The weeks race away!

Transition - Cotswold Super Sprint

It's been a busy couple of weekends with the Cotswold Super Sprint and Bristol 10km. Trying to fit solid training around them has been a bit of a headache but both races went well and I'm not utterly ruined so I think I've managed to find the right balance. I've now got three weeks until 5th June where I have my first "proper" races, the Bristol Harbourside Triathlon, followed three weeks later with Wimbleball. The plan is to do two hard-ish weeks, then ease off for the week before Bristol to give myself a bit of a rest. Then see how I'm holding up before deciding what to do next. I'd like to go well at Bristol, and would be disappointed if I didn't improve on my 2:38 from last year. Watch this space to see how it goes.

Race number 1: Cotswold SS Tri 400m 20km 5km (officially!)
Having gone to bed early but failing to sleep I was up far to early to for the second BADTri club champs race. The weather in Bristol was miserable, torrential rain, and so being totally unprepared I grabbed my wind-gilet in the hope it might offer some protection on the bike if it was as cold as I expected. Fortunately it wasn't required as the sun managed to clear away the worst of it, but its a bit of a wake up to getting some wet weather gear for Wimbleball. Most of the kit I have is fine for commuting, but I need some back up if I'm on the bike for 4 hours in the cold/wet.

There were quite a few BADTri faces about and having said hi to a few people I was racked and ready for the first challenge - getting in the wetsuit. The water was actually surprisingly warm, it had been 9 degrees the weekend before, but a week of sun had brought the temperature up to 14. The swim was good, there was a bit of a ruck going round the first buoy, but I held my line comfortably without too much agro. After the first buoy I sat on the hip of someone who I ended up drafting/sighting off until the last 50m where I held what I thought was a fairly comfortable pace. The last 50m involved a bit of dodging the previous wave but I was out the water in about 6:20 despite misjudging the exit.  I had a fairly quick T1 and I was on the bike with a flying mount. Despite this Will from BADTri had managed to come in just behind me on the swim and had already disappeared off up the road never to be seen again.  This time I got going properly before messing with my shoes, the previous days practice paid off! I saw T1 go horribly wrong for someone, they veered off to the left and into the ditch, jelly legs from the swim or just bad balance? Hopefully they were OK.

The bike route was on open roads, but it was flat and fast. I was at 38 kmph and felt like I wasn't pushing it at all on the initial flat section. I was passed by a couple of people on TT bikes but I was overtaking a lot of people from the wave before. I passed a couple of groups who were taking the piss drafting, it certainly looked more like a pace line than a solo TT. I had someone wheelsuck as we rode up Cirencester road. He passed me as we headed through a series of roundabouts which I took a bit too carefully, but with some slower riders changing direction/line without warning I wasn't going to risk it. I passed him comfortably on the final 5km and didn't see him on the run. My computer had my average speed at 34.5 kmph but I think it was a short loop of only 18.5 km.

I had a good transition into the run despite some congestion at the dismount line.  I was away on the run in good time and my legs felt good. The run was two laps round the lake and the recent glorious weather had left the trail a little muddy. As my legs loosened up I picked up the pace a bit and was passing people at a steady rate, unfortunately I was also being passed by the quicker runners too. One guy absolutely flew past, he must have been running ~ 15 min pace, absolutely mental! I completed the first lap in about 10:20 which at the time was a big boost, I was flying ... or so I thought, it turns out the run was short too. The second lap got really hard in the final km. I got stitch and just about managed to hang on across the line - 21.12 would still a 5k pb but the run is probably closer to 4.5km. That would put my run in at 23:30 5k pace which is still within 10% of my standalone pb.

I finished 10/33 in my age group which I'm pleased with. But the results go to show how relatively weak my running is as I was 22/33. If I could have got closer to 20 mins on the run I'd have bumped myself up quite a few places. I'm pretty happy with how I paced the bike, I went hard but not too hard, and the swim was fairly comfortable. Still, it was a great race, I got a race shirt I really like, and an awesome BADTri turnout meaning there were plenty of friendly faces. Competition for the club champs is heating up!

Split Name	Race Time	Leg Times	Lap Times	O Pos	C Pos	G Pos	Pace
Swim		00:06:43.9		38	2	27	16:49 min/km
T1		00:00:55.4		36	4	26
Cycle		00:32:31.1		86	9	80	36.9 km/h
T2		00:00:43.1		58	6	40
Lap 1			00:10:32.3	163	22	139	14.2 km/h
Run		00:21:12.0	00:10:39.7	153	22	132	14.1 km/h

   

Another medal and a cool T-shirt. 

I decided to go for a "long run" on Sunday evening following the race, I managed 9 miles, but my legs felt horrific. I imagine that is just a taste of what the Ironman run is going to feel like. I'd wanted to get my run in because I had a physio appointment the next day and I'm not supposed to do anything for 24 hours after our appointment. I've had a couple of sessions and she's spotted I've got a pretty bad imbalance in my left leg. I've never been 100% even because of the sports I've played in the past but I was shocked at how bad it seems to have gotten. I'm pretty sure my bike accident contributed to this, its not painful, but its a recipe for disaster, so I need to get it sorted asap. For that reason I will be humping the wall with a rubber ball, doing various squats and stretches and of course extra foam rolling.

Race number 2: Bristol 10k
This Sunday was the Bristol 10k and I was hoping to improve significantly on my last official 10k time from 2012. I wasn't sure exactly how I should pace things. The dilemna was either to go optimistic, potentially get a great time, but also risk blowing up. In the club run session on Thursday night I did 6 x 1km  with 2 min rest at an average of about 3:45, getting steadily faster. The last reps I were closer to 3:40 and Ben who I I was running with was aiming for under 40 mins for the 10k. So what to do? In the end I decided to be conservative, my best 5k time this year is 21:34 back in November, though I think I'm probably a bit quicker, but running close to 40 mins just isn't going to happen... yet. In the end I ran pretty even splits for a sub 45 apart from the second km which was horrifically congested. The second to last km into town wasn't much fun going over the Redcliff hill bridge, but nothing too bad, I'm just not built to go uphill. The 9th km was made worse by the fact I missed the flag and had a panic I'd massively fucked up. I ran the last 400 harder but felt like I probably had a bit too much left in the legs at the end, I'm pleased I got under 45 as that was a big target of mine. Unfortunately, as is often the case I feel like I could probably take a bit of time off it too.  I was watching the later waves come in over Redcliffe hill. Credit where its due there were people who were determined to get round and the face of suffering is one I'm familiar with. I imagine that is the face I'll be pulling in 3 weeks time at the Bristol Tri. 

Bristol 10k medal

   

Splits from Bristol 10k
Chip time 44:43

4:32

4:37 (traffic)

4:27

4:27

4:25

4:26

4:28

4:28

8:49
- 44:43