Good luck fella 
4 Likes
Haha, today was a mixed bag 
the good news is that the hamstring was alright, the quads are a bit tight now from running on a hard surface. But despite being a lot slower than the half in January it has absolutely battered me!
I started off at a pace I thought I could probably maintain and to try and help a friend who was looking for a PB, I told her to start steady and push on later if she felt good, I was doing fairly consistent K’s around 4:35 give or take a few seconds but after about 7K I knew it was going to be a tough day.
Kept going until about 13K and told her to push on as she was going well and I knew I was starting to suffer. About 15K we turn onto a long soul destroying section on an trading estate, it was also into a bit of a breeze with a couple of little drags. My pace was dropping by about 10s/K but was trying to grit my teeth! It did ease a bit as we hit the end of that road and I started going a bit faster. Then the last K is twisty with a few little climbs and I was completely suffering but jogged round the corner and into the finish.
Official time was 1:38:17, that’s about 4 minutes slower than York in January on a race that I felt comfortable throughout and at the end, I could have kept going. Today I’m absolutely battered, I was sat in the car for about 35 minutes with the heating on to get warm and almost falling asleep.
I’m reasonably sure the blood donation on Monday played a major part and the upset stomach for a few days probably didn’t help. But it was a useful workout at what I’m still hoping I might be able to achieve on a 70.3 on a good day without that build-up.
19 Likes
Liversedge HM today. It’s a hilly, road half marathon with some steepish bits. Normally this would be about 10 mins slower that a flattish HM. Today I did 1:46, which is better than I thought would do. Pretty pleased, tired and little sore.
16 Likes
I need some collective good vibes, not for me but for LO. She has the Hampshire XC U12 Champs tomorrow at 11.45. 
22 Likes
Good luck LO
3 Likes
Keep moving forward !
If the mud gets to your waist ( your dreaming and you’ve joined the marines) !
Hope she goes well.
5 Likes
The best of luck to her - I look forward to hearing from proud Dad how it went
2 Likes
Thanks All, will report back later 
3 Likes
Smash it LO!!!
They can all fight over 2nd 
5 Likes
I’ve made a mistake. Apparently this is the Winchester and Eastleigh champs, and a qualifier for County Champs.
The previous round was schools. I’m confused! 
9 Likes
Ramadan race #2 in 3 hours time. 2km/20km/2km night duathlon on the usual circuit. The course is a club night staple so know pretty much what to expect, except tonight there will be about 60 or 70 people from the various clubs all racing each other.
There’s a bit of a wind tonight so the bike will be slow in one direction and faster in the other.
Just pondering strategy. There are 2 very good runners who will likely run at close to 3m15 / km pace for the first run. Is it worth busting a gut on the run #1 to try to keep them in sight- or is constant effort for the whole R B R the way?
45 minutes should be enough for top 5-ish I reckon
8 Likes
Is it draft legal? If so I’d try and hang onto them in the run and recover at the back on the bike.
Then see if they go bang on run 2
1 Like
No - no drafting. But am thinking if someone’s a minute up the road after T1, game over, will never see them again. But if they are within earshot on the bike may be able to dig in and hang with them for a while?
Currently have that kind of grim visceral anticipation of suffering, previously reserved for Thursday nights and the Zwift TTT trying to hang onto you, Tups, mw, funkster and others 
Why do we do this to ourselves voluntarily 
One of the local silverbacks was all over Strava yesterday with a 30 minute session he titled “strides and activation for tomorrows duathlon”
edit: the maths are interesting for this one. being a flat out and back bike course on what is basically a closed road, it definitely favours the heavier more powerful riders. There a couple of monsters weighing 90 - 95kg of pure muscle who will ride at 42 - 43kmh, if previous form is anything to go by, so 28-29 minutes for the ride. But they will take about 9 minutes for each run compared to about 7 for the lighter guys. So a lighter guy riding at 38-39 kmh will usually take it.
6 Likes
Well she did her best and I could not be more proud but she knows and I know that wasn’t the result she’s capable of. She came 14th overall out of about 80 girls. A gap formed in the first 300mtrs and she just couldn’t close it.
She had problems getting her breath but I could tell by looking at her body language that something was off. I’ve watched her run more than anyone else and I can tell when the aggression just isn’t there.
She also said she wished she’d gone with just the vest and not t-shirt and vest as she was a bit warm.
The course was 1.8km with a few little hills and that’s not her happy hunting ground. She doesn’t really hit her gears until about 3km in.
Top 5 go to County Champs and her nemesis and friend (and my friend’s daughter) came 5th overall. LO regularly beats her on track but the other girl has serious XC skills.
LO is a bit upset that she thinks she won’t get another chance to qualify for anything but we’ve obviously told her that isn’t the case.
As a parent, my heart is breaking for her because she’s gone very quiet but it will pass.
With Coach
21 Likes
I’m going to say that its good that she is disappointed; I think 
She will be back to fight another day 
4 Likes
These events can be a big step up
As said above, the fact that she is annoyed is a good thing as it proves she cares about it
She sounds like a really bright girl, already thinking about what went wrong and how to do it better next time
Great that you were both there to support her as well
I can still feel your pride that she was in the mix
Good effort LO
6 Likes
That’s still a good performance, some kids might be more suited to XC and as you say longer races might benefit her.
I’m also guessing at that age that some are maturing faster than others.
I’m sure she’ll get over it, let her loose at the parkrun on Saturday and see how many adults she beats!
3 Likes
Well? 45 minutes?
Doesn’t the Garmin have a duathlon mode?
2 Likes
If she’s on the start line of NC110, I’m going straight home….
11 Likes
She’s done the Putsborough to Lee section a few times!
2 Likes