsite where several surprised looking couples called Keith and Dierdre were cooking bacon outside their motorhomes. Keith helpfully pointed in the right direction and I was quickly back on course.
So, overall, a useful outing. I gave my nutrition and kit an outing before Cotswold, which was the main point, and everything seemed to work okš
The overall winner was M50-59 , guy called Clive Kennedy-Burn. Quick Google shows he has proper pedigree. He could have showered, changed and baked a spud for lunch by the time I got home
Edit, tracked down the bike Strava of the guy who finished 2nd
Yeah, mad stuff. I wondered if his power meter was maybe calibrated wrong, but he looks like quite a big strong guy and more of a swim/biker so perhaps itās correct.
His split is the 2nd best time on Strava, is by a guy who averaged 37.6kmh at 319W in 2015 & looks a bit lighter.
So local 10K yesterday, a nice civilised 10am start, but really not the nicest course, about 100m elevation. I wasnāt sure what to try and target as my running volume is still a fair bit down on what Iād like and have been doing due to being cautious with my heel, at about 25-30km a week. However Iām feeling good and strong at the moment.
Usually a few quick guys show up, so its not a family fun run. I decided Iād try and head out and target 3:40s as much as I could until the main downhill at 7km and final flat and see where I was at that point. From the off a pack of about 10-12 shot off, no way was I going with them, 2 other guys behind them but still going a bit quick. I quickly caught these guys up while wanting a shoulder to sit on, they slowed up too much for me. One of the first sharp hills came up, and I eased past another person. Opened the legs up on the small down. Next guy was quite some distance in front however my speed up the hills meant I really started to reel him in quickly up the last long hill, where I had been struggling to catch him earlier. Onto the downhill and I started to pull away slightly but he kept in touch. However with nobody close at all I had to motivate myself and pushed the pace to 3:30s. At this point I wasnāt sure what my finish time would be or tried to calculate it, it was now just see what the legs can do. Having done the course before, I know the final 1500m arenāt that nice as you keep thinking the finish should be round the corner. Anyway I came round the corner to the finish straight amazed to still see 35 on the clock! Finished 9th in 36:15. Which is a 20 second PB. Considering its a minging course and I really had nobody to run with and the reduced training, I am very happy. Flat course and there is a sub36 in there!
Hi, I was the one in the yellow (or is it gold) vest with blue stripes. I thought that might have been you, but didnāt want to look at idiot asking someone if they post on a triathlon forum mid race and get a very confused expression in response. Especially if I was to run with then for the next 30 minutesā¦ But no danger of that Iād set off way too quickly and died after about a mile and just scraped in under 40. I was beaten by a 64 year old, which is both demoralising, but inspiring.
Well done, great race, looks like you finished extremely strong
Was a bit awkward getting there driving through the 113 bike course Felt that should really have pointed that out in the race pack and weād have then planned a different route/allowed more time to get there.
Why not come to beautiful Peak District / Derbyshire Dales for the weekend and cap it off with trying to win a fruit basket?
(Use the second entry link āEnter Onlineā)
PS>I have nothing to do with this event. Itās permanent marker on your legs instead of a number. With people timing you with actual stopwatches and a clipboard. But itās mega good Or it was the last time I did over a decade ago!
Super pleased. I really think the extra strength and gym work Iāve been putting in has really helped my running and something I think more runners should put some focus on to. I reckon it showed on me being able to fly up the hills past people and still getting a good time even with reduced running volume. Iāve definitely seen some noticeable quad growth recently!
Also my 72 year old mum ran her first race too doing the same race and did in 1:06!
246 AP/ 263 NP for 33.2kmh. Iām a little disappointed with the speed but maybe the course was not fast, will no doubt Strava-stalk faster finishers later to see what they did.
is by a guy who averaged 37.6kmh at 319W in 2015 & looks a bit lighter.
I thought that might have been you, but didnāt want to look at idiot asking someone if they post on a triathlon forum mid race and get a very confused expression in response. Especially if I was to run with then for the next 30 minutesā¦ But no danger of that Iād set off way too quickly and died after about a mile and just scraped in under 40. I was beaten by a 64 year old, which is both demoralising, but inspiring.
