2011 Inter-Services Duathlon

Time seems to have flown by since Cambridge Duathlon. It’s been 10 days of training frustration really, as I have suffered from very tight and sore calves since Cambridge. It’s not an injury thing; but certainly a recovery problem. I had completed 2 runs within that 10 day period: a 3 mile jog/hobble and a 5.7 mile steady run on Sunday. Hence my decision to not put myself in the RAF Senior Team for the Inter-Services Duathlon. I remained in the Vets team, thinking that the healthier and younger guys would be in far better condition.
For various reasons, it didn’t quite turn out like that! I actually ran ok (not great; but ok). Same for the bike really – a strong ride but no real Zip! However, that was enough to get me 13th overall and 4th RAF Finisher. Of course, I didn’t actually count for the RAF Team because I was a named vet. This is the way this competition works and it can be very frustrating from a Team Manager stance. I was the next choice to place in the Mens’ team if there was another drop out or no show. As it was, Ronnie McWilliam did not turn up and we had no time to switch me to the Mens Team – not happy about that. But, as it turned out, we still would not have beaten the Army if I had switched. Now if we had Greg MacDonald (crashed badly the week before), I reckon that we could have had a chance.
Oh well, we do what we think is right at the time. The very positive thing is the sheer amount of RAF Triathletes that raced! There was red, white and blue everywhere. There were many stand-out performances, on a personal level and from a representative viewpoint. I can only really comment on those aspects that I noticed on the day and those that I can see from the results.
Firstly, Pete Norris backed up his recent great race results with a 4th place overall. He really is going very well. I was impressed with some of the younger new guys too (sorry, Pete! You are old compared to some others!). Fraser Williams showed what great potential he has by running very fast – fastest RAF, I believe, on the runs. Poor Mike Taylor may well have ran even faster if he had not pulled a hamstring on the first run, being forced to retire from the race. Rob Wilcox is the opposite of Fraser – Rob has a very strong bike and is an improving runner. Both Fraser and Rob are ones to watch!
Brad Goggin showed, yet again, that even with his disability, few can match him on the bike. One guy who certainly can is Mike Westwell! He bagged the fastest bike split of the day. He was the only guy under 28 mins and this helped him to finish 8th overall. Our reigning RAF Champion, Daz Sharpe, finished 10th with a solid performance all round. Daz had just returned from a family holiday and had not trained all week whilst in Germany. Feeling somewhat ‘stale’ by his standards, it shows that he is on course for another fine year (I wish I could race like a ‘stale’ Daz!).
Finishing in 14th position, another guy in great shape is Mal Rose. His running is a major strength, particularly off the bike; he reminds me of a robot, relentlessly powering onwards! Mat Stephenson showed that there is life in the RAF Ironman record holder yet. Mat battled for much of the race with myself and Jase Walkley. At the finish there was very little separating Myself,Mat, Mal and Jase.
As for me, 13th place and an ok race. Happy enough with where I am inpreparation for some longer stuff to come! I just need my calves to recover quickly from this blast! Early indications are that they will! Yippee!!

Pictures by Ben Lonsdale! Cracking they are too! There are some great action shots and some great shots capturing the occasion (and plenty of snot too!). Thanks Ben.

Cambridge Duathlon

In our sport, at age group racing, we rarely get to race and know exactly where we are in the field. We generally start in waves and get mixed up with previous and following waves. Yesterday, at the Cambridge Duathlon, it was really refreshing to control my race relative to my age group. It added a mental element that was really fun.

It was a warm spring morning and I was in the 3rd wave of 4 separate waves. It seemed that in my wave there was just my age group (45 – 49) and the next age group (50 – 54). All competitors had their age group letter body marked as it was a World Champs qualifier. I placed myself in the mid-pack as I wanted a steady start. As we started, it soon became obvious that I needed to be nearer the front. I was chopping my stride so much, that I was nearly falling over. I managed to weave through the pack and settle into 4th place. The lead guys came back as they relaxed into the pace and before long the 4 of us were leading the wave by a comfortable margin. I can’t remember feeling so easy in a race and I truly feel that the fast guys stayed away from this race. I was clipping the guys heels in front of me and I decided to put in a dig as we turned into a small incline. Before I knew it I had a decent gap and I just plodded on, focussing on keeping a tempo pace. What a great feeling to go into T1 in the lead! That doesn’t happen very often! Time for first 7.5k run was 27:59 by my watch.

Onto the bike and, as normal in a duathlon, my bike legs took a while to click in but I was happy that they did actually click in at all! The course was a 2 and a half lap route and a guy from my age group came past me on the second lap. To be honest, upping my pace was a relief, as I was messing around a bit. This is what I mean about the mental difference; I had proved that I was the fastest runner in my wave, so all I had to do was remain at the head of my wave into T2. hence I gave this guy 20 metres and then just cruised along. He slowed quite significantly later on but I think he had really pushed hard on his first lap to close the gap – respect. My bike split, a relaxed effort of 1:04:16.

Onto the second run I left T2 with my age group colleague. My plan had been to run with him until half way and then stick the boot in. However, he was struggling to get going so I just went for it. Soon, a guy from age group D came alongside and we basically helped/duelled it out for the rest of the run. I bagged a 28:00 run split by my watch, for a run time virtually identical to the first! Overall time 2:01:44, which was almost exactly 3 mins quicker than when I last raced this course in 2009. I can’t help thinking that a flat out effort may have seen a sub 2-hour race. That said, my second run may have been a lot slower if I had pushed harder earlier on. I can’t complain with an age group win and 13th overall. I just need some more races to hone the form some more.

Coach Roy B and Paul Cassels also raced and enjoyed the sunshine. Royster is on the comeback from niggles so he was chuffed to leave healthy. Paul was slightly disappointed but he has missed a block of training and should come good later in the season.

I also met Mickey Tri, from Coventry. Hopefully, he will confirm that he has qualified for the World Du Champs. Well done Mike; I know that you can do it 8-)

I am sore today, but not broken! My feet seem ok but I must go easy for the rest of this week, to stay healthy!

There were some great performances from RAF Tri guys and gals at London Marathon. In my book, Laura Baylis’ 3:00:06 was the stand out effort. That is a great time but oh so frustrating! Just how much would Laura have liked t have clocked 2:59:59! It’s just a number. . . . . . .

Dust the Skinsuit Off!

Yep; the skinsuit was dusted off for the first evening club 10 mile TT on Wednesday. It was a cold evening but I have seen worse conditions on this course. I managed 23:55, which is pretty much exactly the same time I clocked on my first ride last year. So, pleasantly surprised as I have not done as much intensity work on the bike. Maybe I can race myself into shape now!

My foot has eased up this week and I will make it to the start line at the Cambridge Duathlon. However, I will ease into the race and use it as training. There are some fast guys in my cat who have just moved up from the 40 - 44 age group. So I do not intend on getting mixed up with these guys! Yeah, I know; where have we heard this before! But I have been so fed up over the last 4 weeks due to my feet problems, I just do not want to risk another set back.

It's London Marathon weekend too. Best of luck to all our triathletes racing on Sunday. Looking forward to seeing the results!

Plan B

With the Inter-Services Duathlon coming up I just had to find out how the Army were doing their brick sessions! Interesting?



My foot is still giving grief. Hence the happyometer is reading very low at the moment. To combat this I have resorted to Plan B. This is basically see how far I can push it in training and monitor the foot. It started with resumimg commuting on the bike. First ride home included an impromptu motor pacing effort. A moped overtook me and I managed to get in the wheel. What a great feeling. Trouble is the moped dude had no idea what I was doing and started weaving all over the road. To prevent a traffic incidence I backed off. That little episode pretty much blew my legs apart. I am clearly not in great bike shape - hardly surprising. The foot was no worse for the ride but I continue with icing and all that stuff.

Yesterday I did a tasty brick session. the foot was, again, no worse - or no better, depending on how you look at it! But at least I ran for the first time in 2 weeks. Enjoyed the session:

20 min warm up

2 min 260W
2 min 240W
2 min 280W
2 min 260W

Run 1k at 4:00 min per k pace
EZ run back 1k

Repeat with the same bike format but increase run pace by 10 sec per k. So next run was 3:50 per k. Finished with 3:26 per k average on the last rep.

Not sure how the foot will be tomorrow?

Waiting game.

Train well!