Well, I entered this a while ago, sounded like a good idea, at the time….I wasn’t really looking forward to this, especially whilst driving to the start in the bitter cold.
I met up with Jules and Marcus in the car park and we made our way to the start…in the middle of the forest…so much for a warm shower afterwards!!!
We met up with the other Turbo’s taking part, 5 teams in total. The biggest discussion before the start was ‘What to wear??’ was it going to warm up or remain cold, decisions decisions. I finally decided on tri shorts and a pair of ¾ leggings over these, and my TTTC running t-shirt, and it was perfect. Not too hot and not too cold.
Marcus, Jules and I decided on a steady-no-stopping pace, which worked well for us. The rule of these team races is that you can only go as fast as your slowest member. In the running department, that was me. So I set the pace on the first run, and Jules and Marcus followed. The first run was supposed to be 3 miles, but I think it was only a little over 2 as we where back in transition after 18 minutes, and there is no way in hell I can run 3 X-country miles in 18 mins. Thankfully the first run wasn’t too punishing. A bit of soft sand a bit of mud, a bit of up hill but all within my limited capabilities.
We changed shoes, grabbed our bikes and headed out on the bike. Jules and I have somewhat limited mountain biking experience, where as Marcus is a seasoned pro. We were counting on him to get us around in one piece. Thankfully, the course was great, not too technical, but enough to make it fun. We didn’t have any major falls or mechanicals so all good. The pace was perfect, not too fast and not too slow. We did start catching the all-men teams who had set off 10 minutes ahead of us. So we must have been going at a good old steady pace.
Near the end there was quite a nice fast technical section. First time through there I followed Jules, she took a nice conservative line and we arrived just fine at the bottom. On the second lap, Marcus lead us through that section, he took a much more aggressive line, and my teeth were chattering at the bottom of that section. And there in lies the difference between seasoned pros and us MTB frauds.
The MTB section took around 2 hours in total, our second lap was faster then our first. We where more then happy with this outcome.
Then it was back into transition to prepare for the second section. This consisted of a run, followed by a kayak, then some more running, then finally an assault course before crossing the finish line.
The second run was agony, what is it about running off the MTB??? Man it hurts! Marcus was suffering with some lower back/bum stiffness, not nice for him, but great for me as it meant I could keep up with them. Jules was gazelle like….bloody Ironman training!!! I’m not sure how far the second run lap was, but it felt really long on tired legs. But after a terrible up down up down section, and a scramble through some brush and a trudge through a marshy riverbed we finally got to the Kayak challenge.
The kayak section involved two of us kayaking to a point along the small lake, the third person had to run to the point and meet us. We then had to swap the runner for one person in the kayak. The new runner had to do a slightly longer run back to the start point while the two in the kayak followed a slightly longer route around the dam and back to the start point.
As Jules was feeling the strongest on the run, she kayaked with me on the first bit while Marcus ran, then Jules and Marcus traded places and Jules did the longer run while Marcus and I paddled back to the start. I think we did a pretty awesome job at this section and got through it in super quick time.
We then set off on our final run back to transition. It was tough, we were making our way along some firebreaks, and it involved some terrible uphill drags. On the steepest of these, Marcus’s back/bum started cramping so we needed to make a short stop for Jules to give Marcus’s bum a pummelling to get the muscles going. We managed to make our way back to the transition, time to face that mare of an assault course.
It wasn’t too bad actually, and thanx to some nifty team work we made it around in good time. First challenge, 3 of us on a pair of wooden skis and we had to make our way around a small mound. Not too bad. Then a short run over some soft sand, then another challenge. One bag, all three of us had to put a leg in, then make our way around another small mound. Then some more soft sand running. Then a crawl under a cargo net that ended in a freezing puddle of water. Then a dash through a big puddle and up and over an A shaped barrier and finally across the finish line in about 3:36 give or take.
The official results aren’t up yet, but we are well chuffed with our time. We also received a great goodie bag thanks to the Helly Hansen folk.
We were pretty knackered to say the least, and now two day’s afterwards and I’m still counting the bruises, of which there are many.
A big thank to Jules and Marcus who made for a great day out. You guys Rock!!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Great Eastern Run
So, just when you thought all racing had ceased….I’ll hit you with a double.
Firstly, my attempt at a sub 2 hour half marathon. Pip’s and I made an agreement a while back to have a go at this, after some false starts, Pip finally found this gem of a race. Flat and fast or so they said on runnersworld. We got our entry’s in then promptly set about doing other stuff.
Anyway, race day finally rolled around. My prep hadn’t been great, I got a few runs in before coming down with a cold, then as I recovered, Leo got the chicken pox so I didn’t get much running in. I decided to do a few runs the week before the race, and if I could get around them ok, I’d still have a go at the race. But I was pretty much sure the sub 2 hour thing was not going to happen.
I survived the runs so decided to turn out for the race. I told Pip not to wait for me as I was sure I wasn’t going to be on for our record breaking attempt. We needed to do 9 minute miles to be in with a shot at the sub two hours. Anyway, the gun went and off we set about shuffling along, trying to get clear ground to run.
Finally we passed the 1st mile marker, then the 2nd. I was feeling less then great, but continued to let Pip drag me along. I managed to keep my eye on the time and all seemed to be going ok. But could I do this for 13 miles…I didn’t feel like I could.
As for the race, it takes place in Peterborough and takes you on a big loop through the suburbs surrounding the town. The locals all made a good effort at supporting us along the way. Which was really great. Some funny things along the route…a brass band at 1 mile. At about 3 miles there was a young lad of around 8 playing his trumpet, with his sheet music secured under a rock on the sidewalk. Then further along the course there where kids with their own water stations as well as a really friendly lady dishing out jelly babies.
Anyway, back to the race. I hung in with Pip till the 5 mile mark, at which point I recovered a wee bit, I then decided to take a turn on the front and lead Pip a while. So off I went. Mile 6 and 7 felt great and I must have gained a minute somewhere. I then got to a water station just after 8 miles, I glanced back to find Pips only to discover I was on my own. I decided to carry on as I knew that at this pace I would break the 2 hour mark.
By mile 10 I knew it was only 3 and a bit to go. I started to suffer a bit with a sore toe on my left foot. I could feel the nail catching and new there would be something horrid to discover in my shoe at the end. I tried to put it out of my mind and kept on running.
I’m sure I was really slow over the last 3 miles, but it took all of my resolve not to walk. It was so tempting. Some club runners caught me up, three blokes talking a girl through her first ½ marathon. It was great because their word of encouragement helped me along too. One bloke told the girl that it was just a little bit more then a mile to go, and only three more turns. This was great as I had something to count down now. One corner, two corners, then the third which took us off the road, yippee then I could hear the loud speakers at the finish. I mustered a half hearted sprint but was ecstatic to see the clock at 1:55:58.
Pips boyfriend Steve was right there at the barriers to give me a quick cheer, job done. I limped and hobbled through the finish chute to collect my goodie bag and get some well deserved water and juice. I found Steve and promptly sat down to get my shoe off my foot. Ouchie, a bloody toe nail on one toe, and the other toe nail had gone a lovely blue and was throbbing like a bastard.
All the time I could hear the commentator going on about the 2 hour mark, and all I could think of was where was Pippa. I could see Steve from where I was sat. So when I saw him jump up and down cheering, I knew Pip was in sight and would make the target time. I managed to drag myself up and we went round to meet her, Yippee for us, sweaty hugs all round for two new PB’s.
My time, 01:55:58, taken from the gun. My chip time was 01:54:27. Philippa did 01:59:40 from the gun and 01:58:09 from the start line. Which means it took us a minute and a half to get across the line.
The difference is annoying, but not as annoying as Pip and I would be had we started at the front with all the skinny runners.
We then dragged ourselves back to the car and off to find a well-deserved roast lunch.
Firstly, my attempt at a sub 2 hour half marathon. Pip’s and I made an agreement a while back to have a go at this, after some false starts, Pip finally found this gem of a race. Flat and fast or so they said on runnersworld. We got our entry’s in then promptly set about doing other stuff.
Anyway, race day finally rolled around. My prep hadn’t been great, I got a few runs in before coming down with a cold, then as I recovered, Leo got the chicken pox so I didn’t get much running in. I decided to do a few runs the week before the race, and if I could get around them ok, I’d still have a go at the race. But I was pretty much sure the sub 2 hour thing was not going to happen.
I survived the runs so decided to turn out for the race. I told Pip not to wait for me as I was sure I wasn’t going to be on for our record breaking attempt. We needed to do 9 minute miles to be in with a shot at the sub two hours. Anyway, the gun went and off we set about shuffling along, trying to get clear ground to run.
Finally we passed the 1st mile marker, then the 2nd. I was feeling less then great, but continued to let Pip drag me along. I managed to keep my eye on the time and all seemed to be going ok. But could I do this for 13 miles…I didn’t feel like I could.
As for the race, it takes place in Peterborough and takes you on a big loop through the suburbs surrounding the town. The locals all made a good effort at supporting us along the way. Which was really great. Some funny things along the route…a brass band at 1 mile. At about 3 miles there was a young lad of around 8 playing his trumpet, with his sheet music secured under a rock on the sidewalk. Then further along the course there where kids with their own water stations as well as a really friendly lady dishing out jelly babies.
Anyway, back to the race. I hung in with Pip till the 5 mile mark, at which point I recovered a wee bit, I then decided to take a turn on the front and lead Pip a while. So off I went. Mile 6 and 7 felt great and I must have gained a minute somewhere. I then got to a water station just after 8 miles, I glanced back to find Pips only to discover I was on my own. I decided to carry on as I knew that at this pace I would break the 2 hour mark.
By mile 10 I knew it was only 3 and a bit to go. I started to suffer a bit with a sore toe on my left foot. I could feel the nail catching and new there would be something horrid to discover in my shoe at the end. I tried to put it out of my mind and kept on running.
I’m sure I was really slow over the last 3 miles, but it took all of my resolve not to walk. It was so tempting. Some club runners caught me up, three blokes talking a girl through her first ½ marathon. It was great because their word of encouragement helped me along too. One bloke told the girl that it was just a little bit more then a mile to go, and only three more turns. This was great as I had something to count down now. One corner, two corners, then the third which took us off the road, yippee then I could hear the loud speakers at the finish. I mustered a half hearted sprint but was ecstatic to see the clock at 1:55:58.
Pips boyfriend Steve was right there at the barriers to give me a quick cheer, job done. I limped and hobbled through the finish chute to collect my goodie bag and get some well deserved water and juice. I found Steve and promptly sat down to get my shoe off my foot. Ouchie, a bloody toe nail on one toe, and the other toe nail had gone a lovely blue and was throbbing like a bastard.
All the time I could hear the commentator going on about the 2 hour mark, and all I could think of was where was Pippa. I could see Steve from where I was sat. So when I saw him jump up and down cheering, I knew Pip was in sight and would make the target time. I managed to drag myself up and we went round to meet her, Yippee for us, sweaty hugs all round for two new PB’s.
My time, 01:55:58, taken from the gun. My chip time was 01:54:27. Philippa did 01:59:40 from the gun and 01:58:09 from the start line. Which means it took us a minute and a half to get across the line.
The difference is annoying, but not as annoying as Pip and I would be had we started at the front with all the skinny runners.
We then dragged ourselves back to the car and off to find a well-deserved roast lunch.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Antwerp 70.3 - Race Report
Comedy of Errors!!!
Short version:
A bit of a mare for me and my first DNF….damit!!!!
Basically got my nutrition and hydration completely wrong and with 30km to go on the bike, got severe stomach cramps and nausea. Complete ‘school boy errors’ I’m afraid….
Long Version:
Well my prep didn’t really go to plan for this race, and I wasn’t really organised i.t.o. getting to the race. Firstly, we missed our ferry, then I realised we forgot to pack Leo’s pushchair. Then moments before leaving for the start, I discovered that I’d left the wheel magnet (for my bike computer) at home (on Bronson’s back wheel). Just great, and I had no time to try get another one. This meant that I’d be racing blind, not good. I also discovered some damage to my back tyre. Now I had to worry about puncturing too.
Anyway, managed to get to the start, after meeting Pip and taking a tunnel under the river to the far bank. We dropped our run kit off and got body marked before making our way down to the bike racking and swim start. Bike racking went really smoothly, the racking was top-draw.
We met up with Holly and Ryan and a few other Brits ambling around the transition area. It was already quite warm, we were in for a hot day for sure.
We headed down to the swim start, my first real mass swim start. This was going to be interesting. And to add to the fun, I discovered that I had a red swim hat (like all the blokes) while Holly and Pip and blue swim hats. Just great, I was in for a hammering.
It was great getting into the water as we where getting really hot waiting on the bank in our wetsuits. After a bit, the gun went off and we were away. Pip was so funny, the gun actually went a minute or two early, and she was messing with her stop watch, needless to say, some profanities where uttered!!!
The swim was, as expected, rough. I got swam over several times. But managed to keep my head above water and got to the end in 00:36:24. Not a great time, I was clearly not pushing at all. It was then into T1 to grab my bike and head off.
The bike course was pretty pan flat and uninspiring. And most of it was through the industrial / docklands of Antwerp. Things were also made tricky by railway tracks all over the place, I did start to wonder if my rims would survive them. I had no idea how fast I was going, or how far I’d gone. This was my undoing. Just before 60km Ryan caught me up and told me we were 60km into the race. We then went through an aid station. I desperately needed a water bottle, but due to a fumble by the marshal a queue had formed I decided to grab a bottle of the ready-made Gatorade instead. And from here on in, it all went wrong.
My stomach didn’t agree with the Gatorade. I started getting stomach cramps and feeling very nauseas. I ended up cycling the last 30 km very slowly back to T2, into a headwind I might add.
In T2, I put my trainers on and decided to head out onto the run, even if I was just walking, and very slowly at that. I saw Pip a few times on the run, and she confirmed I looked like crap!!! After one lap I chucked the towel in and headed back to the hotel for a well deserved shower.
It was only with hindsight that I started to piece together what went wrong on the race. Once I’d recovered and had something to eat. It was a combination of not eating and drinking enough on the bike, then having that Gatorade on an empty stomach just did me in. I wasn’t really thinking clearly because there was one more drinks stop about 5 to 10 km from the finish. I should have stopped there and drank several bottles of water. Then, once on the run, I should have stopped at the first aid station and refuelled, I should have got some coke into my system. That usually settles my stomach.
But for some reason, I think it was the heat, I tried to just keep going, and ended up feeling worse and worse.
Oh well, I’m not too gutted, I would have been had it happened in Switzerland…but an important lesson learnt. I won’t make those mistakes again!!
So I have a swim time of 00:36:24 and a bike time of 03:10:05. Think I’ll have to go back next year just to settle the score.
Short version:
A bit of a mare for me and my first DNF….damit!!!!
Basically got my nutrition and hydration completely wrong and with 30km to go on the bike, got severe stomach cramps and nausea. Complete ‘school boy errors’ I’m afraid….
Long Version:
Well my prep didn’t really go to plan for this race, and I wasn’t really organised i.t.o. getting to the race. Firstly, we missed our ferry, then I realised we forgot to pack Leo’s pushchair. Then moments before leaving for the start, I discovered that I’d left the wheel magnet (for my bike computer) at home (on Bronson’s back wheel). Just great, and I had no time to try get another one. This meant that I’d be racing blind, not good. I also discovered some damage to my back tyre. Now I had to worry about puncturing too.
Anyway, managed to get to the start, after meeting Pip and taking a tunnel under the river to the far bank. We dropped our run kit off and got body marked before making our way down to the bike racking and swim start. Bike racking went really smoothly, the racking was top-draw.
We met up with Holly and Ryan and a few other Brits ambling around the transition area. It was already quite warm, we were in for a hot day for sure.
We headed down to the swim start, my first real mass swim start. This was going to be interesting. And to add to the fun, I discovered that I had a red swim hat (like all the blokes) while Holly and Pip and blue swim hats. Just great, I was in for a hammering.
It was great getting into the water as we where getting really hot waiting on the bank in our wetsuits. After a bit, the gun went off and we were away. Pip was so funny, the gun actually went a minute or two early, and she was messing with her stop watch, needless to say, some profanities where uttered!!!
The swim was, as expected, rough. I got swam over several times. But managed to keep my head above water and got to the end in 00:36:24. Not a great time, I was clearly not pushing at all. It was then into T1 to grab my bike and head off.
The bike course was pretty pan flat and uninspiring. And most of it was through the industrial / docklands of Antwerp. Things were also made tricky by railway tracks all over the place, I did start to wonder if my rims would survive them. I had no idea how fast I was going, or how far I’d gone. This was my undoing. Just before 60km Ryan caught me up and told me we were 60km into the race. We then went through an aid station. I desperately needed a water bottle, but due to a fumble by the marshal a queue had formed I decided to grab a bottle of the ready-made Gatorade instead. And from here on in, it all went wrong.
My stomach didn’t agree with the Gatorade. I started getting stomach cramps and feeling very nauseas. I ended up cycling the last 30 km very slowly back to T2, into a headwind I might add.
In T2, I put my trainers on and decided to head out onto the run, even if I was just walking, and very slowly at that. I saw Pip a few times on the run, and she confirmed I looked like crap!!! After one lap I chucked the towel in and headed back to the hotel for a well deserved shower.
It was only with hindsight that I started to piece together what went wrong on the race. Once I’d recovered and had something to eat. It was a combination of not eating and drinking enough on the bike, then having that Gatorade on an empty stomach just did me in. I wasn’t really thinking clearly because there was one more drinks stop about 5 to 10 km from the finish. I should have stopped there and drank several bottles of water. Then, once on the run, I should have stopped at the first aid station and refuelled, I should have got some coke into my system. That usually settles my stomach.
But for some reason, I think it was the heat, I tried to just keep going, and ended up feeling worse and worse.
Oh well, I’m not too gutted, I would have been had it happened in Switzerland…but an important lesson learnt. I won’t make those mistakes again!!
So I have a swim time of 00:36:24 and a bike time of 03:10:05. Think I’ll have to go back next year just to settle the score.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
MK 2007 - Race Report
I got a lift up with a club mate, Matt on Sunday. It was an early start as it’s a good hours drive and my race started at 07:10. We left Surbiton in the rain, but luckily by the time we arrived in Olney, the sun was shinning, only just!!!
Matt quickly helped me get my wheels on my bike, then it was off to register and set up in transition. Luckily there were no queues so registration went quite quickly. The fun started when I got to transition, only to discover it was 2 inches under water/mud….picture ‘The Battle of the Somme’…I found my number, got my bike on the rack, but then where to put my kit??? I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. I finally made a plan by using the bag I keep my wetsuit in as a mat, and thankfully the three guys to my left didn’t turn up so I had some additional (mud filled) space. Had I known this before, I would have used my tri box with lid which would have really helped in the mud.
But anyway, no time to worry about the mud, I had to get to the start line. I grabbed my goggles, wetsuit and cap and headed for the start. I missed most of the briefing so had no idea on the swim route, I just hoped I’d be able to follow the leaders. The swim at MK is really zig zaggy in order to get the distance in. Then I heard that the bike route and run route had to change due to the flooding in the area. Just great, more surprises on the way, I also had no idea where the bike out / in and run out were. Not too much of a problem as I can usually follow someone else.
I had just enough time to get my suit on and get into the water, I was barely in when I heard 5…4…3…2…1 GO!!! Of course, I was facing the wrong direction, so a quick about turn and I was off…thankfully I was in a good position so nice clear water in front of me and a clean run to the first buoy.
After the first buoy I noticed a club mate on my left, I decided to see if I could drop her on the swim, she is deadly fast on the bike and a very quick runner so I new this would be my only opportunity to beat her. I stepped up the pace a bit and managed to put some time between us. The rest of the swim was pretty uneventful, usually the swim at MK is a bit short, and usually quite yuk as you normally get caught up in reeds near the banks. But thanks to the Monsoon season, the lake was deeper then usual so none of the usual problems.
I am pretty happy with my swim time of 00:25:33, it’s about what I should be doing based on my pool times. 10/40 in my age group 24/113 in the girls race.
Then into The Somme to get my bike, it was weird dumping my wetsuit in the mud, but what could I do, then it was time to squelch my way to the bike out and off I went. The bike was ok, not tough really, as there are no real big hills, but I felt really sluggish, like I just wasn’t getting anywhere. This wasn’t helped by the fact that it was quite cool, and all the slow swimmers were now catching me on the bike. My heart rate was also quite high, just adding to my suffering.
None the less, since I am a ‘half-full’ kinda girl, I peddled on, enjoying the scenery and trying not to pay too much attention to the fasties whizzing by me. The bike course had to be detoured due to the flooding of a particular road. But thankfully this was all well managed by the marshals along the way. The Bike courses ended up being about 5km shorts…yippee!!
It was then back to The Somme to ditch the bike and grab my trainers. And then slipped and slid out onto the run course. The run course was three laps, and once again shortened due to flooding. (yippee, ‘coz I stink at running). My feet were still frozen from the bike leg, at one point I thought I had left something in my shoe…so I stopped to check…nothing…just some frozen toes!!!
Everyone and their granny came past me on the run….literally, men and women from the 50 plus age group (old enough to be grannies!!!). Ah well, I was still enjoying myself so kept on going. On the last lap, Kate waited for me with around 200m left to run, she made me sprint the last bit in, it hurt, the whole way…yuk.
So the damage:
Splits:Total time 02:30:11
Swim: 00:25:33
T1: 00:01:26
Bike: 01:12:29
T2: 00:01:48
Run: 00:48:53
Not great but not bad…the run and bike was short, so I can’t really count this as a PB. I’m tempted though, as the chance of me getting anywhere close to 2:30 on a full distance course is slim!!!
Anyway, here is a picture of the bit of the run course that goes past the transition….crazy!!!
Next race, Antwerp this weekend….
Matt quickly helped me get my wheels on my bike, then it was off to register and set up in transition. Luckily there were no queues so registration went quite quickly. The fun started when I got to transition, only to discover it was 2 inches under water/mud….picture ‘The Battle of the Somme’…I found my number, got my bike on the rack, but then where to put my kit??? I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. I finally made a plan by using the bag I keep my wetsuit in as a mat, and thankfully the three guys to my left didn’t turn up so I had some additional (mud filled) space. Had I known this before, I would have used my tri box with lid which would have really helped in the mud.
But anyway, no time to worry about the mud, I had to get to the start line. I grabbed my goggles, wetsuit and cap and headed for the start. I missed most of the briefing so had no idea on the swim route, I just hoped I’d be able to follow the leaders. The swim at MK is really zig zaggy in order to get the distance in. Then I heard that the bike route and run route had to change due to the flooding in the area. Just great, more surprises on the way, I also had no idea where the bike out / in and run out were. Not too much of a problem as I can usually follow someone else.
I had just enough time to get my suit on and get into the water, I was barely in when I heard 5…4…3…2…1 GO!!! Of course, I was facing the wrong direction, so a quick about turn and I was off…thankfully I was in a good position so nice clear water in front of me and a clean run to the first buoy.
After the first buoy I noticed a club mate on my left, I decided to see if I could drop her on the swim, she is deadly fast on the bike and a very quick runner so I new this would be my only opportunity to beat her. I stepped up the pace a bit and managed to put some time between us. The rest of the swim was pretty uneventful, usually the swim at MK is a bit short, and usually quite yuk as you normally get caught up in reeds near the banks. But thanks to the Monsoon season, the lake was deeper then usual so none of the usual problems.
I am pretty happy with my swim time of 00:25:33, it’s about what I should be doing based on my pool times. 10/40 in my age group 24/113 in the girls race.
Then into The Somme to get my bike, it was weird dumping my wetsuit in the mud, but what could I do, then it was time to squelch my way to the bike out and off I went. The bike was ok, not tough really, as there are no real big hills, but I felt really sluggish, like I just wasn’t getting anywhere. This wasn’t helped by the fact that it was quite cool, and all the slow swimmers were now catching me on the bike. My heart rate was also quite high, just adding to my suffering.
None the less, since I am a ‘half-full’ kinda girl, I peddled on, enjoying the scenery and trying not to pay too much attention to the fasties whizzing by me. The bike course had to be detoured due to the flooding of a particular road. But thankfully this was all well managed by the marshals along the way. The Bike courses ended up being about 5km shorts…yippee!!
It was then back to The Somme to ditch the bike and grab my trainers. And then slipped and slid out onto the run course. The run course was three laps, and once again shortened due to flooding. (yippee, ‘coz I stink at running). My feet were still frozen from the bike leg, at one point I thought I had left something in my shoe…so I stopped to check…nothing…just some frozen toes!!!
Everyone and their granny came past me on the run….literally, men and women from the 50 plus age group (old enough to be grannies!!!). Ah well, I was still enjoying myself so kept on going. On the last lap, Kate waited for me with around 200m left to run, she made me sprint the last bit in, it hurt, the whole way…yuk.
So the damage:
Splits:Total time 02:30:11
Swim: 00:25:33
T1: 00:01:26
Bike: 01:12:29
T2: 00:01:48
Run: 00:48:53
Not great but not bad…the run and bike was short, so I can’t really count this as a PB. I’m tempted though, as the chance of me getting anywhere close to 2:30 on a full distance course is slim!!!
Anyway, here is a picture of the bit of the run course that goes past the transition….crazy!!!
Next race, Antwerp this weekend….
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Magic Numbers
Thought I’d post up some of the numbers from the race…quite arbitrary, but want to keep them to compare to in the future.
Total time spent training
swim: 24:52:34
bike: 72:10:00
run: 41:27:17
Total: 138:29:51
I kept these stats from about mid January to race day.
The Race, from my heart rate monitor:
Total time 5:44:58
Avg Hr : 152
Max Hr : 171
Calories: 3353
I am surprised by my average HR, I did most of my training at about 147 avg (a bit higher on the run and a bit lower on the bike), so I wouldn't have guessed I'd be able to maintain a higher HR for the race.
Race positions:
118 out of 210 girls who started the race (206 completed the race)
25 out of 40 in my age group (F30-35)
Would have been happier with top 50%!
Splits:
Total time 5:44:57
Swim: 27:56 (43)
T1: 3:07 (74)
Bike: 3:00:25 (88)
T2: 2:54 (130)
Run: 2:10:32 (179) lap 1: 41:47, lap 2: 46:46 lap 3: 41:57
The numbers in brackets is my position for each stage, just in the girls race. Predictably the swim is pretty ok, then just all going slowly downhill from there ending with my shocking run!!! To be honest, nothing I didn’t already know….like I really need to work on the run!!!
Total time spent training
swim: 24:52:34
bike: 72:10:00
run: 41:27:17
Total: 138:29:51
I kept these stats from about mid January to race day.
The Race, from my heart rate monitor:
Total time 5:44:58
Avg Hr : 152
Max Hr : 171
Calories: 3353
I am surprised by my average HR, I did most of my training at about 147 avg (a bit higher on the run and a bit lower on the bike), so I wouldn't have guessed I'd be able to maintain a higher HR for the race.
Race positions:
118 out of 210 girls who started the race (206 completed the race)
25 out of 40 in my age group (F30-35)
Would have been happier with top 50%!
Splits:
Total time 5:44:57
Swim: 27:56 (43)
T1: 3:07 (74)
Bike: 3:00:25 (88)
T2: 2:54 (130)
Run: 2:10:32 (179) lap 1: 41:47, lap 2: 46:46 lap 3: 41:57
The numbers in brackets is my position for each stage, just in the girls race. Predictably the swim is pretty ok, then just all going slowly downhill from there ending with my shocking run!!! To be honest, nothing I didn’t already know….like I really need to work on the run!!!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
The race
Finally race day arrived…I got up at 5:40 after having a fairly good sleep, thank god for ear plugs!!!!
I quietly got ready while Bronson and Leo slept on. Then down for breakfast at 6am. I really find it impossible to eat on race mornings, but managed to get something in me.
The nerves where still all good. It was then up to the room to grab my stuff, then Martin drove us to the race. We headed for transition and got all our kit laid out. The vibe was great in transition, everyone in good spirits as the weather looked good for racing. Dry, but not too hot.
At 8am we cleared out of transition and headed for the start line, then we overheard the announcement, that morning the water temp was measured at 14 degrees, so the swim was shortened to 1400m. All the slow swimmers celebrated, I was not too happy. Well what could one do???
I quietly got ready while Bronson and Leo slept on. Then down for breakfast at 6am. I really find it impossible to eat on race mornings, but managed to get something in me.
The nerves where still all good. It was then up to the room to grab my stuff, then Martin drove us to the race. We headed for transition and got all our kit laid out. The vibe was great in transition, everyone in good spirits as the weather looked good for racing. Dry, but not too hot.
At 8am we cleared out of transition and headed for the start line, then we overheard the announcement, that morning the water temp was measured at 14 degrees, so the swim was shortened to 1400m. All the slow swimmers celebrated, I was not too happy. Well what could one do???
After watching the pro’s go off and the other men’s waves, the girls set off at 9:05 along with the blokes 40+ which made for quite a big start, the water was cold but once the gun went, it didn’t bother me at all.
The swim felt great, a bit of barging about in the beginning but nothing too worrying, I tried to keep my stroke long and slow, but don’t think I managed. I think it’s easy to do when you are swimming on your own in a nice calm lake. But when you swimming with 100’s of others and the chop is up, you just resort to what you know…and for me that’s my old waterpolo style of swimming from the shoulders with a stupid high stroke count, not efficient in a wet suit!!!
Anyway, I was out the water in 27:56. I saw Bronson and Leo as I exited the swim, I shouted my time, but didn’t have time to explain the swim was short, so poor Bronson thought I was super woman with a 27 min swim for 1900m…nice while it lasted!!!
The transition was on an Astroturf hockey field, and was a normal transition, i.e. not the usual bags etc. Took my time in T1, then out on the bike after 3:07. A bit slow, but as the hockey field was covered in sand, I tried to get as much of this off as possible before putting on my cycle shoes and socks.
The bike felt fast to begin with, I kept thinking if I keep going at this speed, I’m going to pay a price later…but I felt great so just went with it. The hills where fine, I even managed to overtake some people on them…I especial like it when it’s some flash git on an overpriced bike, never fails to amuse me!!!
I knew Holly would be on my tail, in fact I expected her to catch me before the first climb, as it turned out, she caught me exactly 1 hour into the ride, on the last cheeky little hill before the final decent and quick dash to the turnaround point. We exchanged some banter…or abuse, and then she was off.
I really respect Holly as a cyclist (and runner), that wee Welsh lass is nails, so I was pretty proud of myself for staying ahead of her for so long. In the end her bike split was only about 7 minutes faster then mine. Yippee for me, all those hours of training paid off.
Back to the race, I dashed to the turning point, watching my bike clock the whole time. I managed lap 1 in 1hr 28 ish, still feeling ok so off for lap 2. I started feeling quite tired on the second lap, especially the long hill, it just seemed to drag on. I did the second in 1hr 32 ish to leave me with a 3hr ish bike leg. I was really happy to discover on my results that the bike leg was 03:00:25.
I then pranced about in T2 again then off for the run. A 3 lapper. The first part of the first lap went fine, then somewhere between then and lap 2, the wheels came off a bit. Physically I felt fine but mentally I was knackered. I completely lost concentration and found myself wasting time. Had to have a real talk with myself, somehow managed to piece things together again and managed a 2hr 10 half marathon. So a total of 5:44:57.
I am really, really happy with that, even if the swim was 1900m, I would still have snuck in under 6 hours, which was my secret goal. I would have been happy with 6hr 30 min, I knew if everything went very well, 6hr was doable, but to get in under that was just heavenly. I will confess that I had a little cry as I crossed that finish line. It’s been a long old journey, so to finally cross that line was just glorious.
The race organizers where really well prepared, at the finish I got my medal, then went off for a well deserved drink, then we got our finishers T-shirts and a race certificate with all our splits on. It was then out to see Bronson and Leo, to shed some more tears…such girls we are!!! There was also a huge spread to tuck into, very much appreciated. According to my HRM, I burned 3300 odd calories, so set about replacing them.
Monday I felt pretty stiff and very tired, Tuesday a bit better, and by Wednesday I was mostly recovered. And now having trawled over the results for a few hours, I’m already thinking of another one. I’m sure I can shave some time off of that run and maybe squeeze that bike in a bit too….
I don’t want to sound like an Oscar winner, but I need to say a few thank yous because although I crossed that finish line on my own, it was thanks to several people that I got there at all. To friends and family for all the support before and after the race. To my training partners (you know who you are), much better then doing it on your own, thanx for the hours of company. To Clare who loaned me her wetsuit and bike food carrier thing, much appreciated.
Then a special thanks to Bronson and Leo, for the support and encouragement, for coming all the way to Switzerland for my race, for the advice and help with all matters technical and other. And especially for allowing me the time to do all the training. It meant the world to me!!!!
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Leading up to the race
We left for Switzerland early on Wednesday morning. A quick dash down to Dover to hop on the ferry to Dunkerque. From there we made our way to Strasbourg where we spent the night. The trip was ok, just a bit mad navigating in French and driving on the wrong side of the road. Leo also hated the trip and started getting very impatient with being stuck in the car seat. Poor boy.
We then made our way to Switzerland via the German Autobahn on Thursday morning. Once again Leo started getting very irritable being stuck in the car, to make matters worse, as we got to Jona, we suffered a flat tire, thanx to driving over a hideous huge bolt that had snapped off a truck…ended up having to buy a new tire as it was beyond repair.
We got settled into our hotel, which also happened to be at the start of the race cycle route (good skills Sharon for some excellent booking skills), then went out to do one lap of the route. We where just getting ready to go when we met this girl and her bloke who had just come back from riding the route. As our map wasn’t too detailed, we asked her for some advice, she then went on to say that she got lost several times, it took her 4 hours to cycle the one lap route of 45 km. She complained the descents where really terrible, very steep and technical. She managed to put the fear of God into us. I thought for sure we’d be cycling back in the dark
Needless to say, Ryan (Holly’s other-half) was a master map reader and we made our way around just fine. The first 10km, nice and flat, then a 1,1km short sharp climb followed by the only bit of crappy road surface. Then a nice down hill and flat section to the next climb. The second climb was long (around 8km) but was broken up with the occasional flattish section. Then came the descents, the first was fast, we got up to 63km/h without trying. The second was a great straight flat section where we got up to 45km/ without too much effort. Then a short climb and some more down hill. All good!! There was only one section we missed, but as it was less then 4km of the route, we decided we could live without it.
Later I discovered that the girl we’d chatted to in the corridor was Alison Fitch from Australia, a professional on the long distance race circuit!!! She came 6th on Sunday in a time of 4:32:34, with a bike split of 2hr 40. I guess when you are on a flimsy timetrial bike going at that speed, then yes, those descents can be scary!!!
For Friday and Saturday the weather was really crap, it just rained continuously, but the weather report always looked ok for Sunday, so we held our thumbs. Friday morning I met up with Alex to hand over her bike, we took it down on the back of the car to save her from flying with it. As the weather was so crap, we offered to drive Alex around the course. We also managed to find the bit we missed the previous day so that was a bonus.
In the afternoon we made our way down to register, it was quick and simple, and we got really cool bags too!!! I love new kit, and these are great!!!
Saturday morning it was still raining…I was starting to think that their forcast for Sunday was one fat lie. Poor Leo was really getting annoyed at being locked in doors all the time, so we took him to the ‘Kinder Zoo’ (Children’s Zoo) that was next door to the race headquarters. Leo loved it, he rode on a pony, checked out all the animals and we got to see the seal and sea lion show.
After this, I met the others to go to the race briefing. The race briefing brought good and bad news for me…firstly the bike section was described as challenging with technical descent, and 950m of climbing. This was the good news, as having ridden the route on the Thursday, I thought it was pretty easy. Climbs were do-able, road surfaces great…hence no problem. I guess this is what happens when you train on a 90km route on crap roads with 1300m odd of climbing!!!
The bad news…there was a good chance the swim would be shortened as the lake temp was at 15 degrees. And to think that the previous week the temp had climbed a degree every day till 19 degrees and there was even talk that is would be a no wetsuit swim.
I also managed to bump into Chantal, who I met via my blog….she recognised my SA accent so introduced herself. Great meeting you Chantal!!!
I then set about racking my bike and checking out the transition area, run route and swim start. All nice and straight forward. Then it was time for the Pasta Party…yum yum. Bronson decided it would be too much for Leo so left me behind to get on with it. It was great, I quite liked these huge bells that the Swiss have, I forget what they called them but they where really cool.
We then headed home to get our stuff together before the big day. This was quite challenging as Leo was asleep in our room. So I had to drag everything out and down the corridor to Sharon’s room, get it all packed and ready, then pack it all back in our room. What a mission!!! The nervous were also setting in, the big day was only one sleep away.
We then made our way to Switzerland via the German Autobahn on Thursday morning. Once again Leo started getting very irritable being stuck in the car, to make matters worse, as we got to Jona, we suffered a flat tire, thanx to driving over a hideous huge bolt that had snapped off a truck…ended up having to buy a new tire as it was beyond repair.
We got settled into our hotel, which also happened to be at the start of the race cycle route (good skills Sharon for some excellent booking skills), then went out to do one lap of the route. We where just getting ready to go when we met this girl and her bloke who had just come back from riding the route. As our map wasn’t too detailed, we asked her for some advice, she then went on to say that she got lost several times, it took her 4 hours to cycle the one lap route of 45 km. She complained the descents where really terrible, very steep and technical. She managed to put the fear of God into us. I thought for sure we’d be cycling back in the dark
Needless to say, Ryan (Holly’s other-half) was a master map reader and we made our way around just fine. The first 10km, nice and flat, then a 1,1km short sharp climb followed by the only bit of crappy road surface. Then a nice down hill and flat section to the next climb. The second climb was long (around 8km) but was broken up with the occasional flattish section. Then came the descents, the first was fast, we got up to 63km/h without trying. The second was a great straight flat section where we got up to 45km/ without too much effort. Then a short climb and some more down hill. All good!! There was only one section we missed, but as it was less then 4km of the route, we decided we could live without it.
Later I discovered that the girl we’d chatted to in the corridor was Alison Fitch from Australia, a professional on the long distance race circuit!!! She came 6th on Sunday in a time of 4:32:34, with a bike split of 2hr 40. I guess when you are on a flimsy timetrial bike going at that speed, then yes, those descents can be scary!!!
For Friday and Saturday the weather was really crap, it just rained continuously, but the weather report always looked ok for Sunday, so we held our thumbs. Friday morning I met up with Alex to hand over her bike, we took it down on the back of the car to save her from flying with it. As the weather was so crap, we offered to drive Alex around the course. We also managed to find the bit we missed the previous day so that was a bonus.
In the afternoon we made our way down to register, it was quick and simple, and we got really cool bags too!!! I love new kit, and these are great!!!
Saturday morning it was still raining…I was starting to think that their forcast for Sunday was one fat lie. Poor Leo was really getting annoyed at being locked in doors all the time, so we took him to the ‘Kinder Zoo’ (Children’s Zoo) that was next door to the race headquarters. Leo loved it, he rode on a pony, checked out all the animals and we got to see the seal and sea lion show.
After this, I met the others to go to the race briefing. The race briefing brought good and bad news for me…firstly the bike section was described as challenging with technical descent, and 950m of climbing. This was the good news, as having ridden the route on the Thursday, I thought it was pretty easy. Climbs were do-able, road surfaces great…hence no problem. I guess this is what happens when you train on a 90km route on crap roads with 1300m odd of climbing!!!
The bad news…there was a good chance the swim would be shortened as the lake temp was at 15 degrees. And to think that the previous week the temp had climbed a degree every day till 19 degrees and there was even talk that is would be a no wetsuit swim.
I also managed to bump into Chantal, who I met via my blog….she recognised my SA accent so introduced herself. Great meeting you Chantal!!!
I then set about racking my bike and checking out the transition area, run route and swim start. All nice and straight forward. Then it was time for the Pasta Party…yum yum. Bronson decided it would be too much for Leo so left me behind to get on with it. It was great, I quite liked these huge bells that the Swiss have, I forget what they called them but they where really cool.
We then headed home to get our stuff together before the big day. This was quite challenging as Leo was asleep in our room. So I had to drag everything out and down the corridor to Sharon’s room, get it all packed and ready, then pack it all back in our room. What a mission!!! The nervous were also setting in, the big day was only one sleep away.
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