Clumber Park Duathlon (Mar 18th)

At the start of 2017 I set myself the target of gaining an age-group qualification slot in the British team, and with it the chance to represent my country for the first time. Details of the qualification races for both duathlon & triathlon come out months before the season starts, and upon realising that one of the three duathlon qualification races was set to take place just a 10 minute drive from my in-laws in Nottinghamshire, it quickly became the main focus for the first few months of the year.

I chose to enter the longer 'standard' distance race, with the 10km-40km-5km format, as opposed to the 'sprint' distance which was 5km-20km-2.5km. Training from the start of the year revolved around adding endurance to the speed that I have picked up at the end of 2016 (weekly Parkruns) as well as bike efforts up to 90 minutes (mostly pre work in Regent's Park).

Preparation in the week of the race was not ideal, the family (boozy!) ski trip to Morzine taking place on the Sunday to Wednesday leading into the  event on Sunday, and a bout of stomach illness coming out of that trip didn't give me the ideal taper week at all...

Registration takes place the same day as race day, and with the main parking a 5 minute walk to the transition area getting there in good time is advised. A 10 minute queue and then it was time to rack the bike and start the warm up.

It is not a mass start - start waves are every 3-5 minutes and split into different age groups and sexes. Having nearly missed my wave call deciding on whether to wear a pair on cotton gloves for run 1 to make up a speedier T1 (decided on it finally), it wasn't long before the gun went and we were on the first and longer of the two runs. The first 10km is all about pacing, knowing that even after 40 minutes of running there are still 85 minutes of the race left, go too fast in that first 10km and you will certainly pay for it on the bike, and especially the last 5km run. After a (too quick!) 3:41 first km, i quickly settled into my target 4:00 KMs and completed the 10km run (slightly long?) in 41:02.
RUN 1 STRAVA
T1 was only 1:09 (a pleasure not having to take off a wetsuit!) and only once out on the bike did it become apparent that it was not a flat loop at all.. the rolling 2 lap course was short of 40km (thankfully!), and with over 400m of climbing i finished with a 34.2kmph average.
BIKE STRAVA
What happened in T2 

Ballbuster Duathlon (Nov 2016)

Ballbuster 2016 (Boxhill)

Ball-buster, Ball-breaker, Ball-extractor.. the 2016 edition lived up to every name this epic Duathlon has been Christened by participants over the years, as relentless freezing rain battered every athlete for the duration of the event, leading to around 50 DNFs, over 15% of the start list!

The November date for this unique event is somehow always met with torrential conditions, this is the third year in a row I have done the race, and on each occasion my wish for dry conditions has been laughed up by the weather Gods "8 mile run, 24 mile bike and another 8 mile run, 5 ascents of BoxH Hill in total?" I can hear their smug voices say "Let's make it event harder for these idiots by throwing rain, wind & fog at them ALL day...! Hahahahahaha!"

The 8 mile run/24 mile bike/8 mile run all take place on the same 8 mile loop around Box Hill, the finish of each leg being at the car park atop the summit of the world famous 'zig-zag' road. I have some lifetime memories of the place, having visited here with my Mum from the age of seven, so I always love coming back for nostalgic reasons. During Ballbuster, it is very useful to have a reason why you love the place because at times you will absolutely hate it!

Here is a map of that 8 mile route:

It is safe to say that the 8 mile loop is not flat... after a 2km rise from Box Hill car park the road starts descending, gentle for 3 kilometres, but then steeply from 5km to 10km (3-6 miles). However, at 10km you take the left turn up the zig-zag road, and what follows is 2.2 km of ascending a 5-6% slope, up the road the cars take to the summit.

The 2016 event

With an 8am start time, I was up at 5.45, out the door at 6.15, and atop Box Hill by 7am. I have learnt that parking in the car park can mean a 60 minute wait in your car after the event, and so for the last two years I have parked 1.5kms from transition along Box Hill Road (on the course), which means a quick getaway (usually whilst shivering cold!) back to London. After registering in Box Hill Cafe, there wasn't much time for putting stickers on the bike & helmet and affixing the number to my number belt, and it was 7.45am by the time I headed into transition to rack my bike, managing to find  a great position with ample room either side. With the heavy rain forecasted, I brought plenty of plastic bags to keep my bike gear and spare clothing dry. Just as athletes were called to the start line, the heavens opened... & it was to rain for the next 5 hours non-stop.

Registration queue (don't forget an umbrella!)

Transition

Bike racked (nutrition on top stem; no need for a full bottle)

To start the event athletes are let off in waves of 5 people every 10 seconds, just to prevent congestion on the course throughout the day, as the roads are open to traffic (athletes have personal timing chips so this does nothing to impact your own time of course). I lined up right near the front, managing to get into the third wave of 5, with an intention of setting off at an easy pace, but upon getting to 1km in 3 mins 45 and seeing the course record holder (and 2:21 marathon runner) Andy Greenleaf just 150 metres ahead of me I realised I may have started a bit too aggressively... so until the 5km point I kept the foot off the pedal, but once the gradient hit the sharp descent (at 5km) I felt it was time to open the legs a little. Kilometres 5-10 were done at a brisk pace, getting me to the base of the first ascent of Box Hill and 10kms in under 40 minutes. Focusing on pumping the arms up the hill, I got to the cafe in exactly the same time as my 2015 split, 52:30, however for this year the entry to T1 was around the far side of the car park, meaning an extra 2.5 minutes of running. My official first run split was 54:52.

Click here to see the Strava details for the first 8 mile run: Ballbuster 2016 RUN 1

I had run in my tri suit, compression top, arm warmers and running gloves. For T1 I had decided on putting on my Rapha light waterproof, and shoes with winter bootie covers, as well as another pair of gloves. In hindsight I wish I had put on another top layer.. as throughout the 1:24:40 3 lap bike course I got colder and colder.. On lap three I started to see some riders in severe trouble with the cold, and after the race I heard of several that had reached a hyperthermic stage..  this was the reason for the fifty or so DNFs, one of those being course record holder Andy Greenleaf  (whose body temperature had dropped to 33 degrees I hear).

The bike leg involved very tentative handling on the downhill sections and sharp turns (almost to a standstill) and a 'grinding out' of the 3 ascents of Box Hill, without going too much into the 'red', as the final 8 mile run is where your legs need to have some juice left in them. For next year I will certainly use my road bike (with TT clip-ons), I wanted to this year but she was getting a facelift with the 'Carbon Repair Company' after a some minor damage several weeks ago... I had hoped it would be ready in time, buy sods law means it will be ready for pick up on Monday (two days after the race). On the downhill sections I was able to power past those on road bikes, but they all clawed back past me on the climb, and the ascent of Box Hill is where the real time can be made up on this course, especially when the weather is this bad. I felt dreadful on the first lap, but fortunately had the sense of mind to eat the energy bar & cliff shot gels I had taped to my bike top stem, and I drank the whole of my caffeine infused water bottle, which meant I was feeling significantly better on the second bike lap, and better still for the final third lap. My Strava data showed me ascending the 2.2km climb around the 8:30 mark, sensible enough to keep something in the tank for the final run, but on a road bike I believe the same effort would put those times nearer 7.45-30. On arriving back at transition I heard a marshall shouting out "your helmet is still on!" to a clearly disorientated runner leaving transition, and despite scoffing and laughing at this guy, two minutes later I did exactly the same thing! This meant a 100m return back into transition to deposit it with the rest of my equipment. For the run I decided to remove my top layer plus one pair of gloves.

(The Human Race Twitter feed post race captured a great shot of me at the very top of Box Hill, sodden to the core)

Click here for the strava link for the 3 loop bike: BIKE

The start of the run was horrible... it took me a full 4km before I could feel either of my legs below the knees, and so the best I could do was trundle along at a slow pace until my body was able to find some sort of a rhythm. Fortunately this happened just as the steep descending began, which meant I was able to run a few KMs under 4:00 pace as my legs warmed up, getting to the base of Box Hill without being overtaken, whilst also picking off several runners myself. For the final, verge-of-cramp-feeling-like-you-are-running-on-the-spot ascent I had a couple of runners just behind me, so instead of being able to cruise over the line I had to dig deep to ensure there was no unexpected attacks from behind in the final few hundred metres, crossing the line with a second run split (slightly shorter than the first one) of 55:35, and a total time of 3:18:43 for 34th overall, & 10th in my age-group. Despite being 7 minutes slower than last year I was pretty pleased with the result, firstly due to lots of missed training in the last several weeks (a bad back for 4 of those, a sore calf before that, and for 2 weeks plus and a nasty bout of gastroenteritis), secondly, because the new approach into transition after the first run added 2 minutes to the overall time, and thirdly because of those biblical conditions!

Strava link for RUN 2

In terms of lessons learnt from 2016: i) overshoes were critical on the bike - i am guessing none of the DNFs had them on, ii) nutrition on lap 1 of the bike leg was vital, iii) a road bike with aero clip-ons and deep rim is deemed the best set up, iv) I opted for a non-aero helmet (because of the conditions and the potential for a steamed-up visor) but should have worn a hat/cap underneath for warmth and additional shelter from the rain.

Once again, I am sure i will be back next year praying for decent weather and chance at posting a finish time I can be proud of!

Hever Castle Half-Ironman (Sep 2016)

Hever Castle 70.3 "The Gauntlet" (Sunday September 25th 2016)

I moved my late season 70.3 from Ironman Weymouth 70.3 (Sep 11th) to the Hever Castle "Gauntlet" (25th Sept) for a few different reasons; bikes can be racked on the morning of the event, the venue is only a 45 minute (pre-6am!) drive from Clapham Common, and it gave me a few extra weeks to get over a nagging calf injury that had stopped me from doing many long distance runs ahead of race day.

I would highly recommend the Gauntlet to anyone considering entering. It is a superbly run event, the setting around the Castle is stunning, and its proximity to London (together with a pre-race morning registration & bike rack) means time away from the family is kept to a minimum. But be warned, the course on both the bike & run legs are tough! I would say comparable to Wimbleball 70.3, so do not expect to post a PB on this course. The bike leg has around 1,500m of climbing (I cannot recall one flat section..) whilst the run has close to 300m, and is 90% on trails. All of this results in a finishing time at least 30 minutes more than a 'flat' course 70.3 time.

The Race

Registration opened at 6.30am for a wave 1 start time of 8am. I got to registration (a 15 minute walk from the car park) at 7am to find absolutely no queue, resulting in me getting to transition nearly a FULL HOUR before the gun would be fired. "What are these calm and relaxed sensations I am feeling..? Is this what everyone else usually feels on race morning...? I could get used to this.." Usually getting to an event start involves another entry onto my "all-time top 10 most stressful moments in life" list. Recent entries to that list have included, i) IM Frankfurt 2015 - my alarm failed to go off, I got woken by my taxi, I had to eat my cereal raw in the back of the car, and due to traffic I had to RUN the final 1.5km to transition, arriving 30 seconds before clsoing, ii) Dorney Mid-Week Sprint Triathlon, Summer 2013 - I arrived at registration 5 minutes after the race had started (a new world record for entering a wetsuit was made that day), iii) IM Austria 2012 - I left all of my nutrition and hydration in the fridge, realising the moment I turned off the motorway arriving at the race venue.. the return journey back to the hotel might have seen a few laws broken). Actually, I tell a lie, there was one pre-race panic as I was standing next to the water (5 minutes from transition) listening to the race briefing when I suddenly remembered I hadn't removed (or taped) my wedding ring.. "It's an emergency!" I shouted upon seeing an Ambulance, a very helpful chat handed me a waterproof plaster, and then it was time to focus on the 5 hour race ahead.

SWIM - Its a great route, you swim the length of the Castle lake, then turn around and swim into the river that feeds the lake, so there is a 10 minute section where you are swimming in a channel just 5-10m wide. The water is very muddy, so you pretty much see nothing the whole way around, but the marker buoys are placed pretty much every 100m and so it is hard to swim off course (although some idiots still managed it). I got punched fully in the face three times before the first 500m... The first two came as a shock, but by the third, and a bit like a sparring session, I was used to it. On coming out of the river channel and back to the Lake, make sure you keep to the right, and don't do what some idiot did on the day and miss the narrow channel to the finishing line (and swim straight into the swimmers waiting to go off at the 8.30am wave).. adding some 15-20 seconds to your race time - its something I will not do again, I promise. I exited the water in 31:24, but with the clock stopping as you enter transition I was given an official time of 32:34.

STRAVA: https://www.strava.com/activities/724638946

BIKE - my first transition was hopeless (coining the same expression used when recounting my race to my wife immediately after the finish), as I had planned on putting on a compression top before the bike leg as the temperatures were still pretty low. This was a major fail because my hands were so cold.. all I ended up doing was getting my head into the top, and little else in the way of basic dressing took place over the next 20 seconds. My arms got entangled in a lot of twisted material and so I decided to abandon the idea of wearing the extra layer, something I was pleased with later as the temperature really warmed up by the second half. Having said this, I was pleased to have spent the extra 10 seconds putting on a pair of socks, especially as I didn't want my feet cut up on the run leg like they were post London Triathlon. I'll do this at any distance over Olympic in future. I headed out of transition and over the dismount line, hashing up putting my feet into my already clipped in bike shoes as the first 30-40 meters of the bike is uphill... next time I will be running out of transition with my shoes already on... In summing up the bike course I would state "the whole 2 lap 90km course is relentlessly up or down, with hardly any flat sections", and by lap two there was a noticeable number of riders blowing up who had underestimated the 1,500m ascent throughout. By the end of the second bike lap we were catching some of the wave 2 Gauntlet starters who were nearing the end of their first lap, and I swear that one woman shouted "Sod off!" when I gave her encouragement whilst overtaking on one of the many hills. I was a fight to keep my average speed at 30kmph, my pre-race target, however pleasingly I managed to do consistent 45km laps with my two lap times being within 39 seconds of each other (1:31:04 & 1:31:43) for a total bike time of 3:04.

STRAVA: https://www.strava.com/activities/724639296

Bike course profile

RUN - Out of T2 and up the first hill on the two lap 10.5km course I realised my run legs had been left at home... I had picked up a hand bottle of Caffeine High 5 fluid (my own), plus a few gels, all of which were consumed early on meaning I actually started feeling  better on the second half of the run. I did not realise that the run course was going to be that much off-road.. trails, narrow paths, farm fields, grass and some gravel paths were interspersed with only about 400m of tarmac in total, and like the bike route, the run route was hardly flat the whole way round. I got passed by the winner of the event just before my lap 2 started, calculating that he was on for a 4:30 finish, a superb time considering the winner the year before was a 4:50. With a lot of Olympic distance runners out on the run course there were plenty of targets to keep the mind focused, and before long the run was nearly over and I was heading into the finish. It was wonderful to see my wife and son Sebastian (the first time he has ever 'seen' me finish a race!), around 100m from the line, and i felt compelled to stop and give them both a quick kiss, meaning I had to sprint the last 50m to keep at bay the athlete who had sniffed an opportunity to overtake a fellow athlete dawdling in the finishing chute... I was pleasantly surprised to cross the line in 5:22,  a time gave me 21st overall, and 5th in the 40-44 age category.

STRAVA: https://www.strava.com/activities/724639159

Run profile

Link to all 2016 Gauntlet Half Ironman results can be found here : http://www.stuweb.co.uk/race/1et/

Sebastian with Daddy's medal