I ended up riding a 1:02:25 for 13th place out of 24 finishers and had pretty much the race I thought I would. I set out hoping to hold around 250W and that was exactly what I managed to average for . . . → Read More: Sotonia 25]]> My first 25 mile TT in the New Forest at Sotonia’s event this morning.

I ended up riding a 1:02:25 for 13th place out of 24 finishers and had pretty much the race I thought I would. I set out hoping to hold around 250W and that was exactly what I managed to average for the race.

I paced it fairly evenly  the only blips being at a couple oft the corners and at one point down the last hill when I was overtaken at the crest of a hill and had to soft pedal for a short period to maintain a distance from the guy who overtook me but didn’t push on as we descended. Maybe cost me a few seconds but nothing too much.

I managed to average 38.7kph or a shade over 24mph which is faster than either of the 2 10 mile TT’s I’ve done. More to find there I think when I do more 10′s on faster courses.

Not too bad for a first effort but still lots of room for improvement.

In retrospect one probably affected the other. Last year I ran the Paddock Wood half at marathon pace for a 1:24 rather than . . . → Read More: April]]> A month of two running races, one good and one not so good. A solid half marathon PB of 1:20:12 at Paddock Wood and a slightly disappointing 2:52:41 at the London Marathon.

In retrospect one probably affected the other. Last year I ran the Paddock Wood half at marathon pace for a 1:24 rather than ‘racing’ and the race was 3 weeks before London. This year I did race the half for the 1:20 and because, I assume, it was Easter weekend 3 weeks before London there was only a 2 week gap between the two races.

Lesson learned there – a hard half 2 weeks before a marathon is possibly not the best idea! – for me anyway. I ended up 57 seconds slower than the 2012 London Marathon but both the races panned out differently. Last year I gradually slowed from about the 35k mark, losing a handful of seconds per km until I had to stop at the 600m to go banner for cramp before jogging to the finish.

This year I know I am running better than last year with better results, both in races and the little test runs I do regularly, and thought a sub 2:50 time was a realistic target. I was running really well until around the 16 mile mark. I had been comfortably running 4:00/k and enjoying the race when suddenly my hamstrings tightened up and my left achilles started to hurt and I was running 4:12-15/k instead. From then to the end it was a struggle and focused on running a pace that would get me to the end. 2:52 is a decent time but not what I wanted and not what I believe I was capable of. Next year…

I was going to do the David Lloyd Sprint Triathlon a week after London but sore legs and some sage advice from my Dad I decided not to run and marshalled instead.

I swam just over 32k during the month, a decent mix of endurance and harder intervals and also included my first open water swim of the year – in the sea of all places. A balmy 7ºC it was a needless to say it didn’t last too long!

Cycling has been good throughout April with 739km ridden. I made a conscious effort to keep the mileage up as last April I really focused on the running and only managed 94k and I’m sure that my cycling suffered in the month after because of the lack of time in the saddle.

As well as some long rides I’ve done my first time trials and joined the Hampshire Road Club and am intending to do a few CTT events over the next few months. My first 2 club 10′s have been a 26:05 at 258 Watts – a sub par effort 2 days after the Paddock Wood half and followed up with a better 25:08 at 275 Watts which included a stop at a traffic light which had a police car sitting by it. Bugger!

Most of the running was either easy or racing during April so nothing really to add to the races above.

A week in Lanzarote to look forward to in May with hopefully plenty more time on the bike along with some more TT’s hopefully. I want to maintain my run fitness rather than look to increase the mileage now and do a bit more swimming in preparation for The Swashbuckler at the beginning of June.

Having gone well through the first half I knew that it wasn’t quite there today from about mile 15 or so and slowed slightly to a pace that I knew would get me to the finish. I could . . . → Read More: London Result….]]> Finished in 2:52:41, so not the sub 2:50 I wanted and thought was possible in the end.

Having gone well through the first half I knew that it wasn’t quite there today from about mile 15 or so and slowed slightly to a pace that I knew would get me to the finish. I could feel my hamstrings beginning to protest and my left achilles was also sore so to be honest couldn’t have gone any faster today.

Maybe next year….

We are travelling to London tomorrow to stay at the Bexleyheath . . . → Read More: Number’s Up]]> I went up to the Excel Centre in London today to pick up my race number for Sunday’s London Marathon. This year I’ll be number 32,634 running around the streets of South and Central London and also around the mecca that is The Valley.

We are travelling to London tomorrow to stay at the Bexleyheath Marriott for the evening, something that worked well last year with and easy journey to Barnehurst station and a short train journey to Blackheath. Saturday afternoon will be spent at The Valley hopefully watching Charlton beat Wolves as out decent end to the season continues!

Again like last year I’ll be starting from the Fast Good for Age pen at the red start, a nice area with plenty of space and toilets to relax in the hour before the race. Relative luxury compared with some other races.

At the moment even the weather appears to looking OK. The current strong winds are forecast to be much lighter by Sunday and with a cool start to the morning also predicted it could be a good day for running.

It wasn’t without incident though – I had to slow for a red light at a pedestrian crossing that had a Police car at the front of the queue . . . → Read More: TT Number 2]]> A better showing at the 10 mile TT this week – without the fatigue of the Paddock Wood Half Marathon in my legs perhaps not surprising.

It wasn’t without incident though – I had to slow for a red light at a pedestrian crossing that had a Police car at the front of the queue of three cars that I had to squeeze past. Still even with that it was a much better time and a higher wattage.

I averaged 275W compared to last weeks 259 and ended up just under a minute quicker on the same course for a 25:08, and I’m fairly certain that I would have been close to a 24 minute time – maybe next time.

This TT was the first of the year from Hampshire Road Club’s evening 10 series and is something I hope to . . . → Read More: Time Trialling]]> I did my first ‘proper’ 10 mile TT last night – I’ve done TT’s with the Tri Club before but that’s been over a 10.7 mile distance and done on a pretty informal basis.

This TT was the first of the year from Hampshire Road Club’s evening 10 series and is something I hope to do more of throughout the season. It was however a strange experience be held before the start!

I managed a 26:04 holding an average 259 Watts so less than the 271 I held for the 24k duathlon ride a Goodwood a couple of weeks ago so there’s more time to be had when I feel a bit fresher. To ride hard two days after running a hard 1:20 Half Marathon was tough at Paddock Wood was tough but at least I know there’s still more to come!

It wasn’t the easiest of courses on a chilly evening and the time was good enough for 9th place out of 32 starters so not too bad. The execution was fairly good though holding even Watts apart from the start and the corners. Golden Cheetah calculated the Normalised power as 1 Watt lower than the average power and gave a Variability Index of just below 1!

I started at the front and probably went off a bit . . . → Read More: Paddock Wood Half Marathon]]> It was a good decision to run. It was a great day for a race – the cold wind of the previous few weeks had dropped and once the frost had gone and the sun had come up it was a beautiful spring day.

I started at the front and probably went off a bit quick – the first  km was a 3:30 and and I was through 5k in 18:33. To add to the issues from the 2nd km my left quad felt like a solid block – it never felt like cramp but never went away for the whole race either.

Having started that pace though I felt there was no choice but to try and maintain it. I settled in to around the 3:50/km or so pace and ran on.

Around the 5-10k mark it felt like loads of people were passing me but in reality it was probably 10 or 12 or so in small groups but after 10k it settled down again and I ran consistently with a small group holding low 3:50kms until about the 15k mark or so when I began to think that maybe I hadn’t paced it to badly after all. I wasn’t slowing and I began to take back some places to guys who had passed me earlier and also passed the leading lady and eventual female winner.

I was also feeling strong still and after the 18k marker decided to up the pace. From the low 3:50′s km 19 was a 3:42 and I finished off with a 3:47 and a 3:39 for a final time of 1:20:11.

I’m not sure whether to be upset that I just missed out on a 1:19 or pleased that I was about a minute quicker than I thought I could run! A good day still, especially with my wife beating her target of a first sub 2hr half marathon. A good confidence booster for London in a couple of weeks.

With the Paddock Wood Half Marathon on Sunday I’ve got a bloody cold and feel miserable! The whole family has had it and as a result . . . → Read More: To run or not?]]> Two days before my second big race of the year and I’m still not sure how I’m going to run the race or even whether I’ll run at all.

With the Paddock Wood Half Marathon on Sunday I’ve got a bloody cold and feel miserable! The whole family has had it and as a result have done very little over the last couple of days. An enforced taper, though not an ideal one I suppose. At least it is now and not in a couple of weeks before the London Marathon.

Hopefully I’ll feel better by Sunday morning and will give the race a decent shot.

I ran 1:24 last year and that was a marathon paced run with the last 2k run fast so I would hope that with well paced half marathon I could go a couple of minutes quicker. With that 1:24 being my current PB it would be good to drop it if I can and Paddock Wood would be a good opportunity with the course being relatively flat and it always being at the end of a block of marathon training.

Hopefully come Sunday I’ll feel good enough to give a proper shot, otherwise I may do the same as as year and run at projected marathon pace and see how it pans out.