Parkrun #1 Portrush

22.08.2015

I've heard of Parkrun for some time, but have never actually tried it. I even registered about two years ago.

But Carol and Jon have done it, and we are all in Northern Ireland together, so Portrush Parkrun seemed a good place to start. It's quite an iconic location, running along a beach on the sand. Gina dna my Mum looked after Lyra as Anna also decided to run.

I was not terribly fit for running, but hoped to get a reasonable time. I started a bit fast, but flagged in the second kilometer. Jon was up ahead and I saw him coming back after the turnaround at the end of the beach by the Whiterocks. When I turned I tried to get my pace back, and I saw Carol and Anna. I really went for it at the end.

I crossed the line and then two people sprinted past me and picked up my token. I'm still a bit peeved at losing two places unfairly for that as we were all given the same time - 21:33.

I liked the event - I'd like to do it some more and get faster - maybe even beat 20 minutes as I used to be able to do that, but have no proof!

Links
Strava Link
Parkrun Link

Prudential Ride London 2015

Prudential Ride London 2015

I could have sworn I'd written a race report of this already. But it's not here. This is written a long time after the event, so some of the detail is missing.

Olivia and I both got places, so we decided to ride together. Getting to the start is always a problem, and I didn't really give us enough time, even though we got up stupidly early. We drove to Kensington, parked, and met a few other London Dynamo riders to cycle the 12 miles to the start. We lost the others, but got there anyway, and were a bit late. so didn't get to the correct pen, but just walked into a different one and it was OK.

We had a great day - the weather was warm, and we stopped for food and water whenever we felt like it without worrying about the time. This was Olivia's longest ride by far, 100 miles + 12 to the start, and 3 back to the car afterwards - so about 115 miles in full!

I can't remember that much else, We stopped to say hello to Carol at her house. We had a look over the valley at the top of Box Hill. Olivia did really well and didn't complain at all - though her heavier bike made the hills hard she cycled up them all.

At the finish we got some good photos and sat in the sun for some chips and drinks.


Links
Results Anna/Olivia 8909
Results Andy Sharp/me 37297
Strava

H10/2 23rd July 2015

I missed last weeks time trial, and this week I felt so tired I might have skipped it again. I had done a long slow ride on Saturday to Richmond Park with Olivia, and a faster one on my own on Sunday. On the Sunday ride I was surprised to feel my legs stronger than they have been for a while. So after a few days off, and on a warm evening with a very light westerly wind, I felt duty bound to go to Maidenhead, though it was a bit of a struggle getting off the sofa.

I think it's worth talking a little about nutrition - for breakfast I had bran flakes and granola with milk, and a small orange. I had a Sainsbury's meal deal of 500 ml diet coke, triple sandwich with chicken/turkey/cheese, and a big bag of Walkers cheese and onion. Mid afternoon Snickers bar completed the day except for a handful of salted peanuts just before I left home and an Isogel+ about 45 minutes before the race. I had about 3 cups of coffee at work too, and a few sips of water while waiting near the start line.

My warm-up was a 16 km ride to the start, a bit of a rest, and then 4 loops of the side road. I didn't do any real efforts as I was feeling tired, but i did time my last loop so that I turned up at the start 3 minutes before my time (I got number 30 this week so was off at 8:14 pm) and just had time to get my heart rate back down.

I know this course very well now, and have a very good feeling after only a few minutes for how the ride will go. Getting up to speed from the standing start is always the same, and turning the corner at the roundabout. The gradient then increases, and my speed goes down, and suddenly I remember I need to breath (at 1:50 elapsed time on this occasion :) ) The next 3-5 minutes are decisive. If my speed drops to 32-33 km/h, and my legs start to hurt, and I start panting and wanting to give up, then I'll have an average (for me) ride. I might beat 25 minutes, but might not. That's the normal early season. Today, I found I was right about my form, and my legs felt strong, and I maintained 34-6 km/h on this hard section. I knew it would be a good time.

I kept in as low an aero position as possible into the slight headwind and it seemed to work - my speed was good an the average crept up. I think I need to change my bike set up because even sitting at the back of the saddle, and reaching forwards, my elbows are practically off the front of the pads and my hands off the front of the gear controls - I can't get any lower though I feel that I want to and am capable of it.

At the half way turnaround roundabout my average speed was 39.1 km/h - this is close to my record I think and I was still feeling good. I overtook number 29 which always feels good, but was soon overtaken by 31 - not so nice. I think I must have relaxed a little on the return  - with my good start I was confident of my best time of the season. Number 31 didn't pull away from me as fast as I'd have liked and I had to slow a little to let him get out of my drafting zone - I lost a bit of time doing that but I had no choice - you're not allowed to draft other riders. I kept my average speed between 38.8 and 39.1 and after the final hill really pushed for home.

I think my push for home should have started sooner - I felt fast, and I still had some energy at the finish line. It's hard to judge this, and maybe if I'd pushed harder earlier that wouldn't have worked.

Very happy with my 24.11 time - best of the season and 3rd best ever. A little surprised it wasn't under 24 minutes, given my good first half. Maybe I should spend less time looking at my speed, and more riding by how I feel. Perhaps I'll try a ride with the Garmin screen covered :)

I rode home again as my warm down, it was getting really dark and though there had been 100% cloud cover all evening, a small patch on the horizon cleared in the west showing a red sky, which was nice.

Links maidenheadCC Strava

H10/2 9th July 2015

Feeling very tired after a hard week in the office (new job) I only prsuaded myself to do this when I saw the weather forecast. 20 degrees C and 5mph westerly wind. almost perfect.

The new routing is to cycle to the lake, look after Lyra while Anna swims, and then cycle over to the start. I did this and got number 37 this week.

There were several horses and traps around the start which made me need to take a wide path around them just before the first roundabout, but other than that the ride was uneventful. I passed number 34 quite quickly, but I knew number 37 was fast. I felt quite strong and could see from my 38.4km/h average speed at the turnaround that I was doing better than any time this season - the slight headwind hadn't affected me much.

I maintained a good speed, though not spectacular. when 37 did go past me I let him get out of the drafting zone as per rules and then pushed on after him, watching to see if I could learn anything. His cadence wasn't fast, similar to mine and maybe slower, but he was getting away from me. I think this means he just had more power.

Fairly happy with my fastest time of the season, though it's still slower than many of my rides last year. I'm slightly ahead though as I did fewer TTs last year, so still time to catch up.

Result 24.26 - 18th out of 37 riders.

Links MaidenheadCC

H10/2 2nd July 2015

I got number 50 this week, so had my longest waiting around time so far. Anna and Lyra came to watch which was nice - they saw the start and finish. Unfortunately, I struggled on the way west on the A4, and though my return was OK, I didn't have the power needed to beat 25 minutes.

It was the MDCC/TVT inter club competition, and my time was included, Happily, it was enough for us to win this year :) We went to the pub to celebrate afterwards.

Result 25:05 - 26th out of 53 finishers

Links MDCC

H10/2 25th June 2015

Following the pattern of cycling over and getting a late number, I got 37 this week.

I didn't feel very strong on the way out today, but made up some time coming back so so was happy to be a little faster than last week.

Result 24:38 - 16th out of 36 finishers

Links MDCC

H10/2 18 June 2015

I cycled over to the start as normal for my 2nd try at H10/2 this season. got the very last number - 40.

Ireally just wanted to break 25 minutes, and so was pleased enough to manage that :)

Result 24.57 - 18th place out of 39 finishers.

Links - MDCC

H10/2 21/05/2015

H10/2 21/05/2015 - 24:56

Back to H10/2 for the first time this year.

I cycled over, and just managed to get a space, 41 riders allowed and I got number 39.

Had quite a lot of sitting around, and getting a bit cold but eventually I was off.

I didn't like the slight headwind going west on the A4 and my speed was well below what it should be. I also forgot to set my Garmin's lap timer until the first roundabout, so wasn't sure of my average speed comparisons from previous rides. I would like to be hitting 40km/h average by half way.

38.2km/h average by the turnaround, which may or may not be nearly 2km/h down on my best. But the push back to the finish was wind assisted, so made better time. I felt quite good, but progress was slow. I was wearing my contact lenses, which makes reading the small numbers on my Garmin difficult, and what with missing the lap start, I had no idea when I finished what my time might be.

I was hoping to break 25 minutes, and just did it at 24:56, 38.78km/h average speed.

Note: Richard Stannard, previous Windsor Triathlon winner, raced tonight, be was a little faster then me coming in 6th, but I'm pleased with 18th.

Results Maidenhead CC and Strava 

H10/10 23/04/2015

H10/10 23/04/2015

My first official TT of the year, with Maidenhead Cycling Club out on the Drift road circuit.

I had a very fast training session on Tuesday, and my legs were still a little painful from that, but I was feeling fit. I cycled over the the start line, signed up as number 8, then went for a mini circuit that included some of the course (I didn't want to do the whole 10 miles as warmup)

Conditions were very favourable, not too warm, not too cold, and not much wind.

I had a good start, it's mostly downhill for the first 6-7 minutes, but I didn't go crazy as the main Hawthorn Hill climb was next. I was hoping to see number 7 ahead as I turned the corner to go up, but she was nowhere in sight. The climb went OK, and I passed number 5 who was doing her first TT.

After 18 minutes my mouth was dry and I felt a little sick. I think the Isogel+ I took 30 minutes before the start was not agreeing with me. Not long to go though.

Finally onto the Drift Road again, and the home straight, but my legs were not feeling good. I pushed hard, but not as hard as I should have been able to. Number 10 passed me. I looked at my time and wondered if I could beat 25 minutes (I hadn't checked, but my record on this course is 26:02 from 16 August 2012.

The final stretch was longer than I remembered, but it was downhill, and I managed to get a bit of extra speed hitting nearly 56km/h. It wasn't enough, my finish time was 25:16 in the end.

I'm pretty pleased with that; it's the first TT of the season, and I am on course for better things :)

Official Results Strava