Wokingham Half & Training Update

First let it be said that I'm not a fan of half marathons, I much prefer the shorter, intense 10km racing or XC.  However I have always felt like its unfinished business as my PB is only 1:32-way off my 10km pace (and PB was at Windsor thats not a notoriously fast course).  I raced Fleet several years ago and after hitting 10mi at 1:08 I cramped massively and crawled in around 1:32 with a dented ego.  At the time I wasn't training beyond c.50mins and wasn't in great shape but psychologically that collapse weighed on my mind.

2012 was the year to nail those demons and I certainly felt I could sneak under 1:30 and set is as one of five goals for the year - so applied for Wokingham with the fallback of Fleet in March if I missed the time.  Ideally I wanted to nail it at Wokingham so I can switch my focus to my cycling.

Anyway race day - I'd agreed to run with a 1:25 runner from my club and agreed to meet him by the 1:25 marker at the start.  Having heard it was a slow, narrow start I felt starting above my expected finish time would help with a fast start.  However my mate was no where to be seen and soon enough we started.  There was lots of runners ahead who obviousy weren't in the right start position so I spent the first mile weaving through people to try and catch him - rather frustrating.  Eventually I caught him at c.1 mile but he was was working hard.  He'd done a 20 miler last weekend so told me to push on which I did.  I felt if I pushed on and started struggling, he'd catch me up and help me through to the end.  Wokingham is a flat course except for 2 bridges over the motorways so I pushed hard up these and recovered on the downs. 

My only target for the race to achieve 1:30 was to hit 10  miles at 1:07ish to give me a chance, so I worked out on route I'd need to hit 5mi at c.33:30. I hadn't really been keeping an eye on my watch, so when I reached 5mi and saw 30:39 I was abit shocked.  Had I gone off too hard?  Could I sustain it?  Would I cramp like Fleet?  It kind of had a negative effect on me?  Then at 5.5mi something happened that changed my race, 2 guys caught me up and were saying 'looks like we're on for a 1:21.  At that point my target changed and I realised my expectations were way down.  I changed my target to 1:25.  I clung on to their tails until c.8.5mi when I was dropped and hit 10mi at 1:01:56.  I pushed on to the end - from 13mi to the end maybe 5 people overtook me but I crossed the line in 1:21:58 by my watch.  The support had been great the whole way round from the spectators and marshalls.  Happy days.

Sadly on the day we saw several ambulances at c. 12 mile marker - we assumed that a car had hit a runner.  However later it transpired that someone had collapsed with chest pains at the 3 mile marker and required CPR. I hope that they were ok.  On the flipside alot of my Sandhurst Jogger mates had strong races and PB's as did several mates off Twitter.  Well done all :)

So now my focus switches to the bike with the F3 Duathlon at Dorney on 25th March and the 56mi Sportive at New Forest on April 15th.  I've been quite pleased with my cycling training recently however it has nearly all been on turbo so I need to start getting out more - hopefully as weather improves I will be able to.  I've also restarted swim training with Bracknell Masters so all in all things are coming together. 

2011 and Onwards & Upwards in 2012

Hey guys, it's been a while since my last blog so I thought I'd blog a quick update on last season and my targets for the forthcoming one - as much for my use as anyone else who is interested.  But first I'd not really sat back and reviewed my 2011 season until recently, and it threw up a few surprises...

 

2011 Summary

In 2011 I managed to race in 4 triathlons - with a 3 week family holiday to Florida in early August this effectively shortened my season.  In terms of results, they were:

1.  Hart Triathlon - Sprint   1:12:19, Overal rank = 21%  (Hart PB by 2'25)

2.  Blenheim Triathlon, Sprint   1:24:27, AG Rank = 15% (Blenheim PB by 40 seconds)

3.  Windsor Triathlon, Olympic  2:33:54, AG Rank=33%

4.  London Triathlon, Olympic  2:20:04, AG Rank=8%  (PB - OLY & London by 13 seconds)

Digging further and breaking out the disciplines heres a graph showing my avg ranking by discipline.  Tbh it doesn't show anything I didn't know (although the transitions are abit overstated - in 2 races where cramp struck during transition a couple of minutes cost me a fair few places.  However at London my T2 was 30/538!) but its useful to set a bench for '12 season.

2011 Highlights

• London OLY - 2:20 PB, top 8% of AG, 1:04 bike split & 35th for run split
• Completing the Hampton-Kingston 2.25mi swim in 1:05:28-first competitive stand-alone OW swim
• Transitions - improved significantly

2011 Lowlights

• Bike - continue to perform below other disciplines - sadly self inflicted due to lack of 'saddle time' in training
• Nutrition - Suffered cramp in both Blenheim & Windsor tri's in T2 - despite never suffering it in training?
• Early finish to season

2012 - The Year of the Bike

On January 3rd myself and my wife welcomed a new addition to the Drayton household with the birth of our baby daughter.  Obviously planned for the 'off season' (lol) I will need to flex my training around the lifestye of having another baby around?   The midwifes have all said she has very large feet so I've already lined her up to be the swimmer in the family relay team ha ha

Anyway my focus for 2012 is that I NEED to get my bike working for me better.  My running is clearly my strength and whilst my swimming can also be improved, given the significance of the bike leg to the overall result its time to fix things.  It's simple - I simply don't put enough training hours in the saddle. Yes I can make the usual excuses - namely around the time cycling requires when training vs other disciplines with a young family, however if I want to see a big improvement to my ranking there are no shortcuts - I need to quit the moaning and get in the saddle.   Whilst I'm not currently in a position to be able to upgrade my bike, I'm aware in the scheme of things I can make big inroads despite of this.  My focus for this is:
-Turbo interval sessions - having recently downloaded my first sufferfest video these are ideal for speedwork!
-Joining my local cycling club to build some miles in my legs
-Sportives - I have signed up for a 56miler in April and will line up a couple of others
-TT#ing - To develop my speed I will aim to race at least 2 TT's a month through the summer
-Practice for contingencies e.g. punctures.  I have been lucky so far (touch wood...I'm jinxing myself here!) but if it ever did happen I'd be up the proverbial creek!
-Finally invest in bike fit analysis to ensure I am at the most efficient on the bike

So thats going to be my focus for the year, however in terms of my overriding objectives for the year these are:
1. To break 90 mins for a half marathon
2.  To complete at least 6 triathlons - aiming for top 15% in AG in all
3.  To break 1:05 for 25mi TT
4.  To get to race weight of sub 10.5 stone by April
A month into 2012 I am wondering if these are stretching enough (already achieved #4) but I'll monitor and review these as the year proceeds - and add if necessary.

Anyway for anyone who has stayed the distance and read it all, thanks and I'll keep you updated throughout the season.  Hope all your training is going well.

Rich

2012 Race Calendar - Confirmed Key Events to date

19th Feb  Wokingham Half Marathon

14th April  New Forest Sportive -  56mi

7th May  Hart Sprint Triathlon

27th May  Big Cow Sprint Triathlon

16th June  Dambuster OLY Triathlon

15th July  Bristol OLY Triathlon