Swashbuckler

This weekend was the Swashbuckler, a middle distance race in in the New Forest. A beautiful day started at 6:15 am with a 1.9k swim in the Beaulieu estuary at Bucklers Hard. Two loops of an out-and-back, with the out against the incoming tide giving a slow swim for all, ~50 mins for me. Then, 80k on the bike through great scenery and quiet roads. This was my first tri on the new TT bike and I was very hapy with a split of 2:28. Finally, a 22k run; although I finished feeling strong, 1:55 is slower than I was hoping for. In the end, I finished in 5 hrs 13 mins, placing 127th out of 307 finishing men. Couldn't have asked for a better day for my first race of the season.

Bike Set Up

Spent some time today looking at my bike set up. It's not particularly aggressive but it is comfortable and to my eye looks ok. As I get more used to it and develop the flexibility I'll try lowering the front end. This might necessitate moving the seat back a bit as well?

Training Duathlon

The last in this year's series of winter training duathlons. A beautiful morning, and - as always - a very well organized event.

First time racing on the new Orbea Ora TT bike. It felt very comfortable so I think the set up is about right, just need to spend more time on it. Plan to do a few more time trials this summer as part of my training.

Completed the 15.5 k bike leg in 26:31, got through transition in 31 seconds then finished off the 5.4 k run in 21:28, giving a total of 48:30. Pretty happy with the performance, 2 mins 50 secs faster compared to this time last year.

Lakeland Loop

Yesterday, I took part in the Lakeland Loop cyclosportif, organised by Epic Events. Starting off from the New Dungeon Gyhll Hotel in Langdale, the route is ~112 km, finishing off with climbs over the infamous Hardknott and Wynrose passes. It was a great day; perfect weather, a well organised event and great guys to cycle with. (Pic shows me and George at the top of Hardknott).

I really enjoyed the ride but Hardknott and Wynrose are total b@st@rds!! I was doing pretty well on all the other hills, managing to stay in the saddle most of the time. But when I hit the 1:3 sections and had to get out of the saddle, my power drained fast and I struggled. About four fiths the way up Hardknott, on one of the 1:3 ramps, I got caught up in some stones at the side of the road, lost my balance and fell off, bashing my right thigh. George very generously sacrificed his own climb, hopping off to help me back on my way with a big push. Using every ounce of energy left, I ground my way up the last few ramps and got to the top. After a recovering at the top and down the other side, I did ok most of the way up Wrynose but then, ~100 m from the end, out of the saddle again, I just ran out of juice, ground to a halt, and fell off for a second time, this time bashing my left side!

Got back to the New Dungeon Gyhll Hotel in just under 6 hours, which included generous rests at the feed stations. So, a great day but I certainly feel that I have some unfinished business; definitely plan to sign up for this again next year and, with a bit of power training in the meantime, I will get to the top of Hardknott and Wynrose without falling off!

Wilmslow Half Marathon

A great day, perfect weather and a fast course. Finished just under 1:29; my target was sub-1:30 so very happy. The thing they warn you about on this course is not to start out too fast, so guess what I did!!

Despite setting my GPS watch to the exact pace needed for 1:30, I set out way too fast, doing the first 10k in ~ 40 mins . The fast start made me suffer later, the last 2 k were excruciating and I had to really hang on.

Today, I can hardly walk but hopefully a sports massage will sort me out.