Holdenby Duathlon - 23 October 2016

I entered the Holdenby duathlon on Oct 23rd and it was my first duathlon since the much missed Silverstone events. I went for the sprint distance comprising a 5k run, 22.5k cycle and 5k run. 

The run was one lap around the grounds of Holdenby House. The first 1k was downhill, so there was an inevitable uphill section just after halfway which was short but tough, especially on the second run. Most of the run was on farm tracks but there was also a 1k cross country section over quite rough ground. The cycle was quite an undulating course, with one long uphill section and then a nice downhill run near the end, though unfortunately I was held up at a set of temporary traffic lights on this part. 

The trouble with the duathlon discipline is that you know that anyone you overtake on the bike is a better runner and is likely to overtake you on the final run, which is pretty much what happened to me. I finished 18th out of 46, with split times of 27.02, 45.02 & 28.08 + 2.08 in T1 & T2, making 1.42.25 in total. I had hoped to finish inside 1.40 but given the difficulty of the run course, I was pretty satisfied with my time and position and although I was exhausted at the end, it was an enjoyable morning.

Steve

Linford Wood Parkrun - 22nd October 2016

In ideal running conditions a very decent 187 runners turned out for this weeks Linford Wood Parkrun boosted by a large contingent of Redway Runners. 

Flitwick Tri couldn't match the 70 runners representing Redway Runners but we did have 3 of us there!

Les Potts achieved 50th place in 25:57, Jack Wilkinson achieved 99th place in 29:43 (he was Chloe's pacer) and Chloe Potts achieved 100th place in a personal best of 29:52 (thanks Jack).

Les

Dusting off the bikes

Having failed in my attempt to get a place in the ballot for the London Marathon but having secured a charity place in the Ride London 100 next summer it was time to get out on the road again.

Last weekend i went out for a couple of hours and found a few hills to remind my legs what they involve. This morning I went out with my mate Andy and realised I hadn't been out on the bike with him for over a year. Before that we used to be out together every couple of weeks. We were out for just over 2 hours and managed to clock up about 36 miles and a few hills.

Will be aiming to get out regularly at weekends over the winter so if you fancy joining me please get in touch. Happy to go at any speed (within reason) as it is just good to be out on the bike in the fresh air.

Chris  

Linford Wood Parkrun - 15th October 2016

I was the sole Flitwick Tri runner at Linford Wood Parkrun this week.

In ideal running conditions I completed the course in 25:57 finishing in 35th place out of 139 park-runners, and came 1st in my age category.

Les

Great Eastern Run - 9 October 2016

On Sunday Les and I headed up to Peterborough for the Perkins Great Eastern Run. The race is over half-marathon distance and the course is pretty much flat and goes trough the main centre of Peterborough before going out through the outskirts and then looping back to the park where it all starts from.

The issue we both had was a distinct lack of long runs in the build up and I'm not sure either of us we particularly confident of a good time going in to the run.

Weather wise there was a rain shower shortly before the start but the actual race was dry and bright.

I was fine to about 7 miles but the 6 miles after that were a real struggle and my legs just felt dead. Having spoken to Les after the race he also had a real struggle towards the latter stages.

There were 4250 finishers and my time of 1.54.40 was good enough for 1595th. Les finished in a time of 1.56.56 was good enough for 1862nd.

Chris

Ruck Up Run - 09.10.16

I entered the "Ruck up Run" event at Box End yesterday in aid of the RAF Wings and SANDS (stillbirth) 

charities. The day featured 5k, 10k & 20k races plus a 5k x 4 relay around the 5k Box End lake course. I

imagine that a lot of faster local runners were running in the Herts 10k instead, so there was a fairly

small field and the standard was probably not that great. To put it another way, I certainly wouldn't 

have finished 5th at the Herts 10k! There were 64 entries in the 10k but only 51 were given a finishing

time. My time was 49.35 which I was pleased with, especially as the course is actually a bit longer than 

10k.

Steve Clough

Roade Triathlon - 23.09.16

I entered the Roade triathlon on 23rd September. It is a pool based triathlon with slightly odd distances compared to normal - 414m swim, 20k bike and 4.5k run. Although the website encourages early entry as the event 'always sells out', there were only 209 entries compared to over 500 in 2013 when I first entered. 

This was the third year that I have entered this event and was my slowest effort. I was a bit disappointed because I felt that I was on good form leading up to it and was hoping to get close to 1hr 10. In fact, my overall time was 1.16.29. This was partly due to it being quite blustery which affected the cycle and I also got held up by traffic on the way into Roade but mainly it was due to having no energy left for the run. I think next year I'm going to have to do more cycle/run brick training.

Steve Clough