Category Archives: Adventure Racing
Trident Triathlon
Back when I was making my plans for the year, I looked for a race that I could combine with a family visit in the middle of June. The Trident triathlon was chosen. By my standards, this race was as conventional as it gets. Standard distance. Flat. On road. Easy to get to. Even the website described it as ‘probably the easiest and fastest triathlon you’ll ever do’.
Well, the second part of that claim was certainly true; the first part all depended on how you raced the event!
The race was based at Newby Hall near Ripon. We were allowed to camp in the grounds right next to the start, transition and finish areas. So I arrived with my mum the night before, set up the tent and went to drive round the bike course. I’m glad I did, as it was full of turns and the map was confusing. However, on the ground it was impeccably signed and we had no trouble following it. It was designed to be fast, a time trialler’s dream. I was sort of glad I hadn’t had the energy or time to actually ride round, as it wasn’t a scenic bimble 🙂
On to dinner in Ripon, which was more of a navigational challenge. Round and round the one way system looking for a car park space and accidentally-on-purpose crossing a ford on the way back! We had a fabulous meal in a restaurant where the chef had actually put some thought and creativity into the vegetarian options. It was worth the slightly higher prices – check out Lockwood’s if you’re in the area.
I had time to rehearse the last part of the run and the transition before bed. What the race lacked with a utilitarian bike route, it made up for with its self-proclaimed ‘iconic transition’…
Transition route: from the river up to the house!
OK, so it was a pretty cool transition and I made sure to enjoy it now, in case I wasn’t in the mood for enjoying it the next morning :-D.
I slept alright. A woodpecker woke me up in the morning, tapping away in the trees overhead!
The race start was super early for me. You had to be ready to go and at the briefing by 7.30. Then there was a trip upriver to the start line. I was feeling a bit sick with unnecessary nerves, but the walk helped calm them. We were greeted by a piper in a kilt … woah, wasn’t expecting that in Ripon!
This wasn’t a target race for me, but there were things I wanted to try out and improve on from my last race. I have rated my performance against each objective :-).
Pre race, the week before
Eat well, sleep well: B+
Plenty of fruit, veg and home cooking consumed, slept more than last time but could do better at sticking to that fictional bedtime!
Swim (1300m, 17:33 – don’t forget, it was downhill)
Race, don’t just ‘get in and swim’: B+
I was one of the first in and started swimming around. It wasn’t too cold at all, but the water was very cloudy and you couldn’t see anyone until you literally swam into them. I even did some little efforts, until I decided to go and find a space near the front.
This was the roughtiest, toughtiest swim I have ever done! As soon as the piper piped, people were clawing at my legs, hitting me on the head, swimming right over my body and generally being in very close proximity. I tried to keep to one side of the mass, but we had been instructed to swim in the middle, where there were less overhanging trees and a stronger current. With concentrating on all of this, I admit my effort wasn’t entirely consistent. I did work hard when I remembered though, and even did a little bit of drafting. As usual, I was moving through the group as time went on.
Transition 1 (2:36)
After the iconic transition run, I left on my bike as 5th girl, 14th overall.
Bike (39km, 1:06:26 – my highest average race speed ever, over any distance and including our club 10 mile time trial!)
Nothing new here, just to work hard: A
Transition practice in the camping area!
I quickly caught a few people, including two girls, on the estate road. We soon sorted ourselves out. I was mostly riding on my own, with the occasional guy powering past. This was the sort of course where a time trial bike would have been a definite advantage over my road bike. I even caught myself thinking a pointy bottle with a straw would be useful. There were no real moments where coming off my bars to get my bottle seemed not to disrupt my speed! I almost ran out of gears with my compact as well, but remembered some good advice for this situation, which is to just spin faster :-).
The course had three roundabouts where you turned back on yourself. I could see the gap between me and the next girl in front widening, but I wasn’t making any progress on the ones behind me until perhaps the last 10km. Full of fear about the run, it spurred me on to keep pushing and pushing until the very end.
Transition (44s)
Eat a gel: A
Transition passed uneventfully, I ate my third ever gel and set off on the run with the announcer shouting my name over the loudspeaker. He confirmed that I was currently third placed female. 4th place was only 68 seconds behind! I was now 25th overall.
Run (10km, 43:09)
Run fast. No, faster! A+
My goal might sound daft. But I was so disappointed in my last race that all the extra run training and intensity work I’ve been doing wasn’t reflected in the result, especially in the second half. I knew I could do better!
There were km markers on the course and my splits were giving me a good idea that my pace was OK. Every time I heard footsteps behind I was afraid it was a girl coming to overtake me. On the plus side, not many men were passing anyway.
Finishing effort
End of lap one and I still hadn’t been caught. My mouth was sticky and dry but I didn’t stop for water. I just kept going and going … my split times were telling me I was holding my pace and from about 7km I actually felt quite good. I was duelling with another guy and we kept each other going. A km from the end, I looked over my shoulder and couldn’t see anyone who might catch up. I was able to run the last part fast, but without panic in my stomach!
Chilling in the cool-down pool!
Into the finish chute, happy to have executed my plan, and most of all to have had a respectable run. The next girl was nearly two minutes behind, and I had actually held my position and time over the second half. My pace was very consistent – in fact, I was 30 seconds faster on lap two, which I think some people would say I could have gone faster?!
Years ago, running was my main sport and in the few triathlons I did, was where I excelled. This run gave me encouragement that soon I might race with some confidence again in my ability for the final leg.
Time to jump in ‘the pool’ to relax and cool down :-D.
Post Race
The winner was Eleanor Haresign, racing for Torq Tri Team. She was 8 minutes ahead of me. Wow. We had a chat afterwards and she cheerfully told me she’d be racing Aberfeldy this year (my next target race), so I know who I’ll be seeing disappear into the distance then! Emma Wolff was second. I was 27th overall, out of 141. Full results here.
Podium
The prizes at this race were very generous. Actual cash in an envelope! Even for third, I got £75 and an inner tube :-).
Trying out kit from The Pink Jersey
There was also a £10 voucher for a new ladies run, bike and triathlon gear specialist. They had a stand at the event. They’re called ‘The Pink Jersey‘. I promptly went over and spent my voucher and most of the prize money on shorts (which I needed) and a jersey (which I didn’t, but it looked nice). They had a really good selection and the women running it were friendly and helpful.
This race is very family friendly. As well as everything else, you get free family entry to the hall and gardens with your race number. The advantage of such an early start is that you’ve finished with plenty of the day left.
So my number 1 supporter (mum) and I went and got a good lunch in the café and spent a couple of hours enjoying the extensive gardens. My legs were then ready to give up (so tired, after such a short race!), so we fortified ourselves with tea and cake before heading home.
Oh, I forgot to say, is this the food of champions?!
Dechmont Law 10km Trail Run
Random extra race = extra blog post!
Last Thursday at the club running session, the coach did his usual round up of what was happening at the weekend. He mentioned a 10km race not too far away. I thought this sounded like quite a good idea, and suddenly I was hatching a new training plan for the weekend!
The race was the Dechmont Law 10km trail race. It was out in Livingston, West Lothian, about 30km from where I live. I set my alarm early (for a Sunday morning, anyway) and was soon pedalling out past work and beyond. Apart from a minor navigational hiccough as I hit town (nasty large roads and roundabouts) all went well and I was soon ready to race.
Because this was a mini practice for next weekend’s 10km run at the Trident triathlon, I experimented with taking a gel just before the start (my second ever!), then it was time to line up. There were a lot of people in running club vests! The hooter went off and we all jostled for position as the path began to narrow. I was near a girl who is in my training group, which was encouraging. The course was a complicated set of loops along forest and heathland tracks. I had tried to memorise it but didn’t need to, as the marshalling and signage were faultless!
The distance markers were somewhat randomly spaced – first update at 3km and I was going great! Same again at 5km, but then I started to feel a bit rough. I suspect this is what comes from running lots of 5km Parkruns and not much else at speed! We might have been going uphill at that point as well. By this time there were 4 or 5 of us girls quite close together. I was using the ones in front to keep me going. I thought that if I stopped, I might never start again and it was like my body had gone into a trance…
… wait, hang on a minute, this was a 10km race, not some sort of 16 hour epic! Luckily I soon felt a bit better and started vying with one of the girls. A kilometre to go though, and she took off. Part of me thought I should grit my teeth and hang on, the other part just didn’t really mind that much as I was there to have fun and practice what the distance might feel like next week.
I finished 6th girl and 36th overall out of 139 – which I was pretty pleased with, even if my time was a little slow. Results here. The course was undulating and you had to be quite careful with your footing in some places, so it was OK. I’d had over a week of hard training as well. A winter spent chasing Lucy downhill in the Open 5s seems to have had some side benefits – I was overtaking plenty of people on the downs, which is most unusual for me. It’s still not my forte compared to fell runners, but seems I’ve become not too bad compared to club runners!
At the end I sat in the sun, ate the proffered homemade flapjack and chatted to a few people I knew. Then it was time to pedal home again. I had a different route set up, with fantastic views of the Pentland Hills and Edinburgh as I zig-zagged along quiet country lanes. I was almost home when my legs threatened to go on strike, but I made it back safely and felt like I’d had a mini adventure!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As an aside, James Thurlow, who is race director for Open Adventure, is taking on his own challenge this week. He is doing Wainright’s coast to coast trip of 190 miles on his own two feet to raise money for diabetes research. He has been recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes himself. This makes the challenge extra hard as he has to manage his blood sugars as he goes, which is tricky. It certainly hasn’t all been plain sailing so far.
If you want to donate or find out more, you can do so here. And if you do it before midnight on Wednesday, you can put in a guess for how long it will take him and you might win some kit he has got together as a prize.
Slateman 2013
My first target race of the year.
Wave 1 – I must be in there somewhere!
This big event is well organised by Always Aim High events, with great scenery, smooth roads and a tough challenge of a run. I recommend it!
Nearly ready
Getting Ready
I was my usual somewhat nervous self as I racked my bike in transition. To add variety, a TV film crew were there and did an interview as I was one of the favourites for the podium. The guy was nice – he has worked with Open Adventure before, filming the Terrex. My transition area looked sparse, but the less stuff there is there, the less there is to go wrong!
Swim in Llyn Padarn 1km: 19:57 / 5th female / 37th overall
Off I went down to the lakeside for the start of the swim. I was a bit apprehensive about the cold water as I hadn’t practiced yet this year. My one chance to do so the week before was scuppered when I sliced through my nail with a chainring. Don’t try this at home – it hurts a LOT 😀
We weren’t allowed in the water until a few minutes before our start time. I was only able to swim to the line, get my face used to the cold and we were off! The swim passed by OK, except when someone randomly veered across my path. It was hard to spot the red turning buoys as I was in the ‘red hat’ wave … As usual, I struggled to find good people to draft and at the end I was crossing open water to a group ahead. My time was merely ‘alright’ – afterwards, I thought I could have done better. Somehow I find it hard to race this part of a triathlon.
Running and getting a wetsuit off at the same time is harder than it looks!
Transition 1: 1:34 / 6th female / 38th overall
I did a good transition – much better than last year.
Bike round the edge of some mountains 49km: 1:33:39 /2nd female / 87th overall
I set off enthusiastically on the bike. I knew there were a few other girls ahead, but I had no idea how many. I passed one quickly. I caught the next girl, called Jane (we all had our names on our numbers), halfway up the 5km climb of Pen Y Pass. Then a crazy coach driver decided to overtake just before a narrow bend – only to find a bus was coming down the other way. He pulled in sharply, taking out a cyclist in front of me. I gasped, but he had been aware enough to stop and steady himself against the now stationary coach. A little group of us all had to wait a few seconds until the two vehicles had inched past each other.
After that the cycle was straightforward. On the long downhill I was spinning out of gears. Jane passed me again here. She was on a time trial bike and I suspect she had an advantage on the flatter sections. Without drafting, I kept her in sight until the turn back uphill to the Ogwen valley. I overtook again and was motivated to push as hard as I could on the downhill and flatter bits, taking more risks than I normally do.
As I was in the first wave this year, I had a clear run back into Llanberis. My time was comparable to last year – a couple of minutes quicker, but roadworks had shortened the route. The difference was that last year I had felt invincible, and this year I didn’t.
Transition 2: 56s / 3rd female / 24th overall
Even better than T1 …
Run in slate quarries and wooded trails 11km: 55:37 /6th female / 102nd overall
Onto the run. I was determined not to walk a single step – and I didn’t. Surprisingly, half way up the zigzags in the slate quarry I overtook another girl. I could see she was struggling a bit and gave her some encouragement. I still didn’t know what place I was in – was anyone else still up ahead?
Sprinting is a painful business …
I had noted where on the route my halfway point in time had been last year. I got there a couple of minutes quicker and thought I was on for a great run time. My shins started cramping a bit, but I kept on at what I thought was a good pace and I felt relaxed. I kept aiming for the next runner in front (there were quite a lot as our course joined that of the sprint course).
I kept checking back, which I don’t normally do. I wanted to see if anyone was catching me. Last year I was caught 10 minutes from the end and couldn’t make the gap back up. This year, I saw another girl bearing down on me with about 800m to go. I picked up the pace a bit, rounded the corner at the bottom of the hill and crossed the river. 400m to go, but I could hear her footsteps getting closer and closer. I gave it everything I had, but sprinting really isn’t my thing! About 200m to go and she came past – it was Jane again. I was spent, eased up slightly and collapsed over the line just 4 seconds behind her.
Post-Race
The TV crew came over and wanted to interview me. “You’re third!” they said. I was anxious about any girls who might be in later waves with faster times and tried to explain this. We had been asked to email in if we thought we would do a sub-3h:10 race, but I knew not everyone had responded. The lady went to check the situation and came back telling me “you have to be in the first wave to count for the podium, so you’re definitely on” … OK, I thought, and did my interview.
An hour later at prize giving I still had some misgivings. And rightly so. As they announced the results it transpired that someone else from wave three was in third place … as my mind clicked and whirred I realised what this meant. Yes, she had finished in time between me and Jane. In fact, she was just one second ahead of me. The winner of the women’s race, Rhian Roxburgh, stormed round and was over 5 minutes clear of all of us, despite having had a baby just 5 months ago!
Andy was racing too – here’s his report.
James and Andy
Reflections
I shall gloss over my mood for the next day or so! I was disappointed I had not done better in my target race. In some ways, thinking I had come 3rd only to find I hadn’t was as hard to deal with as coming 4th by such a tiny margin. However, as I was told by more than one person: the occasional setback will spur me on to improve. And my actual time and overall position wasn’t too bad – 61st out of 660 finishers.
Bad luck cost me those vital seconds, a pause behind the coach here, a fumble with my shoe there, easing up before the line (something I never normally do). But I do not want to leave a race to that sort of luck – if I had been a minute or two ahead it wouldn’t have been an issue!
Reflecting
Now I’ve waited a week and thought about the race, I’ve decided things just didn’t come together on race day. It’s almost like I peaked two weeks early at the Shropshire Open 5 when I felt wonderful!
It has also been a lesson in how what else is going on can affect performance – it’s not just all about the body.
- My training diary for the week before says ‘tired’, ‘tired’, ‘tired’ … I’m not sure of the cause, but work has been busier than usual and this probably had an impact.
- The week before the race my back started playing up. On Saturday I was panicking and icing, using Ibuprofen gel, contorting myself on the roller and sleeping on the floor to get things back in shape! Although it was fine on race day, I went from focused on Monday, to distracted and worried by Saturday night.
- I was disappointed with my run time – only a minute faster than last year despite big gains in speed (2 mins off my 5k time). It’s possible I needed to eat a gel or something on the run (though I didn’t feel it at the time).
What next?
Well, I have already moved onto thinking about my next race! It’s not a target for me and doesn’t particularly play to my strengths. It’s a standard distance tri, so the bike is shorter relative to the run, and it’s flat. So I am not focussing on position, but have a few other ‘process goals’. My mum is going to be supporting me, and I’ve got a role ready for her too! That will be on the 16th June.
In the meantime, I have already cheered myself up by doing hill walks, hunting for vague footpaths, going on my bike club chaingang ride in the sun and pottering down to the beach with friends. I even took a dip in the North Sea without my wetsuit – acclimatisation has happened quickly this year!
Haglöfs Open 5 Church Stretton
An amazing end to a successful series!
There was an Open 5 race in Church Stretton in November 2011. I enjoyed that race, did well and was looking forward to repeating the experience this month. Lucy has had issues with a chest infection and her asthma. Earlier in the week it was looking doubtful whether she would be able to race at all. When she decided she could, I was so pleased! We caused some confusion though, as we appeared on the start list as solos – I didn’t check in at 11pm on Thursday night to combine our entries online :-).
“But what about …?”
We did our usual planning, with a bit of squabbling (James K – how dare you say we were like an old married couple?!). I came up with an inspired bike route option at the last minute. It turned out to be useless though, as the control values meant it was sub-optimal – it was back to plan A when we started! The values also threw out our expected run course, so Lucy did a hasty re-plan before we set off up onto the Long Mynd.
As Lucy was still recovering, our speed on the flat wasn’t as rapid as usual. However, we kept a nice even pace and covered about the same amount of ground. We didn’t see James the photographer when we were out on the course. Now I know why, as he was taking pictures of people on footpaths, whilst I was being whisked around on the ‘direct’ routes straight up and down! This was all very well, except for my inability to go downhill at anything like Lucy’s speed. I felt guilty as I saw her standing around waiting at the bottom more than once, but marvelled at the accuracy at which we arrived at controls.
Footpaths are for the faint-hearted
I vetoed a detour to a 5 pointer even though it wasn’t that far away. But I couldn’t get away with the one final trip up and down a short steep hill near the finish for a final 10 points. We finished the run in 2 hours and had only missed out 10 points altogether. A good start!
We set off on the bike and immediately got caught up in bank holiday traffic jams. We pondered what James T would say if we asked for time credits … “well, we got stuck behind all these cars for like, ages…”
Even though we were soon pedalling up an insanely steep hill on a road, I still felt this sense of mental and physical relief that I had finished the run without mishap and could get on with cycling :D. It wasn’t long before we were up on the ridge of the Long Mynd, enjoying a fast grassy out-and-back, then zooming along the ‘motorway’ of the ridge, dodging everyone else enjoying the bank holiday at a more leisurely pace!
After we came down the other side we had a decision to make about how many of the controls dotted around the lanes to go for. We chose ‘most of them’ on the assumption of a brisk pace. It was a bit optimistic, especially when we added in an extra couple of km for another control! But I also came up with a cunning plan to save us some time on the way back. It meant missing out the fun singletrack descent, but would be shorter and faster.
We had to push our bikes back onto the top of the ridge and it was a struggle. It was hot, steep and my calves were screaming. Our rear wheels clicked in unison as we ascended in silence. But it only took us 15 minutes rather than an estimated 30, so we regained some time.
We flew down a fire road (apart from my hesitation at the wrong forest edge) and popped out onto the road. At the next junction we had a decision point.
My legs hurt ….
I had estimated it was 6km back to the finish (actually 6.2km; not bad). It was on roads, but they were lumpy and Lucy had warned me she didn’t have a sprint finish in her legs. So I thought 3 mins / km = 18mins. Let’s say 20. We had the option of an out and back to a 25 point control. On the way there I said “We need another 10 minutes for that”. Lucy looked at the map and said “you must be joking. That’s 3km! It will take longer than that” (actually, 3.1km – see, we’re good at this map lark!). I thought maybe she was right.
We got to the junction with 24 minutes left but an estimate of 30+ minutes to go. I was trying to be sensible and told myself I’m always too optimistic. I was getting resigned to a cruise back to the finish, when Lucy turned left.
What?! This is crazy, how come Lucy is taking more risks than me?! Later she said it just wasn’t worth dithering and she didn’t want to finish the series coming in slowly. She was right. We took off, got the control and back again in 11 minutes. Now we just had to get home along the road, not forgetting the final control we passed on the way. It was my turn to make up for being slow on the run descents, so I gave Lucy a power-assisted finish and 14.5 minutes later, we blasted in, dibbed and collapsed! Only 2.5 minutes late (6 penalty points). Brilliant!
My legs still hurt …
Like the end of the race, it was fantastic to end the whole series on a high. We have got better and better at working together and the results show it. This time we were 8th overall (one up from last month) and well clear of all the other female teams and solos. A win in our category and a win for the series! Hurrah!
Kendal Sprint Tri
My first ever win in a triathlon!
But back to the beginning …
After the Tranent triathlon was cancelled, this was my only ‘warm up’ before the Slateman in May, which is one of my target races this year.
I wanted to practice transitions, clothing, coping with race nerves and also to get a confidence boost, if possible :-). It’s easy to get carried away thinking I’m a great biker when I race triathlon, but doing the Tour of the Meldons a couple of weeks ago was a pertinent reminder that up against cyclists I have my limitations!
This way home
So, I set off to Kendal on Friday evening, thinking how simple all the packing had been compared to an adventure race. What, no first aid kit or foil blanket?! Things got a bit epic just heading into town to catch my train. I set off in sunshine but was pelted with pea-sized hailstones halfway there. I leapt under a bus stop, but too late to entirely save my bare legs, still bearing little bruise marks 3 days later!
Kit laid out for transition practice.
Saturday was warm and sunny. I had met up with Andy and we went and rode round the course. It was good to practice a couple of bumpy sections, awkward bends and a tricky fast, narrow descent with gravel all over the road. I did that bit twice! After a fab lunch at the Waterside Café, we practiced transition a few times in our hostel room. Time well spent.
The race was large with 200 competitors, plus a kid’s event straight afterwards. Because it was a pool swim, everyone was going off in waves. The first was at 8am, mine was at 09:15, Andy wasn’t on until 11:00. After a basic poolside warm up it was time to go. I started much too fast and felt sick. I had to tell myself to calm down and get into a rhythm. After 500m / 7 minutes and 53 seconds (not amazing, but respectable enough), I jumped out of the pool and exited through a side door into a wet, cold, drizzly, windy day.
Before the race I had worried about whether to put on an extra top for the bike leg, and had laid one out in transition. In the event I decided to stop being a wuss and just get on with it. A big relative improvement in my transition time compared to some races (even with putting socks and gloves on) and I was off again. I soon flew past the few girls who were ahead of me from my swim heat and was racing round the hilly bike course.
I like to ride my bicycle – picture thanks to James Kirby
I was a bit disappointed with my time coming back to transition – way off target (38:11 for 18km). But afterwards, I realised my target had been faster even than the best men’s times. I think I had been a bit optimistic and not taken full account of the 27mph headwinds, the ups, steep downs, twisty roads and the couple of minutes spent on the grassy run in and out of transition!
I had started to catch a few people from the previous heat out on the road, and heading out on the run there were a few more. But it was still quite a solitary affair, just passing a few people here and there. I had to mentally tell myself to keep working and run fast (it was only 5km after all). I was back in just under 22 minutes – pleasing given there had been a big hill in the middle of the run. It’s not like doing the Cramond Parkrun!
With a race like this, you don’t exactly know where you’ve placed. I sprinted under the banner with no ceremony and then waited. By the time Andy had started I was changed, warm and dry. After his swim I checked the computer screen for the latest results. Darn! It said I was second. But wait … had first place really been 12 minutes faster on the bike? The bike course went out, did two shorter laps and came back in again. I suspected she had accidentally missed one of the bike laps out, so I put in a query, later backed up by Andy.
Andy had a good race. At least, he finished, which was better than his last event in the rain! And he had a good run, though he didn’t manage to get within 60 seconds of me over the 5km as promised – being 60.3 seconds slower :D.
Later in the afternoon, we got an email with the final results. But I was still second, with another girl ahead whose bike time was 6 or 7 minutes faster than the winning men. I felt unsporting making another query, but it was important to me that it was right. I eventually found out at about 9:30 at night that I had won! The potential immediate excitement had worn off, but I was still chuffed to bits to do so well.
Hilly time trial and new mountain bike trails
April’s turning out to be a busy month for me. Somehow I seem to have lined up a race every weekend 5 weeks in a row :-). Of course, not all of these are target races, some of them are training in aid of the bigger goals. The last two are in this category.
Because the Tranent triathlon was cancelled I hadn’t even been out on my road bike since the New Year’s Day triathlon. I was also worrying that with a greater focus on running I might be losing speed on my bike. So I entered a hilly 40km road time trial organised by my club. I’ve done this one a few times before. But this year it was also the Scottish Championships.
It was only a week after the last Open 5, which was a tough one. I was lucky to have just about recovered in time :D.
The forecast wasn’t great (to put it mildly), so Andy arranged a lift to the start. Meanwhile, I rode over in a raging headwind and intermittent downpours … someone actually stopped and offered me a lift when I was partway there. I declined thinking I felt OK, but just after that I was at an exposed moor section and it all got a lot harder.
The Meldons are very scenic in good weather when you’re not racing!
© Copyright Jim Barton.
On the plus side, I only got to the sign-on about 30 minutes before my start time. I decided I had done plenty of ‘warming up’, got changed and didn’t go back outside in the cold until it was time to go. I ignored the weather and just got on with the job in hand. After the first hill, we turned into a headwind that I knew would last for at least 12km. It was actually longer, as we turned another bend and the wind still bore down on us. The final turn up and over the Meldons was the exhilarating payback. I have never ridden up the hill so fast!
I was set off first and somehow wasn’t caught up, so had the enjoyment of crossing the line first. That was as good as it got … I was almost dead last and only beat someone recovering from being ill and someone coming down with a bug! Mind you, that was out of the people who; signed up, turned up, started and finished. I think there were dropouts at every stage ;-). One of them was Andy – his tale is here, but don’t worry, some good home cooking cheered him up!
I cruised home 50 minutes faster than it took me to get there, and it felt good to have had a fast, hard ride. My average speed was fractionally faster than last year over a longer course in significantly tougher conditions.
Jess marshalling in the wind and rain (thanks to all the marshals!)
The next week I decided at the last minute to enter a local SMBO (Scottish Mountain Bike Orienteering) score event in Mugdock Park, which is just on the outskirts of Glasgow. I got a lift over very early in the morning. Too early, considering I was out late watching an Italian film the night before.
This event was very low key, with only three female solo competitors. I was pretty relaxed about the race which is unusual for me. And the result was just a second place – I wasn’t concentrating or working hard enough and one of the other girls was strong! The map was challenging, with intricate detail I’m not used to for mountain bike navigation. There were also many controls seemingly placed ‘on a tree, in a wood’. They weren’t joking at the start when they said the descriptions would give you a ‘clue’ as to the location …!
Never mind, I had a good time riding my bike in new places out in the sunshine and won a few things from Alpine Bikes. I then took the opportunity to meet up with a friend in Glasgow and spend a lazy day eating noodles, chatting, sleeping and eating brunch.
Next up … a sprint triathlon in Kendal. No slacking on this one. Despite it not being a target race, it’s important for me as my only actual triathlon before the Slateman in a month’s time. I want to get everything right and have my own goals in mind!
Haglöfs Open 5 Lake District
This was the 6th race in the series and my favourite so far (not counting the first one, which I planned, so of course it was great! 😉 ).
I had treated myself to a stay in a ‘camping pod’ because it’s something I’ve wanted to do for ages. I’ve seen a few around the country, but every time I’ve had the opportunity, they’ve been fully booked! I almost wished it would rain so I could feel smug and dry in my wooden hut, but it stayed sunny all weekend. 🙂
The view from Whinlatter pass to the camping pods
On race day things seemed a little more rushed than usual. Lucy was having last minute gear issues (thanks to Jon for helping with that!), whilst I was squinting at a map trying to work out a bike route through the forests.
We set off confidently on the run; Lucy was navigating as usual, though I think she was making up our route as she went along! It turns out that it was very effective, as our contour profile was quite efficient. The promise of summiting Grisedale Pike was tempting. Well, to Lucy … but I was pulling faces because it ‘looked a long way up’! We decided against that control and a cairn on the same ridge and turned for home.
Smiling in the sunshine!
We knew this would get us back a bit short on the run (we normally aim for 2 hours, and got in after 1h40). But we also knew that the bike leg was committing. Although we planned to go round it anti-clockwise and give ourselves escape options at the end, those escapes would mean dropping high value controls in the forests. It turned out it was the right decision to leave the two 10 and 15 pointers which had tried to lure us and save the time for later.
Out on the bike and it was my turn to map-read. Control number 2 had been discounted before we even set off on the run – it was so far out of the way we hadn’t even noticed it when planning and took ages to find it when we were marking the control values! We quickly decided the other control to miss was number 10. It was only worth 10 points and involved losing height early on. Both were good decisions.
So, we were sailing along nicely, making good progress. The first 5 controls were quite close together, but soon we started climbing. And climbing. And climbing. 10km uphill in total! The next 3 controls took 1h10m to collect. We knew there was some fun to come though. We dropped into the top of Whinlatter forest, after some slightly tricky navigation where the compass even made an appearance.
First the run went up, then the bike went up
At this point we joined the singletrack of the Altura trail north loop. Lucy shot off like an antelope, whilst I messed up a hairpin bend, got off, fell over on ice, wished my tyres were softer and generally lost it a bit. As we zoomed past the visitor centre, along a stretch of very fast blue route and onto another fire road, Lucy was still pulling away on the hill. Now, it wasn’t technical any more and I wondered what was going on. The first suspects for me on occasions like this when my mojo seems to have vanished are: 1) food and 2) water. I ate, drank and miraculously recovered!
There was still snow up on the higher north-facing slopes
The singletrack on the south loop consequently went much better. I remember racing up here in my first ever Open Adventure race 4 years ago! The red trail makes long switchbacks up a steep hill. Alex Pilkington (who finished 2nd) had overtaken us and seemed not far away on the fire road we were aiming for – but we still had some distance to ride! Soon enough we got there and were rapidly descending. We did a very fun section of the blue ‘Quercus’ route and then back onto fire roads and a bridleway to the finish.
I came round the final bend a little too fast, saw a rut, panicked, braked too hard and crashed into an unyielding fence. Owww! My first reaction was to check I hadn’t made a hole in my new favourite jersey to match the mysterious one which has appeared on the other side – but all was still intact so I was relieved ;-). We were less than 2 minutes from the finish and blasted in 6.5 minutes early.
I was on a bit of a high, as it was one of those days where we got to the end and I didn’t think we’d do anything very different if we went round again.
It felt like we had done a lot of climbing. Reviewing our route, it turned out we had! 45% more climb on the run and 36% more on the bike, compared to our average over the rest of this series. In a way though, I enjoyed this as it was a proper tough challenge and it felt like we’d really earned our result. Tactically we also made the right choices, and it was worth the couple of minutes we spent debating out on the run.
Now we can relax … on the way back to download
The results were read out and we had a really good win. We were chuffed! Especially as this was also the first time we have made it into the overall top 10 as a pair (we were 9th, beaten by a mixed pair, a male pair and six male solos). As a pair, we just keep getting better together at the moment.
Since I made my plan for the year, I’ve stuck to it, done eight races and been in the top 3 every time. For next weekend I have snuck in an extra race – the Tour of the Meldons time trial. This will be on a road bike and sadly I expect my podium streak to end. I’ve never managed better than 4th in this local race. This year it is also a Scottish Championship, so the competition will be even greater! It’s all part of my training though, getting my mind and body ready for the Slateman triathlon in May.
Being published, cancelled race, Parkrun and snow riding
It seems a long time ago now, but back in January I did an off-road duathlon at Bowhill estate. I didn’t blog about it because I was writing an article for 220 triathlon magazine. This is now in print! I was pretty excited about it, and rushed out to buy a copy as soon as I could. It hasn’t generated quite as many comments as my Celtman TV appearance last year, but one or two people have said they saw me in the magazine :-). Even better, my submitted copy was reprinted with only minor edits – I can write to a brief and am good enough for a national publication! Awesome.
You can read this article in the March edition of 220 Triathlon!
This weekend I was due to be racing in a sprint triathlon in Tranent. This was my first preparation race (of two) for the Slateman in May. On Friday we had an email at 14:30 saying the roads were clear of snow and ice and were well-gritted. The race was on. By 17:00 the organiser had had second thoughts and sent out a message cancelling the event due to cold conditions and high winds. I was gutted. I even cried a bit … but realised how ridiculous that sounded when I told my friends! It was just a disappointment after being psyched up and ready to go. But the organisers have to make their own assessments and I’m sure it was a hard decision for them. It was a shame.
Instead, I made my way down to the local Parkrun on Saturday morning. I have only just discovered these events, but they run every Saturday at venues up and down the UK. They’re a totally free, timed 5km run (not a race). Our course is down on the seafront and is as flat as you’ll ever get off a running track. The only downside is that it can be exposed to strong winds, and this week they were gusting at 40mph!
This is how I look making a final effort for the line 😀
I think I was still a bit fed up about the race cancellation and channelled my energy into running fast and tactically, sticking with a group for wind protection on the outward leg and gliding back at the end. I was unsurprised to have a negative split, but surprised to get a new PB … it’s dropping fast! Everyone is really friendly at these events. After chatting a bit to some people I recognised from my group at Edinburgh Athletics club, I rode back with a random cyclist, attempting conversation in a howling gale as we rapidly dropped down though the gears.
Obligatory ‘bikes in snow’ photo
To top off the weekend I thought if snow / bad weather would call off my race I was jolly well going to go out and play in it. A last minute hopeful text to my friend and clubmate Glen resulted in an arrangement to ride on the Pentlands on Sunday morning. What fun we had! The snow wasn’t as packed and easy to ride as last time, and there was a lot of ice. But we battled the wind, smiled at the walkers and runners, and kept moving before we froze to death! It was amazing how suddenly you could be out of the snow with the loss of height. We fitted in a loop round the barracks before heading back into the white stuff for a last whoop, cutting fresh tracks through the trees by the reservoirs.
A good weekend in the end. I’m already looking forward to the Easter break and the next Open 5 in the Lake District!
Haglöfs Open 5 Yorkshire Dales
I’ve just come back from a fabulous weekend away in Yorkshire!
This Open 5 had the advantage of being located quite close to my brother and his wife. My dad also fancied a visit, so I managed to combine racing with visiting family, eating out and being thoroughly looked after by my dad’s friends Jim and Penny. Thanks all!
On to the race. My dad chucked me out of the car at 8:45 and set off back home. I wandered in to the hall to find Lucy so that we could register and start planning. Up until Wednesday I had been psyching myself up to race solo as she had been ill with the dreaded lurgy for 7 weeks! However, she made a last minute recovery and felt up to racing. Unfortunately, at 6pm on Thursday I was struck down too! Luckily by Sunday I felt a bit brighter.
So it was that the two of us raced with Lucy sounding like she was on 20 a day, and my throat and lungs burning with every breath. Still, it didn’t seem to affect our performance. In fact, we seemed to be more relaxed, chatty and in control than usual! Maybe we should race like this all the time …
Where we went
After my decent run at Bowhill I was excited to see how my legs would be. We set off and I was pleased to see that the normal springy running Lucy had returned after last month’s strange episode. I followed her round like a faithful dog and didn’t interfere ;-).
Everything went pretty smoothly. With about 2km to go I hitched onto the tow. I was just keeping up but didn’t want to kill myself only to suffer on the bike. The effect was mostly motivational, plus the little reminder tug to keep up when my concentration lapsed :-).
In just over 2 hours we came into transition and were soon biking. What a great course! Loads of riding, fast and dry and almost no pushing. We knew we had two big hills near the start, but loved the downhill in between. On the long drag to the trig point my lungs were on fire, but we were soon there (well, after 30 minutes!) and admiring the panoramic views.
That big hill in the middle took half an hour!
Nothing would make us ride to Malham, hidden a long way down in a steep valley! Instead we whizzed around on top. After a few moments debate we did a long out and back to a control stuck in the middle of the map worth 20 points. For a while I thought it might be close for time, but we were soon hammering down a fast grassy, rocky track. We faced just 8km of almost our only road of the day back to the finish.
It soon transpired we were going faster than I expected. There’s always a first for everything! This was even better than we had hoped. For a complicated reason relating to series scoring, any minutes early we could get in were a bonus. We finished in 4h45mins with 575 points.
Series leaders for the first time this year!
Enough to comfortably win our class. I am now the owner of a nice Haglöfs bag that I think Andy would steal, if only it wasn’t so PINK!
After that, my only task was to cycle the 14km back to Skipton with all my kit to catch a train. I have to say, I was slowly falling apart and needed no persuading when, halfway there, a fellow racer pulled up in a car and offered me a lift. Many, many thanks Pete!
This race was planned by Tom and Dawn. Dawn is going back home to America and we’ll miss her. I was touched by the gift of a wooden bowl she had hand turned herself. Bye bye Dawn!
Dawn made this bowl for me.
Bowhill Long Duathlon
Beer as prizes!
A month ago I did the medium length race in this series and came 3rd. I wrote all about it for 220 triathlon magazine, due out in the shops next week. I can’t wait to see it! This month everything was back to normal. I got a lift down with a friend from my club. We left Edinburgh in an unexpected snow storm and were wondering whether we would ever make it before the race started!
Favourite quote of the journey: “Well, I like wearing my tights because, er, because they’re tight”
Favourite tune of the journey: something funky from Austin Powers!
At the venue there was no snow in sight, it was even sunny on occasions :-).
Apart from standing on my already rather ripe and squishy banana, my pre-race prep was uneventful. Soon I was on the start line, the hooter was going and we were off! This time I didn’t wobble. The bike leg was good fun, but in contrast to the last race, I lost sight of the two leading women fairly early on. I’m not sure why – but I didn’t quite have my normal race mojo. However, I’ve been concentrating on run training recently and was also a bit tentative (even more than usual!) on the downhills. My hip is still a sore from my heavy fall a month ago and I didn’t want a repeat incident. Having said that, I still had fun and loved the single track through the trees. Then the marshals gave me such a cheer I even manged to get up the final steep bank. Success!
My transition was terrible! I fumbled with my shoe laces and changed my mind about what to wear on the run. Eventually I set off again. A key aim for me in this race was to test my running. Last time I felt like I plodded round but this time I intended to race. The first part of the course undulated but we were soon heading up and up. We picked our way along a narrow mossy bank and wove through tightly packed spindly trees. Great fallen tree trunks across the route added some spice and made my legs ache even more! We turned round at a memorial stone with a lollipop as evidence we’d been there!
This course was an out and back, so I could see where all my competitors were. Shona and Jo were already well ahead and the next two girls were about 3.5 minutes behind. I wasn’t sure if this would be enough and it spurred me on! I did my best on the tricky technical bits, felt like I swooped through the trees and made a conscious effort to pick the pace back up on the ‘easier’ sections. I struggled for about 10 mins at one point, but then got my second wind and really surged for the last 10 minutes. Sprint finish as a matter of principle!
I was 3rd lady again, with 1st about 5 minutes ahead, but I also held my lead over 4th. Overall, I was very pleased with my efforts and cheerfully collected my finisher’s creme egg and another podium beer for Andy 🙂
Success for our club – Jo was 2nd female and overall series winner, Chris tied for 3rd in the senior male series and Glen (my lift!) finished well inside 10 minutes of me 😀
Planet Byde 