What a difference a month makes! About 4 weeks ago I was freezing my digits off at the Clumber Du and yesterday was a cracking day for my first tri of the year at sunny Skipton and about 20 degrees hotter!
My 400m swim was a fairly decent 6:17. It was nice to have a clear swim too. Quite often at these large sprint races (over 600 in this one) the swim lanes can be congested to say the least. There were 4 per lane, with a 5 sec staggered start between the 4 of us. I was second away in my lane and caught the guy in front within 2 lengths and after that I had a clear swim and nobody came past either which has never happened before! It was a long jog along a sharp footpath then onto the grassed area of T1. Then it was another long jog with my bike to the mount line at the top end of the park! I was breathing pretty heavy as I got on my bike!
The one lap 20km bike loop was a 'game of 2 half's'. First half came the climbs, nothing drastic but still pretty lumpy with the second half a lot flatter. But what was annoying though was the group of 5 or 6 riders who were taking advantage of the lack of 'draft buster refs' and were taking turns on the front of their mini peleton. GRRRRR! I held back from this group thinking that I didn't want to get caught up with them and suffer a penalty or DQ when the ref on a motorbike comes past...but he never came. I pushed past them and a couple of them tagged on to my wheel then! I made my feelings known (complete with imaginative expletives!) and that seemed to spur me on with a surge of anger fuelled adrenalin and I opened up a gap on them before entering T2. Bike split: 36:52 (17th fastest which is better than my usual efforts on 2 wheels!)
The 5km run was a 2 lap affair over a reasonably hilly route. It was tough going, not made any easier with a stitch (too many gels on the bike me thinks!). I found the second runs at my recent duathlons easier than this one! Run split: 18:04
I finished 8th overall and 2nd 40-50. A nice sunny day at the office!
Well done to 'I'm not that fit honest' Saggers, and Roy at the Cambridge Du!
Train well and make the most of the sun this week!
Monday 18 April 2011
Monday 4 April 2011
Race 2 Done And Still No Swimming!
Yesterday was my second race of the season and it was another duathlon. So my swimming has been taking a wee bit of a back seat lately as I have been enjoying the duathlon season a little too much! 
Oulton Park was yesterdays race and it was my first venture to this venue. It was a bit windy but at least it was dry right up until half way round my second run. I was expecting the track to be flatter than it was but there are a couple of short sharp bumps on this race circuit which sap your bike legs, especially after about 5 or 6 laps, and I really had to concentrate on counting my bike laps, all 9 of them! My splits: 8.6km run - 31:15 38.8km bike - 1:03:58 4.3km run - 14:55 Total 1:52:09 I finished 12th overall and was 2nd in age group, behind Greg Macdonald (9th overall), so it was a RAF 1, 2 in our AG! Jase Walkley did well in the sprint race too, taking 2nd overall...bring on the Inter Services Du!! So although I'd already qualified for the Worlds at Clumber, it was nice to 'back it up' with a good race at Oulton. Overall, I'm very happy with my running at the moment (negative splits and 4th fastest second run!) but I feel as though my bike is not where I want it to be although I think I've improved a little on last season. Maybe it's just those common pre season doubts that everyone has...time will tell. My next race is the Skipton Tri in 2 weeks where I'll have to swim in that one!!? Back to the pool it is then... Train well.
Oulton Park was yesterdays race and it was my first venture to this venue. It was a bit windy but at least it was dry right up until half way round my second run. I was expecting the track to be flatter than it was but there are a couple of short sharp bumps on this race circuit which sap your bike legs, especially after about 5 or 6 laps, and I really had to concentrate on counting my bike laps, all 9 of them! My splits: 8.6km run - 31:15 38.8km bike - 1:03:58 4.3km run - 14:55 Total 1:52:09 I finished 12th overall and was 2nd in age group, behind Greg Macdonald (9th overall), so it was a RAF 1, 2 in our AG! Jase Walkley did well in the sprint race too, taking 2nd overall...bring on the Inter Services Du!! So although I'd already qualified for the Worlds at Clumber, it was nice to 'back it up' with a good race at Oulton. Overall, I'm very happy with my running at the moment (negative splits and 4th fastest second run!) but I feel as though my bike is not where I want it to be although I think I've improved a little on last season. Maybe it's just those common pre season doubts that everyone has...time will tell. My next race is the Skipton Tri in 2 weeks where I'll have to swim in that one!!? Back to the pool it is then... Train well.
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