London Triathlon 2018

05.08.2018

I felt almost ready for this one. I went for a non-wetsuit swim this week and had no issues with around 900m. Last year I struggled with the end of the swim but this year I have had more practice. My bike times have been pretty good on the Evo Friday night TT. And my running is OK - I can do 5k, and hang on for the rest, as usual.

I stayed overnight at Olivia's, which was probably a mistake. I hardly slept at all and woke up very tired. Neverthless Olivia, Luke and I got out just after 6:30am for the short ride along CS3 to the start. I was in a wave 20 minutes after them (at 8:05) but we went together.

Registration was where we got our chips and numbers, which isn't ideal, as last year they were posted out and so there was less faffing around in the morning when you've got enough to think about.

I watched Luke and Olivia run off to their start at the last minute, and felt fairly calm - I was ready, and the weather was good, and the threatened non-wetsuit swim had not materialised.

In the water, I tried to start my watch, but it wouldn't find a satellite and so I had to give up when the horn went. I swam my own race, though masses of other fast swimmers came up behind me after only a short time and one bashed me on the lip. The advice was to stay on the left - but if you do that you have to swim farther. I got to the end without further incident, maybe I slowed a bit too much to sight, as my 40:32 time is pretty sedentary even for me.

A fairly poor wetsuit removal, and an average T1, and I was out on the bike. This was fun, my Garmin was working this year, and I felt fast. I overtook a lot of people, and was only overtaken once. Unfortunately the long tunnel we ride though skews the Garmin's figures so it's impossible to really know how you are doing. I pushed as hard as I could, knowing there was a 10k to run later. Very pleased to find I was nearly a minute faster than last year with 1:02:09. When I took off my TT helmet, a mass of sweat poured out.

As I was leaving T2 (where I had actually run down the wrong line with my bike and had to duck under the scaffolding poles - rookie mistake) I saw Olivia arriving. I must have missed overtaking her on the bike. Then I saw Luke and said hello. I hadn't caught him, he was on lap 2 of the 4 lap course (changed from last year's 3 laps)

I now saw Anna and Lyra who had arrived to support. I felt ok, tired obviously, but chugging along. Near the end of the 2nd lap something went wrong with my left calf. I assumed it was the usual problem. I limped for a bit, gave the calf a bit of a thump, stamped my leg hard and tried to get running again. I stopped and stretched it a bit, but not much, I was losing time. It was getting hot, and the segments inside the Excel were quite welcoming in their coolness. I kept going, not as fast as before sadly, but as good as I could. Watching my aveage speed, it seemed ok, with no real idea, I wondered if I was going to be able to finish near a time of 2:30:00.

In the finish chute I bumped into Luke again, who decided to sprint for the line - I had to let him go as my leg was hurting quite a lot, and I'm not a sprinter anyway.

Curiously, my run time was a MASSIVE 54:17. My Garmin reports 11:67k. As a lot of running was inside, I don't know what the real distance was. It wasn't 10k. I'm pretty annoyed they changed the distance - I have no way to compare against last year now.

Overall my time was 2:43:11. This is slow for Olympic, so the longer run (and they still report it as 10k) messes everything up.  I was 454th out of 1887. In my age group I was around 21st out of over 100. If I could swim I'd be top 10 there. Something to think about.

Olivia did 3:15:00 and Luke 2:57:40 - off the back of hardly any training.

Results
Sporthive here
Photos Unlikely to still be here
Strava Bike Run

Parkrun #10 - Portrush

28.07.2018

We were lucky with the weather today. Rain overnight cleared and thought it was cloudy and a little windy, conditions could have been a lot worse.

Anna and I went down first so that we could have a bit of a warm up. Carol and Jon arrived a bit later but still in time. It's actually 3 years since we all ran Portrush Parkrun together.

I wasn't going for any records as I haven't really run fast for a while. I know it's easy to say after the event, but I'd expect to be able to do around 22 minutes.

It's 2.5k out along the beach, and 2.5k back. I was doing OK on my average speed by the turnaround, though I could feel myself slowing. On the way back I seemed to be running with two other men, none of us willing to let the other gain any advantage. I pushed a bit harder, or so I thought; my speed was still going down. This is perceived effort working it's magic.

One of my rivals dropped back a bit, the other was on my shoulder. It's always amusing to see mid or low ranked competitors trying to outsprint each other for what is not really a very important victory - one place in a race that doesn't matter. But when you've spent 10 minutes trying to outrun someone, it becomes vital to win that meagre prize. I pushed as hard as I could with about a minute to go - there wasn't much left in my legs, and I have a feeling the other guy just didn't care and let me have the place anyway.

The rain was beginning as I finished, and Carol and Anna had to complete their races that way.

I came 29th out of 278, in a time of 21:51

Anna did 29:45 and was pleased to beat her target of 30:00
Carol did 25:12, and Jon did really well coming 5th with 19:35

Results
Parkrun here
Strava here
Flickr 1 2 3
There are photos on Facebook, but I haven't bothered to track them down for this blog yet.

Cliveden Cross Country 2018

07.01.2018

As is fairly usual these days, my run taining isn't up to scratch. I can run 5k, but rarely go over this, and 10k, paticularly a hilly off-road 10k, was always going to be a bit of a stretch.

I drove over in plenty of time. The weather was cold but OK - probably around 5 degrees C. I wore my Asics trail shoes, and joined a big crowd of other Evo people from my club around the start.

It was 2 laps, though lap two is a bit longer.

I felt fairly Ok for lap one, found my place and pace. I didn't like the massive steps but I was running quite well.

On the second lap I was getting more tired, the terrain was slippery and the up and down draining. Running along the river towards the steps for the second and final time I felt I could manage it, but then my lack of preparation gave me a surprise, a sneaky detour up another hill, then back down to the bottom of the steps. It was around here that my shoe lace came undone - oh well, put up with it, no time to stop.

I had to walk a bit up the steps - the Strava segment says 2:32 vs 2:17 for the climb on the first lap.

Feeling pretty weak I finally finished.

I sat and drank coffee for a while afterwards to recover.

Results look like this:
103 601 Robert Shiels 10k 00:48:27 Male 91 50-59 17

Placed 103rd out of 601, and I think 2nd in my club. 17th in the 50-59 category. 91th male. 48:27 is not a terrible time for a difficult 10k with not enough training. I think I'd like to be higher in my age group though.

Links
Burnam Joggers Results
Strava Cliveden
Flickr Chris Drew

Box Hill Original Sportive

08.10.2017

Website - but now points to a different year's event

Early start to drive down to the start to spend the day with Olivia and Luke (and Dima) riding 100 miles around Surrey.

I'm fairly bike fit, and planned to spend the day at Olivia's pace, so wasn't too worried about doing the distance.

I got there really early, and registered (not my own name unfortunately). There was a theoretical cut-off time of 5pm. Olivia got stuck in traffic entering the field/carpark. It would have been good to get off earlier, but we left at 8:35am which seemed OK.

The four of us stayed together for a while, but it was obvious Luke wanted to get away, and that Dima was dropping back. So eventually it was just me and Olivia together in the middle for most of the time

It was quite a good route - flat for 50 miles, and then the promised hills, which were long rather than steep, except for one. The weather was dry, but never warm, and there wasn't much wind. The sun popped out for 5 minutes, but quickly hid behind the clouds again.

At Box Hill, Olivia and I stopped for a few minutes to have a quick chat with my friend Andy who lives there.

The day did wear on, and by the end we were pretty pleased to go through the finish line. It was a well organized event, the food stops were good and signage worked. I'd do it again, though it was a lot flatter than I expected - more hills :)


Olivia and I finished with the same time (by 1 second)

Shiels, Olivia Epic 1261 08:12:32 Bronze
Smith, Neil Epic 1299 08:12:31 Bronze
Maynard, Luke Epic 887 07:39:47 Bronze
Silenko, Dima Epic 1269 08:45:06 Bronze


Links
Results - Rider Times
Strava: Robert Olivia  Luke
Photos were here SportivePhoto

Parkrun #9 - Maidenhead

16.09.2017

Another PB!

Got there early again and did a warmup, maybe 12 minutes. I think I probably finished it a bit soon, as there was a bit of waiting around and I cooled down again.

I met some Evo friends at the start - Stuart and Rob Novell and Phil McMichael - so had a chat with them which was good.

I have a new watch, Garmin 25, so no battery worries this week. Still getting used to it, and it only shows two fields on it's screen at a time, as opposed to the 205 which had 4. So I'm watching my pace and distance - not sure if that's best.

Stuart went off fast, and I tried to keep up but lost him quickly - he was running a lot faster than my normal target pace. But I was going as well as last Parkrun, and towards the mid-race I was catching him.

I slowly overtook on the second lap and put some space between us, just watching my average pace and keeping pushing.

I was surprised to beat my PB (even if only by 1 second) at 20:49, as it didn't feel quite as difficult as last month. Perhaps I'm a bit fitter. Phil had to pull out due to injury, but Stuart and  Rob both also got PBs.

I came 14th again, out of 274 runners.

Links
Strava
Parkrun
Flickr 1 2 3 4
Stuart on Flickr

Parkrun #8 - Maidenhead

12.08.2017

New PB!

I did a much better warmup this week, probably over 10 minutes of normal running, though this isn't recorded as I'm still having battery issues with the Garmin 205 so have to save it for the actual race.

I started out strong and noticed a really good pace after I'd settled into the long straight. I can't remember the details right now as it's been a while, but I see I dipped a bit in the middle section.

But I kept my pace good, and just kept pushing. It was really hard and I did feel a bit like I was running out of oxygen, but I kept going and beat my PB by around 40 seconds.

New time is 20:50. 14th out of 242 finishers.

Links
Strava
Parkrun

Flickr Timelapse start start2 run1 run2

Prudential RideLondon100 2017

30.07.2017 - Prudential RideLondon100 2017


I'm getting pretty used to this one now, having done all previous four events.


There really was no telling what the weather would do, but I think it stopped raining not long before my alarm clock at 4am.


I was showered and out of the house with my coffee and breakfast bagel by 4:15am. I always park in Kensington, it's free on Sundays - except when it isn't. New parking signs on my street meant a mild panic. I drove down a few more streets, and luckily found a new place quite quickly. Phew.


It's about 12 miles to the Olympic Park, I managed to get into Hyde park this year, but rather wish I'd stayed on the A4. The roads were wet, but the pile of mud I rode through left my shoes, bike and legs covered in I know not what (signs nearby said to beware horses crossing!)


I had a 7:05am start and made it to my Green-B pen by the stated 6:05, and slowly we inched forward. It wasn't too cold, but I had kept my thin waterproof and arm warmers. I had left the undershirt in the kit bag though.


My plan was to ride hard this year, and only stop at Newlands Corner if I had to. I took a five hour planner  from the Expo, and stuck it to my bike top tube for inspiration, but didn't seriously think I'd make it.


There are less fast groups around at 7am than at 6am. I cycled mostly alone for quite a while, just finding the odd wheel to follow. I got on the back of one fast group, but the two people in front of me got dropped, and I wasn't quick enough to notice in time, and the group was gone. Near Picadilly another group of about five cyclists in a blue charity jerseys seemed good, but then seemed slow, so I overtook them. They overtook me again a few minutes later, so I grabbed on and decided this was my pace. I stayed with them for about 20 miles. A few other riders had the same idea, so we formed a loose peleton of about 12.


The pace slowed and I grabbed a small group of three, someone else had the same idea and  tagged along just in front of me. We made good speed, but it was a bit fast and they lost me, and I went alone then, and never found a good group again.


I lost my chain at the bottom of the Newlands Corner climb, according to Strava I lost just over one minute, though it'll be a bit longer as I tried to grab leaves from the trees to get the oil off my hands on the way up.


I stopped at the Hub for a comfort break and to pick up supplies. I could have just stuffed my pockets but took time to eat some food there too. I'd drunk nearly 500ml of energy drink, and filled that bottle with water. In all, I would finish that, and about 200ml of my other bottle in the whole 100 miles. I also removed my waterproof jacket and put it in my back pocket.


My legs were tired - my longest ride this year is only 100k and I was approaching that. I hadn't really expected to do the ride, and was training for last week's triathlon. but I was OK, and though my pace slowed a bit here it wasn't bad. Leith Hill was crowded as usual, and I sneaked past people on the right practically in the trees. Box Hill was good, no one passed me there, except once near the top, and I overtook him again.


Coming back towards town I checked my five hour schedule, and noticed I wasn't far off the time.  I followed a pair of riders for a short time, but was alone most of the time. I pushed hard after Wimbledon Hill was behind me, hoping that maybe it would be 157km instead of 160km and I'd make it in under five hours. There were a few holdups where we were stopped to allow traffic/pedestrians to cross, but I was only slightly affected by this.


As I came past Vauxhall I knew I'd miss five hours, but in the end, it was close - I sprinted for the line to get 5:02:57.

London Triathlon 2017

London Triathlon 2017 - No 7792


I've had quite a good preparation for this. I can swim the distance, and have practiced in the London dock where the race takes place. I've done plenty of cycling, and a few 16 mile time trials. My running is OK, and I'm happy with 22 minutes at 5km Parkruns. I've managed few 5 mile runs in training too. I'm not super fast, but I was ready.


I went up the night before and stayed with Olivia in her house near the Excel. I cycled in the morning, nice and early, with her boyfriend Luke and friend Abby, for our 8.05am wave start.


We got down to the jetty in plenty of time and jumped into the water. It was a bit cold as it seeped into my wetsuit, and I only had a couple of minutes to acclimatize. I tried to get the Garmin Fenix3 watch to find a satellite, but it kept going red when I put my arm in the water. I managed to get some green signals and hoped it was Ok, and then we were off.


Slow and steady, bilateral breathing as much as possible, trying not to get kicked too much, I plodded down to the far end of the dock. I found some space, but then fast swimmers came from behind from the second half of our wave. I'm used to that, at least they don't do breaststroke. After the turnaround, the way back to the Excel seemed to go on forever. I felt slightly sick for a minute, but it passed. I knew I was way back, but was a bit disappointed with over 39 minutes.


I spent too long getting my wetsuit off, and also too long trying to put my sunglasses on with one hand. Olivia, Luke and Abby were already long gone. T1 3:39.


The bike was a lot of fun. After yesterday's thunderstorms, everything had dried up, and it turned into a nice day. Cycling through London up to Westminster on closed roads is great. I haven't done it on my TT bike before, just on my road bike during the Prudential RideLondon100 events. Sadly, both the Fenix3 and the Garmin on my bike failed to find satellites, so I can't compare my segment times on Strava. For the first time ever I think, I was cycling blind, just knowing my time since T1, and that my target was 1:06.


I saw Olivia coming towards me, only about a minute from the Westminster turnaround. Now I had a visible target. It still took a while to catch her. It's a 1.5 loop course, so I was able to make some estimates of my finish time and felt confident I'd manage my estimate, but 1:02:59 was a bit fast - I am sure now that the course is shorter than 40km.


I didn't see Luke, and his bike was in transition already. My T2 was better, at 2:44, as there is quite a bit of running.


The 10k run takes place over three fairly flat loops. There is a run up a ramp into the Excel at the end of each lap, but it's not too bad. I pushed hard, and was getting very warm by now. At the end of lap one I saw Anna and Lyra cheering me on. I can't be sure now, but I think I started the second lap after 14 minutes. I passed quite a lot of people, a few passed me. I gave my hat to Anna at the end of the second lap, and was disappointed in my time, it was about 30 minutes. I speeded up. I was trying to catch Luke but didn't actually know what he was wearing. Near the end of my third lap I overtook Olivia on her second - she was doing well - I gave as much encouragement as I could muster - not a lot.


Arriving in the finish chute, someone had the cheek to overtake me - I found another gear and left him for dust.


I'd beaten my Olympic distance triathlon record, which is 2:32 and change. Not by a lot, but enough.


After I got my medal, I had a pint of free alcohol free beer, and went to find Anna and Lyra. We waited and watched Olivia finish. Eventually we found Luke and discovered that I must have overtaken him on my last lap, as he finished just behind me. Abby was on a heavy mountain bike (I wouldn't like to have done it on that) and finished about an hour later.




My official time is 2:31:55 with splits of 39:16, 3:39, 1:02:59, 2:44, 43:19


Links
Strava - Swim - T1 - Bike - T2 - Run :  disappointingly, the triathlon watch didn't pick up any GPS


Official - Sporthive, Olivia


photos (for now) Marathon Photos