London Triathlon

The London Triathlon, the thing that got me into this crazy world in the first place! I did this race last year and was the first triathlon I signed up for and was also my first one at Olympic distance. Almost one year on (it was held in September last year because of the Olympics) and I was back. It might not be as long or challenging as some of the other events I’ve already done and will be attempting later on in the year but this, like Brecon, had something the others didn’t, a previous time! That meant I was feeling a bit of pressure last week. Granted, almost all of it I’d put on myself but still, the pressure was there. I wanted to beat last year’s time, not by much but just beat it enough to show an improvement.

The swim was held in the dock next to the Excel centre and as soon as the air horn was set off to signal the start I thought I had been transported to a boxing ring. There were arms and legs everywhere! Now I’ve done a few mass starts now so am used to a bit of argy bargy at the beginning but this was on a whole different level. I got caught a couple of times as well which was a first and the one hit to the back of my head had a decent connection to it so fair play to the bloke that threw it, his career in the ring will certainly take off! With the fighting aside, the swim went well although at the time it felt a little bit slow. However, once I’d finished and seen my time of just over 30 minutes I realised it couldn’t have been that bad.

The bike route was slightly different to last year but considering London is hardly full of mountains, I knew it wouldn’t make much of a difference and so my time from last year was still comparable. There isn’t anything really exciting for me to tell you about this part really. I just got my head down and got around the course as quickly as I could. The little nasty downpour that occurred during the bike wasn’t helpful but thankfully only lasted a couple of minutes so I can’t really complain. The bike in total took me just over 1 hour and 4 minutes which I was pleased with.

Finally the run stage which was 3 laps of what was a flat course for the majority with just 1 nasty little climb before entering the Excel centre to either begin the next lap or peel off for the finish line. Now when I say a nasty little climb, it’s not like anything you’ll find in the South Wales Valleys. Compared to that, it was a slight bump in the road but it’s surprising how sapping it was on the legs after I’d been running on the flat for the remainder of the lap. Anyway, that aside the run went really well for me. I got into a rhythm and stuck to it, only stopping to walk through the water stations. Doing laps suited me as well and I got into a little routine along the way. I couldn’t walk through the Excel because of the crowds of people, just after that was the section where all the charity supporters were cheering everyone on so again, I couldn’t walk through there. After that it wasn’t far to the water station so I just carried on until then knowing I could have a little 30 second walk to take on a drink. After that it was a short section to the turnaround point and back through again. I know it sounds a bit daft but having these little sections within the laps helped keep me motivated and keep me going. As I came around to the finish line I even managed bit of a sprint finish before looking up to see the time. I knew I’d beaten last year’s time and that I’d even gone sub 3 hours.

I had to wait then though for my time to come through on text which was an agonising hour or so. Finally it arrived. I’d done the run in just over 1hour and 4 minutes which for me is a really good time on its own, let alone after the swim and bike. Overall it took me 2hours, 47 minutes and 45 seconds which I am absolutely chuffed to bits about and was around 39 minutes quicker than last year. Now I know in the grand scheme of things that time isn’t the most impressive in the world and there is still a lot of improvements that I can make but for me right here, right now, it might as well be Olympic gold!

 

Down Hill All The Way

There's nothing like feeling the pressure and today I definitely did.  When I signed up to the Mic Morris Memorial 10k as one of the extra 4 events for this year, I did it knowing that it would give me my best chance of setting a personal best time.  The course started in Blaenavon and finished in Pontypool so was essentially downhill all the way.  I'd already mentioned to a few people that I'd wanted to go sub 1 hour before hand and just before the race started the nerves started to get to me and also the pressure that I'd put on myself to deliver.  Thankfully I had not 1 but 2 running butties with me today to help drag me around, my Dad and also my friend Ben.

The run itself went quite well although I did find it quite difficult in parts and am really grateful to Dad and Ben for staying with me.  I know that if I had been on my own there would have been stages where I would have stopped.  In the end I managed to break my previous personal best of 1 hour and 1 minute by crossing the line in 56 minutes and 21 seconds, a time I was really pleased with and it was also a relief to achieve what I set out to do.

So that's another one ticked off the list and to be honest it's a bit scary how quickly these are being ticked off now.  It seemed like it took an age for me to get to the half way point but now I've reached it, the second half seems to be flying by.  Saying that mind, the next few events coming up are quite difficult ones so I might not feel the same in a couple of weeks time!

Anyway,  here is the photo of me, Dad and Ben after crossing the line and if you'd like to, the link to sponsor me is www.justgiving.com/huw2013

The Last of The Sportives

Yesterdays Wales Sportive marked the end of the sportives for this year's challenge and it couldn't have been in nicer surroundings.  Starting and finishing in Tenby the route took in some of the fantastic Pembrokeshire countryside including a fair amount of coastline which made for very enjoyable riding.  The weather caused a few problems though because although it was dry (which is always appreciated!) it was very hot and sapping on the energy levels.  I had company for this one though with my friend Paul joining me for what would be his own personal challenge with this 70 mile route being 20 miles further than he had cycled before.

The ride went really well and I've got to be honest, I enjoyed doing the shorter distance compared to what I have done on the other sportives this year.  It seemed to change how I viewed it and was more of a "fun" ride rather than constantly thinking about how much further I had to go.  Timing wise it wasn't a very fast ride but given the heat, the slow and steady approach seemed the most sensible and was needed given the lack of water/feed stations available on the route.  The finish in Tenby town was fantastic as well with people lining the streets to cheer you on the final part.  It felt like being in a proper bike race and was very nice!

So that's the pure bike rides done although I'll still be riding the bike in more of the events with a few triathlons still to come.  I'd never done a sportive before this year and although the first one wasn't the best experience and I struggled with the Wye Valley ride, I'll definitely be doing more in the future.

Don't forget if you'd like to sponsor me you can at www.justgiving.com/huw2013

Ferries and Fun

I’m a bit late doing this sorry but I’m sure you’ll forgive me given the long day I had yesterday.  I’m not complaining though as I had a lot of fun yesterday.  The Wight Ferry Sportive as it is known was one of the first things to get the challenge for this rolling.  I stumbled upon it by mistake a while back and as soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to give it a go.  The organisers sold it as being an adventure rather than a bike ride and with 2 ferry crossing involved, it certainly was!

Before I took to the start line though I had a bit of a challenge on my hands to get there.  You might have seen in my last post the picture of my race number burnt on my arm.  What I didn’t realise as the time and what I didn’t find out until Monday evening was just how badly burnt my shoulders were, to the point where they had actually blistered.  Now, I’m not looking for sympathy because it was my own stupid fault that I burnt in the first place.  As you can imagine though it was extremely painful but thankfully after lots of after sun, sudocrem and a fair slice of luck my shoulders were, just about, recovered enough for me to start.

The sportive itself was a lot of fun.  It started with a mad dash to the ferry port to make the first crossing of the day.  I felt like I was in a proper bike race as we all hurtled along at 7 in the morning!  Thankfully I managed to make it and knew this would give me the time I needed to get around the Isle of Wight without any fear of missing cut off times which is what happened back at the Wye Valley ride.  On the Isle of Wight the roads were up and down but nothing too severe and even the two big hills of the day just before we got back to the ferry port weren’t anything I wouldn’t be happy to tackle again.  To be honest, the hardest part was getting back on the bike after ferry crossing back to the mainland because in the hour or so that I was off the bike I’d cooled down and my legs had stiffened up so getting them working again was a bit of a task but I got there after a couple of miles.

Overall the whole day really was good and has definitely been the best of the three sportives that I’ve done so far this year.  I know the weather was a factor in this because riding the bike is defiantly easier when the sun is shining!  I would happily do it again though and if next week’s ride in Tenby is half as fun, I’ll be very happy!  Hopefully they’ll be giving out ice creams at the finish as well like they did yesterday.  You can see form the photo that mine definitely put a smile on my face!