It's been a long year, but it has finally come to an end and what better way to finish it than with the Lochness Marathon.
Yesterday saw me tackle only my second pure marathon and I'd have to say what a great race Lochness is. It's a point to point run which I really enjoy as you always feel like you are getting to the end and not weaving your way around the streets of a city centre. The course follows the banks of Lochness so it's terrific scenery all the way on quite roads.
Going into the race I had been told it was a rolling course, which I was really looking forward to as it breaks up the monotony of running on a pan flat course. Having now ran the course, I'd say it was a little more than rolling, there were some big climbs and even more punishingly some big descents.
People say that London is a fast downhill start, I've done London and it has nothing on the start at Lochness, I was trying to rain myself in at the start and not get carried away and I still managed to do a 3:24 for my first kilometer, that's practically my 10km pace and that wasn't even the biggest and fast descent. From my garmin my top speed was clocked at 24km/h so in hindsight I think I was probably taking the downhills a little bit too quick and unfortunately paid for this come the back end of the race.
Around the 18mile point where the biggest climb on the course was just up ahead my quads really started to pack in, and it really turned into survival running from there on in with my 2:45hrs target starting to slip away and the sub 3hr running also looking in doubt.
With about 4miles to go a small group of us formed and I began to run well (relatively speaking) again, it sub 3hrs looked possible. Unfortunately for me this group formed a little too early and I just wasn't able to hold that pace for the remainder, with 2 miles to go I started to fall off the back and my pace drop dramatically and those final 2 miles seem to go on for ever. Coming down the finishing straight I saw the race clock, 3:03hrs gutted the sub 3 had eluded me again but I was still on course for a pb so pushed the last 300 meters to come in at 3:04:23 (3:07 old PB).
The race hurt, but I finished it and more importantly I learnt a lot from it, so I can now take that into my Ironman preparations for next year. But for now time to relax and take some time off going to get some rock climbing in, maybe some golf, get back to my pilates and just enjoy being able to do as I please as well as eating and drinking as I please, Cheers everyone :-)
Monday, 4 October 2010
Friday, 17 September 2010
Post Worlds
Well unfortunately it didn't all go to plan, I made it to the start line after having spent the week doing nothing after being diagnosed with a virus, but it just took too much out of me that I wasn't able to race at my planned intensity.
It was really disappointing not being able to race the race and more just get round as I had spent so long focusing and preparing for that race and felt I had the fitness and capability to take a medal the way everything was going on the run up to the race. Unfortunately these things happen, we saw it with Tim Don and Holly Avile at the Olympics getting food poisoning just before the race. In hindsight it may have come about as I was possibly too light and my immune system just couldn't cope with being that light. I've never been that light before and know now that I can't get away with being that light. With all things those if you don't push it to the limit and beyond how will you ever find out where your limit is, it was a bugger of a race to find that out, but at least I now know.
A big thank you must be said to everyone who was at the race cheering me on even though I was backwards, I would hate to think how hard the race could have been if it wasn't for the constant support, cheers everyone.
After a week relaxing in Turkey with friends its back to training for the last few races of the season before I can take a proper brake before and start thinking about next year. But before all that I have the Lochness Marathon in 3weeks so running is top of the agenda for the time being.
It was really disappointing not being able to race the race and more just get round as I had spent so long focusing and preparing for that race and felt I had the fitness and capability to take a medal the way everything was going on the run up to the race. Unfortunately these things happen, we saw it with Tim Don and Holly Avile at the Olympics getting food poisoning just before the race. In hindsight it may have come about as I was possibly too light and my immune system just couldn't cope with being that light. I've never been that light before and know now that I can't get away with being that light. With all things those if you don't push it to the limit and beyond how will you ever find out where your limit is, it was a bugger of a race to find that out, but at least I now know.
A big thank you must be said to everyone who was at the race cheering me on even though I was backwards, I would hate to think how hard the race could have been if it wasn't for the constant support, cheers everyone.
After a week relaxing in Turkey with friends its back to training for the last few races of the season before I can take a proper brake before and start thinking about next year. But before all that I have the Lochness Marathon in 3weeks so running is top of the agenda for the time being.
Sunday, 29 August 2010
6 days to go
The first week of my taper has been a bit of a mixed bag. Coming off the Peebles duathlon I recovered really well and went into my Tuesday night running intervals with my legs feeling great. Dan And Niall were both racing and Zac had been ill since sat so he text my the session. 1k, 2min rest, 400m 1min rest repeat 4times, aim for 1k 3mins at slowest and 4oom 64sec at slowest. I saw read that and though, "Zac thanks for the vote of confidence, but 3mins at the slowest is a big ask, so far 3:00 has been my quickest in my sets".
Wow, I have a lot of confidence in my running, but that session put my confidence for the Worlds through the roof. I did 2:57/62, 2:57/64, 2:57, 65 and 3:00/64, it's amazing what a difference having fresh legs going into a session can make. The first 2 sets felt so comfortable, it was great not starting the session already tired.
On to Wednesday and my lest bike interval session on Arthur Seat (WDC race course). This is where my mixed bag week begins, my legs were empty, Rich and Malk were just leaving me for dead on the every rep I just couldn't produce any power, please tell me it was just tired legs from my run session as I did it at night instead of lunch. Here's hoping thats all it was.
For the past few Thursday nights I've struggled to do the club interval session at Silverknowes as my legs have been so tired from the Wednesday intervals, since I struggled so much this Wed I hoped I might have something to give on this session. It was going to be a short session, 5xhill drags just under 1k with easy pedal recovery (~2mins), but aiming for high anaerobic capacity power outputs. On my warm up pedal across to Silveknowes my legs were feeling good so I was optimistic about the session. I try not to focus on my power output while I'm doing the reps, I just good as hard as I can for every rep. The reps felt good, I was dead by the end of the session hitting hear rates of 182bpm, so I was happy I had given everything I had, however would the power concur, I wouldn't know until I got home and downloaded the data.
My confidence for the second time this week was given a massive boost, in my head I had 400W as my target ave power for the reps, previously I had only managed to break 400W in 1 rep over a set, I now did it 3 out of 5 with the other 2 only fractionally missing out. Oh yes I can't believe how good I'm feeling about this, everything is coming together at the perfect time, 9days to go to the worlds and I'm running faster than ever, bike stronger than ever and I'm weighing in lighter than I have ever been, almost 4kg lighter than my normal racing weight, happy days.
Wow, I have a lot of confidence in my running, but that session put my confidence for the Worlds through the roof. I did 2:57/62, 2:57/64, 2:57, 65 and 3:00/64, it's amazing what a difference having fresh legs going into a session can make. The first 2 sets felt so comfortable, it was great not starting the session already tired.
On to Wednesday and my lest bike interval session on Arthur Seat (WDC race course). This is where my mixed bag week begins, my legs were empty, Rich and Malk were just leaving me for dead on the every rep I just couldn't produce any power, please tell me it was just tired legs from my run session as I did it at night instead of lunch. Here's hoping thats all it was.
For the past few Thursday nights I've struggled to do the club interval session at Silverknowes as my legs have been so tired from the Wednesday intervals, since I struggled so much this Wed I hoped I might have something to give on this session. It was going to be a short session, 5xhill drags just under 1k with easy pedal recovery (~2mins), but aiming for high anaerobic capacity power outputs. On my warm up pedal across to Silveknowes my legs were feeling good so I was optimistic about the session. I try not to focus on my power output while I'm doing the reps, I just good as hard as I can for every rep. The reps felt good, I was dead by the end of the session hitting hear rates of 182bpm, so I was happy I had given everything I had, however would the power concur, I wouldn't know until I got home and downloaded the data.
My confidence for the second time this week was given a massive boost, in my head I had 400W as my target ave power for the reps, previously I had only managed to break 400W in 1 rep over a set, I now did it 3 out of 5 with the other 2 only fractionally missing out. Oh yes I can't believe how good I'm feeling about this, everything is coming together at the perfect time, 9days to go to the worlds and I'm running faster than ever, bike stronger than ever and I'm weighing in lighter than I have ever been, almost 4kg lighter than my normal racing weight, happy days.
My confidence this week has been on a roller coaster journey, up then down then up again where is it going to go from here? Down unfortunately, come Friday afternoon my throat was starting to get a little and on Saturday morning I woke up and just felt knackered. I'd had an easy day on Friday yet I felt like I'd done a load of hard training, I can't believe I'm coming down with something. The weekend has been spent, not training, but consuming as much, honey, protein, green tea and gargling with aspirin in the hope that I can get shot of this before it gets any worse. On the up side at least I got it now and not next Thursday/Friday, so hopefully the forced rest will work in my favour. Fingers crossed.
Monday, 23 August 2010
Peebles Duathlon
It was another glorious day in the Scottish Borders for the next round of the Borders sport and leisure trust multisport series, which consisted of the Peebles sprint duathlon (5k, 20k, 5k).
I had planned this race as a perfect warm up race for the World duathlon champs in 2weeks time and I wasn't the only one, several Scottish competitors were there with the same plan.
I had tired legs coming into the race after a week of high intensity training, so wasn't sure how the race would go. I took the lead for the start of the run and managed to keep in the top three going into T1 where we had a good gap over the rest of the field. The bike was where I felt my tired legs would show and I knew there were strong bikers behind so I just had to give it everything and hope they wouldn't catch me.
Going into the turn around point on the bike myself and Stuart Kerr were battling for second and third with Iain Grant up the road in first. As we turned at the dead turn we had a significant gap back to 4th and 5th who were Rich and Malk my Wednesday interval training partners and both strong bikers, so that was a great boast for the 2nd half of the race.
Stuart and I managed to stay ahead of the rest of the field for the remainder of the bike and I sneak ahead of Stuart into T2 and got out on the run with a small gap, my legs were feeling OK but not strong enough to hold off Stuart who was running strong and came past after about 1.5k.
The race finished with Iain Grant 1st, Stuart Kerr 2nd and myself 3rd which I was happy with, legs didn't quite have the usual zip in the 2nd run but I think when I'm rested and tapered for the worlds I should be running strong off the bike.
And so the taper begins, I can't wait for the Worlds.
I had planned this race as a perfect warm up race for the World duathlon champs in 2weeks time and I wasn't the only one, several Scottish competitors were there with the same plan.
I had tired legs coming into the race after a week of high intensity training, so wasn't sure how the race would go. I took the lead for the start of the run and managed to keep in the top three going into T1 where we had a good gap over the rest of the field. The bike was where I felt my tired legs would show and I knew there were strong bikers behind so I just had to give it everything and hope they wouldn't catch me.
Going into the turn around point on the bike myself and Stuart Kerr were battling for second and third with Iain Grant up the road in first. As we turned at the dead turn we had a significant gap back to 4th and 5th who were Rich and Malk my Wednesday interval training partners and both strong bikers, so that was a great boast for the 2nd half of the race.
Stuart and I managed to stay ahead of the rest of the field for the remainder of the bike and I sneak ahead of Stuart into T2 and got out on the run with a small gap, my legs were feeling OK but not strong enough to hold off Stuart who was running strong and came past after about 1.5k.
The race finished with Iain Grant 1st, Stuart Kerr 2nd and myself 3rd which I was happy with, legs didn't quite have the usual zip in the 2nd run but I think when I'm rested and tapered for the worlds I should be running strong off the bike.
And so the taper begins, I can't wait for the Worlds.
Saturday, 21 August 2010
Countdown to the Worlds
It's now only 2weeks today till the World Duathlon Champs at Arthur seat so the past few weeks training have been specific to the race.
The key sessions of my week have been, 400's and 1k run intervals and bike intervals on the course.
A Friend from work Zac (an excellent Algerian runner, 62min half marathon pb) has been helping me with my running preparation and has had me down at the meadows perfecting my running speed. It's strange how such a short session can kill you for the rest of the day. The first time we did our 400 reps I was wasted for the rest of the night, we only did 6 reps with a run recovery of 60-70secs, but that maximal effort was straight to the point. 6mins of effort, it really is quality over quantity.
With the bike reps I've been training with 2 fire brigade friends who are also doing the worlds, both of whom are really strong bikers, so I've properly been getting a doin every week trying to keep up with them. This week was our biggest and hardest week on bike course intervals, when I told the guy's what we were doing there was slight dread as they knew how hard the session would be, particularly as the previous weeks had been killer sessions and this one was tougher still.
The aim of the session was to do as much of the 5lap bike course as possible (part of the course is the opposite way on a one way road) so we went for 5 laps starting at the bottom of the decent all the way to the end of the main climb, which yes meant us climb up the Wong way of a one way system, but we were careful not to get in any ones way. So all in all we would be doing intervals of 4/5ths of the actual race course laps.
I can tell you know that the race is going to be a brutal one, it's already be doubt the hardest World Duathlon course ever and I think that is definitely going to be true. By the end of the session we were all knackered and that was without doing the 10k before hand and we had recovery reps between the intervals. The good think is it's going to hurt for everyone and I'll have the knowledge of the course in and out and when it hurts knowing I've probably hurt worse in training.
Feedback from all of these sessions over the past few weeks, keeps me positive that I'm in good shape. A good bench mark is going to be the Peebles duathlon tomorrow (Sunday 22nd Aug). It might only be a sprint 5k, 20k, 5k but it will be a good test of how everything is coming together, plus a lot of the Scots doing the Worlds are also racing it so it should be a competitive race. Can't wait to get racing again.
The key sessions of my week have been, 400's and 1k run intervals and bike intervals on the course.
A Friend from work Zac (an excellent Algerian runner, 62min half marathon pb) has been helping me with my running preparation and has had me down at the meadows perfecting my running speed. It's strange how such a short session can kill you for the rest of the day. The first time we did our 400 reps I was wasted for the rest of the night, we only did 6 reps with a run recovery of 60-70secs, but that maximal effort was straight to the point. 6mins of effort, it really is quality over quantity.
With the bike reps I've been training with 2 fire brigade friends who are also doing the worlds, both of whom are really strong bikers, so I've properly been getting a doin every week trying to keep up with them. This week was our biggest and hardest week on bike course intervals, when I told the guy's what we were doing there was slight dread as they knew how hard the session would be, particularly as the previous weeks had been killer sessions and this one was tougher still.
The aim of the session was to do as much of the 5lap bike course as possible (part of the course is the opposite way on a one way road) so we went for 5 laps starting at the bottom of the decent all the way to the end of the main climb, which yes meant us climb up the Wong way of a one way system, but we were careful not to get in any ones way. So all in all we would be doing intervals of 4/5ths of the actual race course laps.
I can tell you know that the race is going to be a brutal one, it's already be doubt the hardest World Duathlon course ever and I think that is definitely going to be true. By the end of the session we were all knackered and that was without doing the 10k before hand and we had recovery reps between the intervals. The good think is it's going to hurt for everyone and I'll have the knowledge of the course in and out and when it hurts knowing I've probably hurt worse in training.
Feedback from all of these sessions over the past few weeks, keeps me positive that I'm in good shape. A good bench mark is going to be the Peebles duathlon tomorrow (Sunday 22nd Aug). It might only be a sprint 5k, 20k, 5k but it will be a good test of how everything is coming together, plus a lot of the Scots doing the Worlds are also racing it so it should be a competitive race. Can't wait to get racing again.
Saturday, 7 August 2010
The short and long of last week
Last week I raced over the short 3x1mile run relay at the meadows midweek and then the Long hard Durty one which was also the British cross tri champs.
The midweek run really boasted my confidence for the World duathlon champs in 4weeks with a new pb of 4:36. I know it's only a mile, but it shows me that I have leg speed at the moment which should equate to fast 5and 10k times.
Form there I went to the cross tri British champs at St Marys Loch for the Durty tri. I was looking forward to the race as my mountain biking has come on from previous years particularly my climbing, I've climbing really strong this year and the course is favourable to climbers.
The swim was great, St Marys Loch is a wonderful fresh water Loch to swim in, I was feeling strong the whole way round the course and was in a good pack. Entering T1 I noticed that Sam Gardners bike was still racked beside mine so I must of had a good swim to be out before the race favourite. Saying that though he was just behind me, and with his off road experience he got out of transition before me.
On to the bike and I was climbing well, picking off some of the riders who came out of the swim before me. Things were going well, however it would not stay that way. Coming down the 2nd descent which was a mix of boggy sections and loose rock I managed to go arse of tip on the loose rock, and came down hard on my left hand side on the rocks. When I got up I could barely walk, I really thought I have done some serious damage and that was my race over. After sitting chatting to Rik, one of the marshalls at the next turn I decided it was time to get back to the transition to get changed and warmed up. However as I was riding my hip began to ease off, so I decided to do the second lap, I hate DNFing. I got round the rest of the bike safely, I wasn't trying any heroics to catch up on the field, just get the bike done and run like crazy to at least get a good training session out of it.
I was really pleased with how I run, coming from the back of the field I had a constant stream of athletes to pick off which always help. I've not seen the splits yet but would like to compare my run and swim time with the winners to see where I stand on those grounds, I just need to work on my descending skills to really be up there in the off road races, which is definitely something I'll be looking to focus on in the next few seasons.
A big congratulations to Paul and his team for organising the Durty tri, it was a great race and the hog roast afterwards was brilliant, I wish every race had that post race.
The midweek run really boasted my confidence for the World duathlon champs in 4weeks with a new pb of 4:36. I know it's only a mile, but it shows me that I have leg speed at the moment which should equate to fast 5and 10k times.
Form there I went to the cross tri British champs at St Marys Loch for the Durty tri. I was looking forward to the race as my mountain biking has come on from previous years particularly my climbing, I've climbing really strong this year and the course is favourable to climbers.The swim was great, St Marys Loch is a wonderful fresh water Loch to swim in, I was feeling strong the whole way round the course and was in a good pack. Entering T1 I noticed that Sam Gardners bike was still racked beside mine so I must of had a good swim to be out before the race favourite. Saying that though he was just behind me, and with his off road experience he got out of transition before me.
On to the bike and I was climbing well, picking off some of the riders who came out of the swim before me. Things were going well, however it would not stay that way. Coming down the 2nd descent which was a mix of boggy sections and loose rock I managed to go arse of tip on the loose rock, and came down hard on my left hand side on the rocks. When I got up I could barely walk, I really thought I have done some serious damage and that was my race over. After sitting chatting to Rik, one of the marshalls at the next turn I decided it was time to get back to the transition to get changed and warmed up. However as I was riding my hip began to ease off, so I decided to do the second lap, I hate DNFing. I got round the rest of the bike safely, I wasn't trying any heroics to catch up on the field, just get the bike done and run like crazy to at least get a good training session out of it.
I was really pleased with how I run, coming from the back of the field I had a constant stream of athletes to pick off which always help. I've not seen the splits yet but would like to compare my run and swim time with the winners to see where I stand on those grounds, I just need to work on my descending skills to really be up there in the off road races, which is definitely something I'll be looking to focus on in the next few seasons.
A big congratulations to Paul and his team for organising the Durty tri, it was a great race and the hog roast afterwards was brilliant, I wish every race had that post race.
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Gullane Beach Triathlon
I'm happy to say that the improvements in bike power in training have indeed translated to improved racing.
It was the Gullane Beach triathlon yesterday and I was hoping for a good race with a podium place in mind.
Race conditions were excellent for Gullanes standards (last year the swim was cut to 750m due to the swell) the swim was nothing to taxing, with the tide being more favourable throughout the 2lap 1.5k swim. I didn't managed to get into a group for the swim so ended up a few 20 or seconds down on where I would have hoped to be, but in sight of the other podium contenders, well except from Craig, he was setting a blistering pace right from the off.
Exiting the water in 7th I was happy as I still had people in sight to chase down on the bike and contrary to earlier in the year I was feeling positive about my biking.
The bike course from what I remember from the last time I raced it (2003, I can't believe it was that long ago) was tough due to the wind and climbs. Whether it was that I am stronger, of that I've ridden the race roads in training more, but the course didn't seem that hard. In fact it seemed to fly by faster than normal 40k (and Gullane is 42K) courses. After moving throw the feel into 5th Stuart Macleod came charging past, who I knew was a strong biker so I made sure to keep him in sight. Coming into T2 Stuart was still in sight and I was now in 4th place, time to put my running legs to work.
I knew that Craig was going to be way out in front as he is a really strong biker, so catching him was going to take something special. But catching Stuart in 3rd and Andy Turnbull in 2nd was definitely doable, Andy being a strong biker, but not too strong a runner. The run like the previous 2 disciplines is not an easy straight forward one. A 2 lap course which take you up and over one of the Gullane golf courses, with a handful of short but leg draining climbs, is not a fast run. Would this play into my favour.
After weaving my way through the houses at the start of the run I hit the first climb up to the golf course and to my surprise as I turn onto the climb I could see Andy and Stuart 50m ahead off me, excellent I wouldn't normally expect to see Andy until about the half way point of the run, I must of had a really good bike. Passing Andy on the descent he shouted I had about a 30sec gap to Stuart. The course now flattens out now for the 2nd half of the lap which is an out and back so I had Stuart in my sights and was reeling him in. With Gullane being a local race there were lots of club support on the run and everyone was giving great support as I went past transition.
I new Stuart was a strong runner, but I also knew that he was training for Ironman distance racing this year so he mind not have the speed on the flat, so when I came up behind him I move straight past him with a small increase in pace, nothing to explosive cause to be honest I was hurt myself and didn't want to die on the second lot of climbs. Passing transition Penny shouted that I had about 20ms gap so I knew I was at least pull away from Stuart I just had to hang on over the climbs, as his long distance strength might be advantages over the tough sections.
Descending off the climbs and passing back through transition for the last 2.5k Penny shouted that Stuart was out of sight, brilliant all I need to do is keep this pace for the out and back and 2nd place would be mine. I was tying up a little on the return leg into a strong head wind, but held on to 2nd place by 20seconds. Very pleased with the outcome, not running at my best, but thought that might be the case with all the biking had been doing, still 4th fastest run so not that bad.
Well Done to Edinburgh Triathletes for organising a great race. Also congratulations to Graig Dale on a truly exceptional race leading from the off and racing strong all the way to the line, great effort.
It was the Gullane Beach triathlon yesterday and I was hoping for a good race with a podium place in mind.
Race conditions were excellent for Gullanes standards (last year the swim was cut to 750m due to the swell) the swim was nothing to taxing, with the tide being more favourable throughout the 2lap 1.5k swim. I didn't managed to get into a group for the swim so ended up a few 20 or seconds down on where I would have hoped to be, but in sight of the other podium contenders, well except from Craig, he was setting a blistering pace right from the off.
Exiting the water in 7th I was happy as I still had people in sight to chase down on the bike and contrary to earlier in the year I was feeling positive about my biking.
The bike course from what I remember from the last time I raced it (2003, I can't believe it was that long ago) was tough due to the wind and climbs. Whether it was that I am stronger, of that I've ridden the race roads in training more, but the course didn't seem that hard. In fact it seemed to fly by faster than normal 40k (and Gullane is 42K) courses. After moving throw the feel into 5th Stuart Macleod came charging past, who I knew was a strong biker so I made sure to keep him in sight. Coming into T2 Stuart was still in sight and I was now in 4th place, time to put my running legs to work.
I knew that Craig was going to be way out in front as he is a really strong biker, so catching him was going to take something special. But catching Stuart in 3rd and Andy Turnbull in 2nd was definitely doable, Andy being a strong biker, but not too strong a runner. The run like the previous 2 disciplines is not an easy straight forward one. A 2 lap course which take you up and over one of the Gullane golf courses, with a handful of short but leg draining climbs, is not a fast run. Would this play into my favour.
After weaving my way through the houses at the start of the run I hit the first climb up to the golf course and to my surprise as I turn onto the climb I could see Andy and Stuart 50m ahead off me, excellent I wouldn't normally expect to see Andy until about the half way point of the run, I must of had a really good bike. Passing Andy on the descent he shouted I had about a 30sec gap to Stuart. The course now flattens out now for the 2nd half of the lap which is an out and back so I had Stuart in my sights and was reeling him in. With Gullane being a local race there were lots of club support on the run and everyone was giving great support as I went past transition.
I new Stuart was a strong runner, but I also knew that he was training for Ironman distance racing this year so he mind not have the speed on the flat, so when I came up behind him I move straight past him with a small increase in pace, nothing to explosive cause to be honest I was hurt myself and didn't want to die on the second lot of climbs. Passing transition Penny shouted that I had about 20ms gap so I knew I was at least pull away from Stuart I just had to hang on over the climbs, as his long distance strength might be advantages over the tough sections.
Descending off the climbs and passing back through transition for the last 2.5k Penny shouted that Stuart was out of sight, brilliant all I need to do is keep this pace for the out and back and 2nd place would be mine. I was tying up a little on the return leg into a strong head wind, but held on to 2nd place by 20seconds. Very pleased with the outcome, not running at my best, but thought that might be the case with all the biking had been doing, still 4th fastest run so not that bad.
Well Done to Edinburgh Triathletes for organising a great race. Also congratulations to Graig Dale on a truly exceptional race leading from the off and racing strong all the way to the line, great effort.
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Staycation
After an early start to the season with the Stirling Duathlon in March and a crazy spell of 8races in 7weeks over May and June I was glad to have 4weeks with no races. To top off this racing break I also had 3weeks off work where I could get some good training in and hopefully enjoy a good Scottish summer :-)
Getting the training in was always going to be a definite but the good Scottish summer was always going to be a bit of a lottery, but for once I actually won the lottery. What a glorious three 3weeks I have had, I actually got a bit of a tan. Who needs to go abroad when you get weather like this. When I was leaving Oz last year the guy's were saying "do you not wish you were staying in Oz?" and I said No, Scotland is one of the best countries to train in, sure we don't always get the weather, but when we do, I can't think of anywhere better.
So what have I actually been up? Well from looking back over the start of the season I felt my biking just wasn't where it should be so the focus of the three weeks was going to be on biking. As I'm running so strong I felt I could afford to back of my running slightly. So I embarked on some long base mile rides, which included a lovely 115mile group ride to Moffat climbing over 2300m an excellent day's biking with some great company. I also did short high intensity interval sessions where I was working for 2-4min stints at intensities above 10mile TT pace.
One of the things I also did was look at what makes me such a strong runner, and I believe it is largely down to one session, my long 18km Fartlek session at 10k race pace, so I figured I need to do a likewise session for my biking to get the same results. To do this I took my Garmin GPS data from my run session and just multiplied all the rep and recovery distances by 4 and plugged them back into my Garmin so it would beep at me when I had covered the rep or recovery distances, a great training tool. Once I knew the exact distance of the session I planned a route that was hilly, quite and free of traffic lights and went out and berried myself on the bike for just under 3hrs at a time, it definitely achieved the desired affect.
To mix up my training and to keep it fun I also decided to get some regular mountain biking in seen as I didn't get any done over the winter due to the snow, plus I feel mountain biking is a great training tool for developing strength and bike handling skills. Not to mention I was planning on racing the Dirty tri at the end of July so was really wanting to get my eye back in off road. We are incredibly lucky having some of the best mountain biking facilities in Scotland with Glentress and Innerleithen just a short drive into the borders from Edinburgh and more routes easily accessible for day trips. Kirroughtree down near Stranraer was one of the 7 stanes centres that I hadn't ridden previously so made a trip down with my team mate Niall to experiences some different routes. Well worth the 2.5hrs drive, we did the red and black routes both of which were really enjoyable routes, different from what I am used to at Glentress and Innerleithen which is great for improving your skills, so you don't just get good a riding what your used to.
So has it all worked? From my last threshold power test I'm more powerful than I've ever been, an 18watt increase in 9weeks from my previous test and not only that but I'm the lightest I've been since my university days, which weren't yesterday, ha ha. So all in all I'm very pleased with how my three week bike specific block of training has gone, not only has my fitness improved by I have had a really enjoyable time, some may think it's a strange way to spend your holidays, I on the other think it's a great way to spend your holidays. The true test will be this weekend at the Gullane triathlon to see how the training and power increase translates to racing, hopefully it all equates to strong racing.
Getting the training in was always going to be a definite but the good Scottish summer was always going to be a bit of a lottery, but for once I actually won the lottery. What a glorious three 3weeks I have had, I actually got a bit of a tan. Who needs to go abroad when you get weather like this. When I was leaving Oz last year the guy's were saying "do you not wish you were staying in Oz?" and I said No, Scotland is one of the best countries to train in, sure we don't always get the weather, but when we do, I can't think of anywhere better.
So what have I actually been up? Well from looking back over the start of the season I felt my biking just wasn't where it should be so the focus of the three weeks was going to be on biking. As I'm running so strong I felt I could afford to back of my running slightly. So I embarked on some long base mile rides, which included a lovely 115mile group ride to Moffat climbing over 2300m an excellent day's biking with some great company. I also did short high intensity interval sessions where I was working for 2-4min stints at intensities above 10mile TT pace.
One of the things I also did was look at what makes me such a strong runner, and I believe it is largely down to one session, my long 18km Fartlek session at 10k race pace, so I figured I need to do a likewise session for my biking to get the same results. To do this I took my Garmin GPS data from my run session and just multiplied all the rep and recovery distances by 4 and plugged them back into my Garmin so it would beep at me when I had covered the rep or recovery distances, a great training tool. Once I knew the exact distance of the session I planned a route that was hilly, quite and free of traffic lights and went out and berried myself on the bike for just under 3hrs at a time, it definitely achieved the desired affect.
To mix up my training and to keep it fun I also decided to get some regular mountain biking in seen as I didn't get any done over the winter due to the snow, plus I feel mountain biking is a great training tool for developing strength and bike handling skills. Not to mention I was planning on racing the Dirty tri at the end of July so was really wanting to get my eye back in off road. We are incredibly lucky having some of the best mountain biking facilities in Scotland with Glentress and Innerleithen just a short drive into the borders from Edinburgh and more routes easily accessible for day trips. Kirroughtree down near Stranraer was one of the 7 stanes centres that I hadn't ridden previously so made a trip down with my team mate Niall to experiences some different routes. Well worth the 2.5hrs drive, we did the red and black routes both of which were really enjoyable routes, different from what I am used to at Glentress and Innerleithen which is great for improving your skills, so you don't just get good a riding what your used to.
So has it all worked? From my last threshold power test I'm more powerful than I've ever been, an 18watt increase in 9weeks from my previous test and not only that but I'm the lightest I've been since my university days, which weren't yesterday, ha ha. So all in all I'm very pleased with how my three week bike specific block of training has gone, not only has my fitness improved by I have had a really enjoyable time, some may think it's a strange way to spend your holidays, I on the other think it's a great way to spend your holidays. The true test will be this weekend at the Gullane triathlon to see how the training and power increase translates to racing, hopefully it all equates to strong racing.
Monday, 7 June 2010
A well earned break from racing
There's nothing I love more than racing, it's why I train so hard so that I can hard. However there does come a point in the season where you look forward to having a few weeks of not racing, and that time has come. I think I've now raced 8 times in the last 7weeks, with running races and sprint and standard distance triathlons. There has been lots of podium places and top 5 finishes which always helps keep you motivated to race when you are racing so often.
Everything culminated for the time being with the Scottish standard triathlon championships at Knockburn, Aberdeenshire on Sunday past. I have to it's a great venue for a race there, I've only raced their once before and that was the first time the champs have been at Knockburn, and I hope not the last. Knockburn is by far my favourite standard distance race in Scotland and Fleetfeet (race organisers) did a great job putting the race on, well done guy's.
All baring the 1st half of the 1st of 3 bike laps and getting out of my wetsuit, I felt like my race went to plan. I was up in a good group in the swim which worked well together and I felt like I was moving fast through the glorious man made Loch. I exited the water in 6th place next to Andy Turnbull, but couldn't get my right foot out my wetsuit and ended up loosing about 20secs to Andy in T1, bugger, if I cut my wetsuit any shorter I'll be swimming in shorts :-) Hopefully it was just a one off.
Like I said above the 1st half of the first lap on the bike was just terrible, I was struggling to put any power down and really thought I had forgotten to pack my cycling legs. Thankfully though as I turned out of the headwind I was able to get my legs turning over a little quicker and it seemed the power was there and I soon caught sight of the next placed athlete. After pacing him I continued to ride well, but out on my own and only passing back markers.
In to T2 and out on the run which is always a positive point for me, however as I left T2 I could see the 1st km of the course and their was no one in sight, thats no good, I'm a good runner but thats really make life hard for myself. I pushed on and finally caught site of 2 runners (Andy and Ian Logan) i was confident I could catch Andy, and I did but catching Ian was going to be tougher. The twisted windy course was not working in my favour and from speaking to Ian after the race he told me he was using the corners on the course to try and sty out of sight as he knew I would be running him down, which I was, however not quick enough and Ian stayed ahead of me. I finished 5th. Happy with the out come.
Now I have 4 weeks till my next race and 3 weeks off work so I'll be putting in plenty of bike miles to help get my biking up there with my running. Lets see if it works.
Everything culminated for the time being with the Scottish standard triathlon championships at Knockburn, Aberdeenshire on Sunday past. I have to it's a great venue for a race there, I've only raced their once before and that was the first time the champs have been at Knockburn, and I hope not the last. Knockburn is by far my favourite standard distance race in Scotland and Fleetfeet (race organisers) did a great job putting the race on, well done guy's.
All baring the 1st half of the 1st of 3 bike laps and getting out of my wetsuit, I felt like my race went to plan. I was up in a good group in the swim which worked well together and I felt like I was moving fast through the glorious man made Loch. I exited the water in 6th place next to Andy Turnbull, but couldn't get my right foot out my wetsuit and ended up loosing about 20secs to Andy in T1, bugger, if I cut my wetsuit any shorter I'll be swimming in shorts :-) Hopefully it was just a one off.
Like I said above the 1st half of the first lap on the bike was just terrible, I was struggling to put any power down and really thought I had forgotten to pack my cycling legs. Thankfully though as I turned out of the headwind I was able to get my legs turning over a little quicker and it seemed the power was there and I soon caught sight of the next placed athlete. After pacing him I continued to ride well, but out on my own and only passing back markers.
In to T2 and out on the run which is always a positive point for me, however as I left T2 I could see the 1st km of the course and their was no one in sight, thats no good, I'm a good runner but thats really make life hard for myself. I pushed on and finally caught site of 2 runners (Andy and Ian Logan) i was confident I could catch Andy, and I did but catching Ian was going to be tougher. The twisted windy course was not working in my favour and from speaking to Ian after the race he told me he was using the corners on the course to try and sty out of sight as he knew I would be running him down, which I was, however not quick enough and Ian stayed ahead of me. I finished 5th. Happy with the out come.
Now I have 4 weeks till my next race and 3 weeks off work so I'll be putting in plenty of bike miles to help get my biking up there with my running. Lets see if it works.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Dunfermline 10k
Wednesday night I headed across the water to Fife for the Auld Toun 10k race at Pittencrieff park. I had never done it before so wasn't sure about the course, but from speaking to teams mates it sounded like I wouldn't be getting a quick time as it was supposed to be pretty hilly. From what I saw of the course beforehand I was starting to think the same as there didn't seem to be any flat sections around the park.
It was a glorious June evening for racing, maybe summer is finally here, it was a large Field of almost 400 runners and as usual I didn't really know who to watch out for except from a few familiar faces, one of whom beat me at Penicuik a few weeks ago.
With slightly tired legs warming up I made sure I didn't get too excited at the start and go tearing off. One runner took the lead straight off and I and a few others formed the chase group of 4. Halfway round the 1st small lap 1 of my group started pulling away so I tried to go with him, but I was at the back of the group when he went and just didn't react quick enough so was never able to get onto his heel and ran the start of the first large lap on my own before the next two reeled me in where we ran the majority of the race together working well together in our group of three.
Coming up the last drag with about 1.5k to one of our group came to the front and tried to push the pace and drop the other 2 of us, but was unsuccessful. When I saw him ease up a fraction I thought it was my turn to go, so in true Tour De France style I pulled out from the back of the group and shot across to the other side of the road using 2 back markers as blockers as I went by. I could sense the 2 behind hadn't managed to come with me so kept pushing on over the top of the drag and down what I thought was the last decent before a short climb to the finish line. You should really find out where the finish line is before you start a race, as it wasn't where I thought it was as the start and finish were in separate places, DOH! Thankfully I was running strong so the extra 2 draggy climbs to the downhill finish didn't seem to bother me. Coming down the finishing straight I was pretty sure I had 3rd place wrapped up but I was still keeping the pace high purely to get as quick a time as possible. I'm glad I did as about 5meters before the line I noticed the race clock and it read 33:54, my PB is 33:58, I quickly picked up the pace for the last few strides in the hope I beat my PB.
I got 33:57, with a chip time of 33:55, Sweet! :-), I can't believe I got a PB on that course which had over 700ft of climbing and very little flat. I defiantly felt like it was my kind of course, I really like those draggy climbs and constantly changing gradient it keeps it more interesting. I wonder if I could go much quicker on a flat course, it will be nice to find out as I would love to got sub 33mins this year, Musselburgh 10k 24th July, it's supposed to be flat so we will see then.
It was a glorious June evening for racing, maybe summer is finally here, it was a large Field of almost 400 runners and as usual I didn't really know who to watch out for except from a few familiar faces, one of whom beat me at Penicuik a few weeks ago.
With slightly tired legs warming up I made sure I didn't get too excited at the start and go tearing off. One runner took the lead straight off and I and a few others formed the chase group of 4. Halfway round the 1st small lap 1 of my group started pulling away so I tried to go with him, but I was at the back of the group when he went and just didn't react quick enough so was never able to get onto his heel and ran the start of the first large lap on my own before the next two reeled me in where we ran the majority of the race together working well together in our group of three.
Coming up the last drag with about 1.5k to one of our group came to the front and tried to push the pace and drop the other 2 of us, but was unsuccessful. When I saw him ease up a fraction I thought it was my turn to go, so in true Tour De France style I pulled out from the back of the group and shot across to the other side of the road using 2 back markers as blockers as I went by. I could sense the 2 behind hadn't managed to come with me so kept pushing on over the top of the drag and down what I thought was the last decent before a short climb to the finish line. You should really find out where the finish line is before you start a race, as it wasn't where I thought it was as the start and finish were in separate places, DOH! Thankfully I was running strong so the extra 2 draggy climbs to the downhill finish didn't seem to bother me. Coming down the finishing straight I was pretty sure I had 3rd place wrapped up but I was still keeping the pace high purely to get as quick a time as possible. I'm glad I did as about 5meters before the line I noticed the race clock and it read 33:54, my PB is 33:58, I quickly picked up the pace for the last few strides in the hope I beat my PB.
I got 33:57, with a chip time of 33:55, Sweet! :-), I can't believe I got a PB on that course which had over 700ft of climbing and very little flat. I defiantly felt like it was my kind of course, I really like those draggy climbs and constantly changing gradient it keeps it more interesting. I wonder if I could go much quicker on a flat course, it will be nice to find out as I would love to got sub 33mins this year, Musselburgh 10k 24th July, it's supposed to be flat so we will see then.
Monday, 17 May 2010
Some day you have it some days you don't
After my last race in Gala I decided to get a good two weeks of training in before my next bout of races.
The two weeks training were great with some excellent session from a 22mile run, and the start of my run most loved run session, the BEAST! an 18km off road fartlek session, which lives up to it's name, there is no other session which makes me hurt like this one, but boy does it make you run fast
At the end of those 2weeks training I had the first of my race of the next 3weeks, the Penicuik 10k, which was either going to go really well after some solid training, or was going to be 10k of hell has my legs were so tired. Unfortunately it was the latter, I just had nothing in the tank. At the start of the first climb the lead runners kicked and started to pull away and I just had nothing to give, even when the second group came through I couldn't stick with them either. I ended up running the rest of the race in no mans land and came home in 10th place. Not great, but an easier week should get the legs back for the my trip to Fort William for the trail 1/2 Marathon.
The weekend past saw me make my first trip up to Fort William to take part in the inaugural trail 1/2 marathon. An absolutely beautiful part of the country and one I can't believe I've never been to before now. What a great location to train, great roads for biking, some of the best mountain bike routes in the world and amazing hills to run in. If you've never been up there I highly recommend heading up.
The half marathon was the concluding event of the weekend run by Nofussevents, as Saturday saw hundreds of mountain bikers take on the challenge of 10 under the ben. A big congratulations go out to my good friend Lelsey Ingram who won the solo ladies race with 9 laps, 1 more than any other female an amazing ride, well done dude.
On to my race which would be ran over similar routes to those of the mountain bikers the day before so I was expecting some very muddy trails. The weather thankfully was far kinder to use runners with the sunny shinning and occasional light showers to cool you down make for great conditions for the race.
Not knowing the route or the competition I decided to just go to the front, take up the lead and see what happened. Myself and one other runner (Kenny Riddle) broke away from the Field and ran together for the first few k. On the first climb of the course the other run pushed the pace to test me out, I was able to stay with him to the top of the climb, however as we swung left the trail leveled off a bit but I just wasn't able to keep the pace up and he slowly pulled away from me. From that point on I was left chancing hoping that as the course went on I might be able to pull back some time. Like the Penicuik 10k the previous week I ran the rest of the race in no mans land and just had to focus on running at my own pace and trying to keep pushing on as the course continued to climb, descend and weave it's way through the trees.
I ended the race in second place in 1:21:46hrs, initially I was quite disappointed with my performance in the race, as I wasn't able to keep with Kenny when he pushed on and I really struggled on the final 5k, I just didn't feel like I had the strength in my legs for that course. I think due to the lack of running over winter when I had my shinsplints. When I saw my time however my feelings on the race did change as I was not expecting to cover the course that quickly, I was thinking more like 1:30+hrs due to the terrain. So to finish in 1:21hrs only 4mins off my road 1/2 PB I was very pleased, even more so when I downloaded my Garmin to see we climbed over 1800ft during the race.
Check out the link below from MTbcuts who filmed the race, and well done to no fuss events for organising a great race, it's great to see event organisers triing new things.
http://blip.tv/file/3642941/
The two weeks training were great with some excellent session from a 22mile run, and the start of my run most loved run session, the BEAST! an 18km off road fartlek session, which lives up to it's name, there is no other session which makes me hurt like this one, but boy does it make you run fast
At the end of those 2weeks training I had the first of my race of the next 3weeks, the Penicuik 10k, which was either going to go really well after some solid training, or was going to be 10k of hell has my legs were so tired. Unfortunately it was the latter, I just had nothing in the tank. At the start of the first climb the lead runners kicked and started to pull away and I just had nothing to give, even when the second group came through I couldn't stick with them either. I ended up running the rest of the race in no mans land and came home in 10th place. Not great, but an easier week should get the legs back for the my trip to Fort William for the trail 1/2 Marathon.
The weekend past saw me make my first trip up to Fort William to take part in the inaugural trail 1/2 marathon. An absolutely beautiful part of the country and one I can't believe I've never been to before now. What a great location to train, great roads for biking, some of the best mountain bike routes in the world and amazing hills to run in. If you've never been up there I highly recommend heading up.
The half marathon was the concluding event of the weekend run by Nofussevents, as Saturday saw hundreds of mountain bikers take on the challenge of 10 under the ben. A big congratulations go out to my good friend Lelsey Ingram who won the solo ladies race with 9 laps, 1 more than any other female an amazing ride, well done dude.
On to my race which would be ran over similar routes to those of the mountain bikers the day before so I was expecting some very muddy trails. The weather thankfully was far kinder to use runners with the sunny shinning and occasional light showers to cool you down make for great conditions for the race.
Not knowing the route or the competition I decided to just go to the front, take up the lead and see what happened. Myself and one other runner (Kenny Riddle) broke away from the Field and ran together for the first few k. On the first climb of the course the other run pushed the pace to test me out, I was able to stay with him to the top of the climb, however as we swung left the trail leveled off a bit but I just wasn't able to keep the pace up and he slowly pulled away from me. From that point on I was left chancing hoping that as the course went on I might be able to pull back some time. Like the Penicuik 10k the previous week I ran the rest of the race in no mans land and just had to focus on running at my own pace and trying to keep pushing on as the course continued to climb, descend and weave it's way through the trees.
I ended the race in second place in 1:21:46hrs, initially I was quite disappointed with my performance in the race, as I wasn't able to keep with Kenny when he pushed on and I really struggled on the final 5k, I just didn't feel like I had the strength in my legs for that course. I think due to the lack of running over winter when I had my shinsplints. When I saw my time however my feelings on the race did change as I was not expecting to cover the course that quickly, I was thinking more like 1:30+hrs due to the terrain. So to finish in 1:21hrs only 4mins off my road 1/2 PB I was very pleased, even more so when I downloaded my Garmin to see we climbed over 1800ft during the race.
Check out the link below from MTbcuts who filmed the race, and well done to no fuss events for organising a great race, it's great to see event organisers triing new things.
http://blip.tv/file/3642941/
Monday, 19 April 2010
Like chalk and cheese
My first 2 races triathlon races of the season couldn't have been raced in any different conditions. Cupar 2weeks ago was a glorious spring day, warm with no wind. Compare that to Gala last weekend where race day conditions were cold, wet and windy. So cold that people were dropping out after the bike due being frozen.
Cupar was the ideal racing conditions, yet I didn't feel I raced to my best. After a good swim with probably my equal best ever pool swim, then it was on to the bike with the competition in sight when I left transition, I was confident I could keep with them on the rolling roads of Fife after my strong bike at the Stirling Duathlon. However I just didn't seem to happen, no matter how much I tried to push on on the bike I just seemed to loose ground, before being caught coming to the tail end of the bike by Andy Fish and Ian Logan, who I thought I was well clear of.
Going into the run I thought I was sitting in 7th places and knew I had to hammer the run to get anywhere near the podium. Leaving T2 with Ian Logan I pushed hard to try and get away from him from the start and catch Andy, which I succeeded in doing however was unable to run anyone else down and was was sure I would finish in 5th. However it turned out that David Ogg who I thought was in front of me, was actually behind me and Steve Clark had punctured on the bike, so I finished in 3rd. Pleased with the placing, but not 100% pleased with the performance, hopefully Gala would be better.
Going into Gala I wasn't optimistic about a great race as I picked up a sore throat after Cupar and only trained twice the prior week to racing. Perhaps that forced rest was the best thing for me as come race day I felt great, I had a PB in the pool and on the bike I felt like I was able to maintain I high power through the duration of the race, which was reflected in my power tap date with a higher average from Gala than I had in Cupar.
Coming off the bike I was in 1st place with Andy Fish hot on my heals coming in to T2, after both our run performances the previous week I was confident in out running Andy and the rest of the Field, however still pushed on hard for the first of 2 laps over a great cross country run course. Coming to start the second lap one of the marshalls said in was in the clear with no one in sight, so I was happy that my fast first lap had been successful in putting distance between myself and the rest of the Field. Coming down the home stretch I was feeling confident about selling my first win of the season, until I heard some footsteps behind me, who to be honest I thought was a back marker trying to sprint me, so I kicked to get to the line first. As it turned out the athlete chasing me down wasn't a back marker, he was a modern pentathlete giving triathlon a tri and doing it rather well as he had ran me down for over 1minute, a very impressive run. Saying that though I did manage to hold on for my first win off the season, and was very happy with all elements of my race, everything went well except from my second transition, my hands were that numb I struggled to get my trainers on. Hopefully the weather wont be so bad next time and my entire race will be perfect.
Thanks to East Fife tri and BSLT for organising 2 great races.
Cupar was the ideal racing conditions, yet I didn't feel I raced to my best. After a good swim with probably my equal best ever pool swim, then it was on to the bike with the competition in sight when I left transition, I was confident I could keep with them on the rolling roads of Fife after my strong bike at the Stirling Duathlon. However I just didn't seem to happen, no matter how much I tried to push on on the bike I just seemed to loose ground, before being caught coming to the tail end of the bike by Andy Fish and Ian Logan, who I thought I was well clear of.
Going into the run I thought I was sitting in 7th places and knew I had to hammer the run to get anywhere near the podium. Leaving T2 with Ian Logan I pushed hard to try and get away from him from the start and catch Andy, which I succeeded in doing however was unable to run anyone else down and was was sure I would finish in 5th. However it turned out that David Ogg who I thought was in front of me, was actually behind me and Steve Clark had punctured on the bike, so I finished in 3rd. Pleased with the placing, but not 100% pleased with the performance, hopefully Gala would be better.
Going into Gala I wasn't optimistic about a great race as I picked up a sore throat after Cupar and only trained twice the prior week to racing. Perhaps that forced rest was the best thing for me as come race day I felt great, I had a PB in the pool and on the bike I felt like I was able to maintain I high power through the duration of the race, which was reflected in my power tap date with a higher average from Gala than I had in Cupar.
Coming off the bike I was in 1st place with Andy Fish hot on my heals coming in to T2, after both our run performances the previous week I was confident in out running Andy and the rest of the Field, however still pushed on hard for the first of 2 laps over a great cross country run course. Coming to start the second lap one of the marshalls said in was in the clear with no one in sight, so I was happy that my fast first lap had been successful in putting distance between myself and the rest of the Field. Coming down the home stretch I was feeling confident about selling my first win of the season, until I heard some footsteps behind me, who to be honest I thought was a back marker trying to sprint me, so I kicked to get to the line first. As it turned out the athlete chasing me down wasn't a back marker, he was a modern pentathlete giving triathlon a tri and doing it rather well as he had ran me down for over 1minute, a very impressive run. Saying that though I did manage to hold on for my first win off the season, and was very happy with all elements of my race, everything went well except from my second transition, my hands were that numb I struggled to get my trainers on. Hopefully the weather wont be so bad next time and my entire race will be perfect.
Thanks to East Fife tri and BSLT for organising 2 great races.
Friday, 9 April 2010
The season is finally here
For what seems to have been a long, cold and white winter, spring has finally arrived and with it the start of the 2010 racing season. And what a way to start, my opening race was the Scottish Duathlon Championships which was also a qualifying race for the World Duathlon Champs in September at Edinburgh's Arthur Seat.
Going into the race I was not sure what to expect as I had only been back to full running for about 4weeks after suffering from shin splints over the holidays. The good think about being a multidisciplinary athlete meant that as I was not able to run I could spend more time working on my strength and biking which is possibly the weak link in my racing.
It was a very windy morning on race day with the flat Stirling bike course offering no shelter. The wind wasn't an issue on the run as we wound our way through the business park 4 times on the first 1ok run. With not having the running miles in my legs, I purposely started the run at a slightly reserved pace with the plan of increasing the pace as I went through.
For once I actually did as I planned, as I would normally plan to pace the run and end up going off with the leaders and then fading. This time once we all settled into position I progressively worked my through the Field picking people off every lap finishing the run in 10th place.
On to the bike and time to find out if all that strength work and bike miles had payed off. My main goal is always to limit the places I lose, so being well placed on the run I was expecting the Field to come charging passed me at some point. However it never happened, Craig Dale passed at the start of the 40k and from then onwards it was myself and Frank Boyne out on the course battling with each other to keep our run advantage. It wasn't until winding though the University that Catriona Morrison came by and the three of us entering T2 together.
Franks marginal lead going into T2 saw him out on to the run before me and that was how it stayed with the final 5k run highlighting my lack of speed work as I was struggling to make any ground on those in fornt. I finished the race in 10th place, 3rd in my age group (25-29) so totally delighted to have qualified. With the worlds not til September, I can spend the summer getting my run speed up and getting stronger on the bike. Home course for the Worlds so plan to get plenty of training on the course.
This weekend I have my first triathlon at Cupar, Fife. This time I'll get to see how my swimming coming along, here's hoping it goes as well as my biking.
Going into the race I was not sure what to expect as I had only been back to full running for about 4weeks after suffering from shin splints over the holidays. The good think about being a multidisciplinary athlete meant that as I was not able to run I could spend more time working on my strength and biking which is possibly the weak link in my racing.
It was a very windy morning on race day with the flat Stirling bike course offering no shelter. The wind wasn't an issue on the run as we wound our way through the business park 4 times on the first 1ok run. With not having the running miles in my legs, I purposely started the run at a slightly reserved pace with the plan of increasing the pace as I went through.
For once I actually did as I planned, as I would normally plan to pace the run and end up going off with the leaders and then fading. This time once we all settled into position I progressively worked my through the Field picking people off every lap finishing the run in 10th place.
On to the bike and time to find out if all that strength work and bike miles had payed off. My main goal is always to limit the places I lose, so being well placed on the run I was expecting the Field to come charging passed me at some point. However it never happened, Craig Dale passed at the start of the 40k and from then onwards it was myself and Frank Boyne out on the course battling with each other to keep our run advantage. It wasn't until winding though the University that Catriona Morrison came by and the three of us entering T2 together.
Franks marginal lead going into T2 saw him out on to the run before me and that was how it stayed with the final 5k run highlighting my lack of speed work as I was struggling to make any ground on those in fornt. I finished the race in 10th place, 3rd in my age group (25-29) so totally delighted to have qualified. With the worlds not til September, I can spend the summer getting my run speed up and getting stronger on the bike. Home course for the Worlds so plan to get plenty of training on the course.
This weekend I have my first triathlon at Cupar, Fife. This time I'll get to see how my swimming coming along, here's hoping it goes as well as my biking.
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