Antwerp 70.3

This was my last race this year so I pushed the boat out. Taking the race line at the swim start meant a lot of biff but it paid off; 35 mins - PB. T1 was crowded but uneventful. I made the most of the flat bike course and managed to push hard for all but the last ~5k; split = 2 hrs 33. T2 also ok. Although my running has come on a lot this year, I've been disappointed with my run splits in races. I convinced myself I just needed to suck it up and stick to my target pace. This seemed to work and I even gained a couple of minutes; very happy with 1:38. My dream target before the start was 5 hrs, with a realistic goal of 5:05, so when I saw my final time of 4 hrs 50 I was well chuffed.

As a consequence of pushing hard, I was in a bit of a state at the end. No swanning around the finish soaking up the moment; even though it was a hot day, within minutes of stopping I was cold to the core and shaking, so it was straight back to the hotel, hot shower and into bed for 30 mins under a blanket just to ward off the body-shock. An hour or so later I was fine, went back to the finish and enjoyed the atmosphere.

Swim: 35:01
T1: 2:24
Bike: 2:33:10
T2: 1:50
Run: 1:38:11
Total: 4:50:38

371st out of ~1160 finishers, i.e. 32%.

K-Swiss City of Manchester 10k

One of my goals for 2010 was to go sub-40 mins in 10k road race. I avoided the BUPA Great Manchester Run in May as this race attracts >25,000 people, making it hard to get a good time. So I signed up for a smaller event, the City of Manchester 10k organized by Sports Tours Internationals, which attracts about 2,500 runners. The race started and finished on the athletics track at Sport City - see here for the route - making it good for spectators.

The weather was cool and dry so good for running, but not perfect as there was a bit of a headwind in places. The legend that is Ron Hill took part and got the race underway. Encouraged by Howard, I pushed right to the front for the start so got off to a flyer. I then settled down into a good rhythm and in the final 3k still felt strong.

I had been checking my watch periodically so I knew I was on course but I only ever looked at my pace, not the actual time, so I was shocked when I came around the final bend and saw the official clock reading 37 mins something. I pushed on and finished in 37:32 - a massive PB, placing me 32nd! In 2007 and 2009, my 10k times were 45:41 and 41:22 respectively, so well chuffed with this big improvement.

Had a good chat with Neil and Howard after. Will do this again next year!

A Day in the Lakes

Another cracking event organised by TriHard. Arguably the hardest half-iron distance race in the UK, starting with a 1.9k swim in Ulswater, a 90k bike ride taking in Kirkstone Pass and Shap followed by a 21k fell run which involves two big hills. My goal was to do it in under 6 hours and I came in in 5:56 so pretty happy.

The pic shows the view from the top of Kirkstone looking back down the hill. I put a 12-27 cassette on my TT bike specially for this race.

Swim 00:37:33 139th out of 227 male finishers

T1 00:01:22 37

Bike 03:11:44 84

T2 00:00:54 22

Run 02:04:46 66

Total 05:56:10 77

I'm an Overglider!

I have been a fan of Swimsmooth for a while and this week I went to one of their swim clinics up in Bolton. It was a fantastic day; together Paul and Adam put on a great set of classroom and pool-based sessions. What I really like about their approach is that they don't treat everyone the same, culminating in their new website, www.swimtypes.com. So, it turns out that I'm an Overglider, so a key thing for me to work on is increasing my stroke rate a tad and improving the early phase of my catch. Off to the pool tomorrow to put what I learned into practice.

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.