Lots Going On

Hello bloggers. Firstly, I apologise for my previous blatantly self-obsessed post! Let’s hope this post is more constructive. Where do I start!? So much has been going on now that the race season has started!

I suppose that the London Marathon is as good as any place to start. I have to admit, I suffered from FLM withdrawal last Sunday. Watching the masses start in bright sunshine, I wished that I could be there with them. After racing last year, I could relate to the course and the atmosphere so much more. That said, I seem to have forgotten the agony I went through last year – both in the race and trying to get home! I had always planned to revisit the FLM in 2010 and make an attempt to break 2:50. However, that goal seems a long way off right now, as I can’t even jog down my garden path! Anyway, there were some great performances this year. How on Earth Mat Stephenson gets into shape so quickly, recovers from an Ironman and runs 2:46 at London, I will never comprehend! It is safe to say that the Mat, along with his new nickname, ‘The Legend’, is well and truly back! I for one am very happy about this; partly because I am the RAF Triathlon Team Manager this year, but mostly because Mat is a rare breed of all round good guy – welcome back Mat (though I am secretly stomping my feet because Mat is now a Vet 8-).

Talking of all round good guys, Daz Sharpe produced a great run at London. He ran 3:03 for the 26.2 miles. Now I know that Daz is capable of 2:45 for the marathon. But with his health problems, IM South Africa just 3 weeks previous and seemingly endless bad luck, his result was class in my book. It must be so hard knowing that you are capable of so much but always suffering with health problems. I have said it many time to Daz, but he will come good soon and show us all just how fast he really is.

Did I mention health problems? Well JC certainly had some bad luck for his FLM. With a recent 1:19 half marathon to his name, JC was capable of around 2:50, I reckon. Sadly, for JC, he was suffering from some unknown bug or something and he had to retire from the race soon after half way. JC had really been focussing on London and he is totally gutted. I feel for him but let’s hope he can regroup and show us what he can do at another race.

My Achilles is still causing me trouble and I have not run since Cambridge Duathlon on 19 April. I am still swimming and biking; indeed, my biking seems to be going really well. I have another 10 mile TT near Cambridge on Thursday evening and I have entered the Squires and Shires Cycle Sportif on 3 may. This is 80 miles of enjoyable hills. It is the event that I crashed quite badly in last year. I intend to stay safe this year. I think Turbo Man and Mike masters completed this route in 4:15 last year, which is pretty good going considering they both stopped to attend to me as I lay sprawled across the road surrounded by squashed banana that I thought was my brain spilling out of my smashed helmet!

Tomorrow is the Inter-Services Duathlon at Hullavington. I had intended this to be my final duathlon of April and then move on to triathlons with some speed in the legs. Alas, I am not sure when I will open my triathlon season – maybe September! Anyway, I am attending the duathlon as Team Manager and will also be on the prowl for some tasty Triangles content.

Train well people.

Self-Pity.......Not Good

Hi bloggers. With all the bad things that happen to people how can I be suffering from self-pity? But I am, despite that fact that I know that my situation is not bad at all when compared to others. Purely for my benefit I will have a quick rant (I am prepared for laughter and ridicule!).

Big intake of breath.......

Injured Achilles still bad so can't run.
Swimming badly.
Cappuccino machine exploded.
Training bike making some very bad noises, despite having just changed the bottom bracket.
Julie's health still not too good. There are bad days and not so bad days - where are the good days?

What a pathetic whinge bag!!

I have recovered ok from the Cambridge Duathlon last Sunday. In fact, the contrast from how I recovered after the National Duathlon Champs is massive. This makes me think that I was fighting off some illness when I raced at Milton Keynes and my Achilles injury was caused by my body fighting off illness.

I even managed to ride the club 10 mile TT on Wednesday and clock 23:59 - only 13 sec off my pb on that course. My bike legs are obviously working as good as ever; so I am off in search of a fast 10 mile TT. I have entered the Shaftsbury 10 on the E2/10 course near Newmarket. This course, so I am told, is at least 1:30 quicker than our club 10 mile course. I don't really believe this as that would give me a 10 mile time of close to 22 min and I don't think that I am capable of that. Young Jase Walkley has entered also and I reckon he could go sub-22 min if conditions are right. Whilst on the subject of Jase, I have a feeling in my bones that tells me that we may see some pretty awesome performances from him this year. His training indicates a great year ahead. He is due a big adaptation after 3 years of very consistent training. This isn't pressure; just a heads up warning!

As I said, my running at the moment is down to zilch. My Achilles is just not good. My swimming seems little better. After all the technique work over the winter I was expecting some progress by now. Apart from feeling more consistent with my stroke, I just seem the same as last year when speed is checked - slow!

Turbo Man has the right idea. Full time cycling?

Race Stats

National Duathlon Run Stats:

10k - 36:22. Pace - 5:51 per mile.
5.3k - 19:57. Pace - 6:03 per mile

Cambridge Duathlon Run Stats:

7.5k - 28:12. Pace - 6:03 per mile.
7.5k - 29:35. Pace - 6:08 per mile.

Conclusion? Not running too well at Cambridge.

Cambridge Duathlon - The Good, The bad and The Ugly

The Good – Despite not performing that well, I managed to win my age group at the Cambridge Duathlon and bag 21st overall. This was a World Champs Qualifier and the distances were 7.5k run, 40k bike, 7.5k run. With a windy bike leg, it was never going to be an easy race. In fact, these duathlons are very painful – in my opinion, far harder than triathlon!

The Bad – I didn’t feel that good and it took 20k of the bike leg before I found my ‘bike legs’. By then the damage was done and my bike split of 1:05 was not really good enough. My legs were heavy on the runs and it is clear that my running is not where it should be.

The Ugly – I have damaged my Achilles tendon and am hobbling badly today. I am very doubtful for the Inter-Services Duathlon on 29 April now. Not a happy chap!

On a brighter note, Jackie Wren was also racing at Cambridge Du and won her age group and finished 15th lady overall. A great performance as she has not been feeling too healthy and was very down after a bad race at the National Duathlon champs 2 weeks ago. Her time was a massive 9 minutes quicker at Cambridge! The distances are the same, although broken down differently. I was 2 mins slower at Cambridge; I know it is hard to compare courses and conditions but it is safe to say that Jackie’s performance was really good!

On another brighter note, Jase Walkley grabbed 3rd place overall and win his age group at the Oulton Park Duathlon. He also had the fastest bike split by some margin! He is definitely one to watch this season – there you go, Jase, nothing like some pressure heaped on you!!

The Lost Boys

How crazy can life be! A while back we introduced a little dog to our family. He was a Chinese Crested and very cute. From the off his behaviour was somewhat out of character with the breed. But we carried on and tried to correct the shortcomings. To cut a long story short, he has now been returned to his breeder. This was very upsetting for all of us as the attachments we form with our pets is strong. We liked the breed so we made the decision to try again. This time we thought, after taking advise, that getting a pair would be best so they would be company for each other. So, meet the Lost boys:

Hurley

And Sawyer

You need to watch the TV show Lost to appreciate the names!

On the training front, I have been taking things very easy. I had an ok swim with Nige on Tuesday and then did the first Club 10 Mile TT on the bike yesterday evening. I just don't get it! I have been feeling terrible all week and I go and equal my pb on that course at 23:47. It is not a fast course and I was only 30 sec off the winner - and he is a guy that recorded a 21:54 on a faster course recently! So, there can't be too much wrong with the bike legs. With Cambridge Duathlon this Sunday I hope that the run legs return too! Not much point in doing any hard running between now and then so will just do a few strides and test the calfs out.

I am a bit short on Triangles (RAF Triathlon News mag) content for the next edition. Any Bloggers out there who want to submit an article, please feel free! I am still waiting for the La Santa Tour Report - Nag Nag!

Train well folks.

Nothing Works - Not Good

The title says it all. Nothing seems to be working. Since the National Duathlon Champs I just don’t work and something is not right. My calfs played up a few days before the duathlon and I am now thinking that my body is fighting something off – maybe a virus? I have rested with days off and tried some easy sessions. Every time I attempt the easiest of training the legs just ache and are so heavy. What makes me think that there may be something wrong is the fact that when swimming my arms and shoulders feel the same as my legs. So my du result may be the effort that pushed me over the top.

Now anyone who knows me will tell you that I detest being ill or injured! I am, therefore, really trying to focus on being positive and enjoying my abilities – such as they are at the moment! I have a 10 mile bike TT planned for Wed evening. That effort should confirm (or not!) whether I am suffering with something. I also have Cambridge Duathlon on Sunday 19 April. I wanted to do well in this to maybe stand a chance of obtaining a ranking in the National Duathlon series. The final event of the series is at Oulton Park in October. Let’s just see how the next few days go. I sure hate not being able to push hard in training!!

Some of you may know that I have been toying with the idea of getting a new bike. In my present state of mind I am not sure if I am comfort buying! So, to be wise I will stick with my bike I have. I keep feeling that I need an upgrade but it has been a good bike and produced some decent times over the last few years. If I can get close to my 10 mile TT pb on the club course within the next few weeks then I will keep it. By then I may be in a better state of mind too – and more likely to make a sound decision!

Anyway, train well out there and stay happy.

Anyone seen Monsters Vs Aliens 3D? Very funny and worth watching. I watched it with CJ – and you get to wear cool specs too!

National Duathlon Champs 2009

Hello Bloggers. Sorry for the lack of posts. Things have been hectic in my life recently. Add to that some computer functionality problems, then blogging seems to slip!

Well, with my calf problems at the back of my mind, I set off bright and early last Sunday to Milton Keynes to compete at the National Duathlon Champs. I have raced a few duathlons before but never a standard distance event of 10k run, 40k bike, 5k run (although this one was massively over distanced with a 5.3k second run!). Let’s get this calf thing done first. It was ok on the day; however, now both calfs refuse to stretch, bend or move in any way! I think it is just soreness and fatigue, as I did push rather hard on the bike and second run. Anyway, whinge done with, the race went as follows:

10k Run

Warm up for the run with a few strides and stretches. I was in wave 3, starting 2 mins after the 30 – 40 year young dudes. That means young Pete Russell (former RAF triathlete now a contractor here at Wyton) was 2 mins down the road ahead of me. I set off at a steady pace as I was not quite sure how hard to push on this first run. I was along side an Army chap in a second group. I though about going with the front group that had pulled out a gap but decided on caution. After the first lap of 4 I eased ahead of my group as I felt quite perky. I gradually picked off a few guys from the lead group and estimated that I was in about 11th place in my wave. Soon, people from the wave ahead were being passed and after the second lap I saw Pete Russell looking a bit heavy legged. I gave him a pat of encouragement but he did not look too happy. On the final lap I opened up a bit more and almost ran through the transition barriers in the process! Don’t get me wrong, I had pushed hard but I did feel that I could have pushed slightly harder. 10k run split – 36:22.

40k Bike

I had not reccy’d the bike course but was told that it was ‘rolling’ 2 loops of 20k. I suppose that was an accurate description but one hill was slightly harder than ‘rolling’. Some of the road surfaces were dire and my old bones ache! I also had problems with my gears and was unable to switch to my small ring on the chainset. This was only a problem with the hard hill and I had to grind up it. On the second loop my left leg decided that it didn’t like grinding and I cramped badly. Once over the hill, however, it loosened up and I pretty much hammered it back to transition. I felt as though the bike efforts was very sporadic. There was a lot of bunching and I duly did my bit of easing off so as not to draft. However, I then had to overtake them to up the pace. This is not a good way to ride and I think the final bike split time of 1:04:07 showed that. I wanted closer to the hour. I suppose I may just be expecting too much! No dramas in transition – unusual for me!

5.3k Run

The aim for my run was to break 20 mins. That extra 0.3k adds about a minute to a 5k split. As I set off out of transition my legs were bad......very bad! Ny running is always hit and miss after the bike but that initial 10k run seemed to have really toasted the old pins. I concentrated on short choppy strides and I feared that I was going to just get slower. However, nearing completion of the first lap my legs clicked into the fact that I was asking them to run. It was heaven and I felt the flow return! The second lap was far quicker and I caught a number of people who had past me on the first lap. As I rounded the corner into the finish I had more bounce and wished I had found my run legs earlier in the second run. As I finished the announcer informed me that I had finished in 3rd place in my age group in 2:01:59. I was very please as this was my first (and maybe only!) National Age Group Medal! My thoughts of wishing that I could have gone faster disappeared and I am thankful for being able to do what I do.

Mention must go to Jackie Wren, whom I travelled with. She was competing in the ladies race. However, she is not at her best at the moment and struggled on this occasion. Once she gets healthy, I know that she will be back to grabbing medals again – stick with it Jax.

Also, Bev Childs continued as she left off in 2008, with an age group victory. Another National title for Bev and she should have another great season in 2009.

Calf Problems!

After a few good weeks of training, I am really looking forward to racing the National Duathlon Champs on Sunday. The distances are 10k run, 40k bike, 5k run. However, after some previous speedy run sessions with no adverse affects, my calfs really knotted up yesterday. I reduced my hard session slightly in the hope to be fresh for Sunday by completing the same turbo session as last week but only going up to 7 sets on the pyramid. Then, on the 400m run reps I just completed 4 reps at a reduced speed. Overall, the runs felt very easy at 1:24 pace but the calfs decided to stop being flexible. This has happened to me before and I am not sure why. Could it be that I was stuck in a car travelling for over 8 hours the day before? Or is it just that I have reduced the efforts slightly? Who knows! I just hope that the legs work ok on Sunday.

My swimming continues to improve. Although I know that I will never be a ‘swimmer’, after 5 years of battling with technique changes I now know how I swim. The technique is ok but I do not generate great speed. That said, I am probably swimming as fast in training as I ever have. I have not completed any time trials yet but the sessions indicate that I will be no worse than last year in the H20. I completed a main set of 12 x 100m with big Nige Porter today. I started off with 1:29s feeling nice and smooth. My lack of swim fitness soon kicked in though and I fell into 1:31s with the odd 1:30. Raising the threshold to consistent 1:29s is the aim. The good thing is that I feel when the form is bad and I can back off with the effort and ‘click’ back into a smoother feel. That is something that I could never previously do and it shows that the technique sessions at Swimshack throughout the winter have been beneficial. I am sure that I can gain speed as my fitness increases but the real test is how far behind I am when I get out of the water after an open water 1500m triathlon leg! A 22 min 1500m would be cool and enable me to capitalize on my bike run speed to capture a better overall result.

However, one thing that has been on my mind lately is when does one stop searching for speed gains and switch to minimizing speed losses! I came to this sport quite late but now that I am in the 45 – 49 age group the future may entail concentrating on stemming the age induced drop off! A sad thought but let’s be thankful for the 5 year age group system and the fact that we can still be active – can’t wait until I am 50 now!