Race Update - Wellingborough Multi Terrain 5km - Jan 18th

My first ever 5km race. Ok - I had done 5km in my first triathlon - but never on its own in a race - and off road as well....

It had rained the night before - and the conditions underfoot were very muddy.

HR was very high throughout the race - possibly due to the hard traning session yesterday. I had aching legs and bum all the way around (and prior to the race). My personal Trainer - Jesse - at Virgin Active had given me a full work out with single leg squats etc. so I was very sore.

I had quite a bit left in the tank at the end - but at about 3km I had pains in my left shoulder and chest - felt like I had pulled a muscle or was over doing it after the long swim yesterday (I did this after the training session with Jesse!)

I looked at the watch when passing the finish line - was sure it said 24 mins - but looking at the data it may be more like 26 mins - which is disappointing as it would be slower than the 5km after the triathlon.

Still - I could go faster - just make sure that I taper the training properly or at least do the correct build up.

Need to get the training diary out again and start filling it in.

Probably need to look at more farlek training etc for the running.

So - not to bad for the opening race of the season - and certainly plenty to improve on.

My best swim

Back to training and managed a nice 7km on Saturday. Nothing special as I was still washed out - but I was glad to get back to it. On Sunday I managed to swim a kilometer and on top of this it had three of my all time best 50m splits in it of 50 seconds which I am seriously chuffed with. :-)

A few more runs this week including a nice fast 4km on the way to work yesterday which was a major enjoyment as I ran through a bit of London I never had before. Exploring new places is definately one of the joys of running.

Training on hold due to illness

I have spent the last few days in bed feeling very sorry for myself
alternating from hot to cold. Bit of a shame as I wanted to try to get
to 10km this week, don't think I am going to manage it now. This will
teach me to go running in the damp without a waterproof.

In the meantime I have been Reading Joe Friel's book - "The
Triathlete's Training Bible" which is pretty good. A great insight
into the sporting mind. Hoping to use it to keep a training diary
going forward.

Caterham Experience

Phil Page and I went to Silverstone for a Caterham day on Friday last
week. These little things are mental. I could hardly stop it from
spinning out of control it was so fast. Didn't get out of first gear
all day and stank of burned rubber by the end. Amazing experience to
be recomended to anyone.

So - what is next?

Well - as I have made such an effort to get fit - it seems a shame to waste it now doesn't it? So - I may as well enter a few more races and see if I can't improve my times.

So - here is the list so far and if any of you out there are at the same race - feel free to say Hi...

2008

November 8th - Wedgnock 10km off road run.

2009

January 18th - Wellingborough 5km

February 8th - Wellingborough 5km

March 1st - Wellingborough 10km

March 15th - Adidas Half Marathon at Silverstone

April 4th - Coastal Trail Series - Cornwall 10km

May 10th - Stratford 220 Sprint Triathlon

June 6th and 7th - Blenheim Sprint Triathlon

June 28th - Northampton Sprint Triathlon

July 26th - Trentham Sprint Triathlon

September 27th - Roade Sprint Triathlon

Might add or take away a few - but all these are entered. What the hell was I thinking entering a half marathon!!!

Roade Triathlon Times

Finishing position - 267
Overall time - 01:19:20
Swim - 08:59
Swim Position - 246
Bike - 45:05
Bike Position - 257
Run - 25:19
Run Position - 295

Spring Triathlon:
Swim 400m, Bike 40km, Run 5km

Odd that the swim - my worse discipline - turned out to be my best!

Roade Triathlon - the fat lad CAN run!

After a fair amount of training this year - and reducing my weight from 15 stone to 12, and my waist from 38 inches to 32 - I found myself at my first Triathlon race in Roade.

But I jump ahead of myself, let me start where this all began, a February just like all the others, but I was heading towards my 40th Birthday and I was finding myself fairly ill a lot of the time. My blood pressure was pushing 190 over 90 some days and frankly I was a heart attack waiting to happen.

Just like many of you I am sure - I was a fully paid up member of an expensive gym and lots of good intentions - but I very rarely went, having no goal or purpose. When I did go - I wasn't sure what I was training for or how to even train.

And so it was that my darling wife decided that she also needed to be a member of a gym - so we joined one at home rather than the one near my work and after introduction sessions decided that we needed a personal trainer. And so it was I met Jesse Martyne at the Virgin Active in Northampton, a better personal trainer you could not want for.

And so it started - the fat lad started to learn to run again, and we set some goals - one of which was a Triathlon towards the end of the year. And so the swimming started as well. A new bike followed and a trainer at home to sit it on and unlike the other times when I went to the gym and had an idea to get fit - this time it stuck - mainly down to a bit of stubbornness and a lot to do with Jesse.

I ran my first 5km race - the Chase Challenge and had a 5km time of 29min and 20 seconds - which was a surprise - I was expecting about 40 mins for the first one. My swimming wasn't going quite so well - 12mins for 400m was my best time - but I could only manage one training session per week - so that was hardly a surprise. The cycling was coming on - but Northamptonshire is a flat place at the best of times and I just wasn't getting enough hill training outside, so I switched to the bike on the trainer and set up the hills on that. Not nearly as much fun as being outside - but good for the legs.

Soon the day of the race came upon me....

The event started early on the Sunday morning, a misty cold and damp morning - with the dark edging in to the mornings these days it was worryingly oppressive. However - the mood lightened as I bumped into a few fellow competitors - those of us turning up this early had put down for a slow swim - my best had previously been a grand 12 minutes - so thats what had been entered on the online form and I joined quite a few others with slow times, many of whom were planning on swimming breaststroke.

The start was delayed - poor visibility due to the heavy mist meant that the course was considered dangerous for the cycling stage. I switched on my iPod and desperately tried to find a quiet place. I'd told myself that the aim was just to finish this - my first race - but the nerves I was feeling showed that I wanted to get under my target time of 1 hour 30 mins. A little Coldplay soon calmed the nerves and it wasn't before long that the start was called and I was taking off my cold weather clothes to strip down to my tri suit,

The pool swim started well - I felt strong - pulling along quite nicely with minimum use of my legs. This part had been the piece of the race I had truly feared. It was however - bloody good fun! So much in fact that I lost count of the lengths and ended up doing an extra two lengths. Getting out of the pool I pressed the lap counter of my watch and glanced down - amazed to find the time under 9 mins - where had that come from?

So - the bike. This should be better - its the bit I enjoy. So I thought. A two lap race circuit on the roads - mixing it up carefully with the other road users. Well - off I went - far too fast of course and soon my legs were on fire. Luckily I had put a bottle of water and a bottle of carb drink on the bike - so I started sipping the carb drink. I'd drank this many a time - made sure that I was used to it - so that there shouldn't be any surprises in the race. Oops. Looks like I made this too strong - as my stomach started cramping up. Quick - drink some water as well, so I started drinking the carb drink followed by the water to make sure the cramps didn't come again. Will have to remember that for next time and be more careful in my morning preparation in future.

I came up to the hill at the end of the first circuit - and saw a long line of riders out of their saddles riding up it. I'm not sure what happened - but my 'just get round and enjoy yourself' attitude just vanished and the red mist descended. I sat in the saddle and pushed as hard as I could up the hill - overtaking all those I could see in front of me. Getting to the top I was almost sick, coughing and retching I carried on along the flat to the start of the second lap. Spotted the photographer - stuck my tongue out as I went past and started feeling better. More carb drink and more water - began to recover from the stupid massive effort up that hill. I heard someone behind me and was soon overtaken by the first person to go past me of the day - there were only to be two more during the rest of the race which was fairly gratifying.

Reaching the last hill of the circuit - I have no idea what happened again - but there I was retching at the top again after powering up and overtaking anyone I could see. Bloomin idiot - but hell, it was great fun. If only I was a bit fitter!

Into transition and onto the run. I could hear people cheering me on - the support at this race was brilliant, the best advert for these races. The best I had previously managed on a 5km run was 29:20 - and certainly not after a swim and a bike ride - so I wasn't hoping for too much and as I turned onto the off road bit I wasn't too hopeful as this course went along the side of a farmers field. It was rough, rutted, muddy and completely uneven. To be honest it was fantastic! Its odd - but the lack of a constant gait favored me I think - it stopped me from thinking about how fast I was running and let me just think about retaining my footing. I spotted one of the guys from near me running in the opposite direction and waved - "Good luck" - he shouted - marvelous atmosphere.

Sprinting into the end of the race - and yes - I really did manage a sprint finish - I found myself bettering my target time by over 10 minutes. Brilliant. Now - when is the next one - I'm hooked....

Amazing trip to Italy - Cervinia

Snowboarding in Cervinia last weekend was amazing. Great weather - was 24 degrees on the Friday. Very cold at the top - got a touch of frostbite on my nose - but got sunburn on the Friday. Did my first blackrun on the new Ride board. Awsome.

The snow was great - there was a snowfall of about 20 cm on the two days prior to us arriving - then a further 10cm on the Saturday evening. This combined with the sun made for t-shirt type conditions on the Friday.

The company was great fun as well - with Ty's mates all turning out to be bloody funny - and everyone made a concerted effort.

The scenery was great too - as you can see from the photos - the visibility was pretty clear. These are all from the Saturday - Friday I didnt take the camera with me - but I'll try to get some off the phone at some stage.

The Matterhorn looked impressive from both sides - and we boarded down to Zermat from the top - down wide open red runs followed by a steep and narrow black - which the buggers didnt tell me about apart from at the bottom a "So - how was your first black run?" question.

The buggers.

The piste was incredibly good - and the wide runs on the Swiss side were really amazing - highly recommended.

And then there were the cafes/bars littering the mountainside. Wow! The food in these was, frankly, some of the best food I have had. Equivalent to some of the nicest London restaurants, but without the pomp and unpleasantries. So friendly and forthcoming. Good beer too - and the warm mulled wine was great.

All together a great weekend.

Reflections

Just back from snowboarding in italy

LinkedIn ID

Another mad idea!

Looks like a few of us are going to try to do the Hebridean Challenge next year: http://www.hebrideanchallenge.com/index.shtml

There are 5 of us - and it looks like I am going to be the kayaker - so I need to go from Novice to 4* Sea Kayak rated in less than 12 months. Pretty sure that is a tall order! Anyone out there have any advice?

Have my first lesson on Tuesday evening - will let you know how it goes if I don't drown!

iPod misery!

I thought the other week that it would be a good idea to finally buy an iPod - so I searched around the net and found the cheapest 60GB one on www.mydv.co.uk. So I ordered it - at a great price of £259.95 and no charge for shipping - Amazing! Too Amazing in fact.

 

Whatever you do - do NOT order from these con-artists.

 

1. This is not a UK company - the domain is registered to Jeremy Paradies of 97 Anderer Ln, West Roxbury MA in the US of A - and this IS an American company.

2. The amount you are invoiced for is not what you will be charged. They charge in USD at an odd exchange rate and you will pay at least £20 more on a purchase of this amount.

3. They take the money out of your account/charge your card straight away. Under UK law your card cannot be charged until the purchase is ready for shipment. Well - this isn't a UK company!

4. They take 2 weeks before they reply to your email to tell you that your product is shipping. Yep - two weeks!

5. They take 2 whole weeks to ship the damn thing!

6. They ship it two days after they tell you it is shipping! I give up! No wonder delivery is free!!!

7. Nowhere on their website do they have their address, or any statement to say that the items will be shipped from the US, or that this is a US company. In fact they say - "The UK's best source for Digital Video Equipment".

8. Their telephone number is a UK one - 0207 669 4292 - which leads you to think that they are UK based. This is NOT the case.

 

I am amazed that people can get away with this these days.

 

Oh - and it still hasn't arrived yet!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Riding and painful knees!

My leg is killing me today - had a really bad night - woke up loads. Every time I turn over the pain flares up and wakes me. I think I will sleep with my brace on tonight.

On a lighter note - once this has healed - a load of my friends have decided that they will go winter riding with me. It looks like the Peak District this year. Not sure which month - but maybe once this side of Christmas and once the other side. I doubt we will camp this time - expect we will stay in a B&B, YHA or something.

I quite fancy Jacobs ladder in the winter - not sure how difficult it will be.

I think I am going to get a new bike this Christmas - I fancy a Sepcialized Epic Pro (well I really fancy an S-Works - but probably cannot justify spending that amount!!!).

Anyone know any good winter rides in the Peaks?

M.

A Tour of the Cairngorms - Sep 2005

Recently completed a tour of the Cairngorms. 4 of us rode the 200km trip in 2 and a half days carrying tents, stoves, sleeping bags etc. It was great fun - but I pulled the ligaments in my left knee during the second day and had to ride the rest of the route in agony! Still it was an amazing ride - photos are here: http://www.clansharrock.co.uk/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album37 Thanks go to Alistair, Tony and Neil for making the trip what it was.

We are looking at potentially repeating the trip again and just doing it in 25 hours - but with minimum gear to carry.

Next big trip should be the English C2C however. Hopefully in 4 days.

M.

Tour of the Cairngorms - Day 3

Tour of the Cairngorms – Day 3


A warmer night last night – however it was as uncomfortable as hell. I couldn’t get comfortable – my knee was awful and the lump in my back was very uncomfortable. I kept waking up with my face pressed against the side of the tent. Horrible. I strap my knee up in case it is a ligament issue. Pasta for breakfast – bloody horrible! I haven’t done too well for breakfasts, I look around and wow – what a wonderful place to wake up! My knee hurts already – I can see this is going to be a difficult day. I pack up and Tony helps me with my bike.

I start off down the road towards the Linn of Dee ahead of the others – pretty sure that it won’t take them long to catch up. We ride past the smallest youth hostel I have ever seen. The morning light is wonderful. We reach the woods – the start of the trail up to Glen Tilt. It’s a wide track and we start off – eventually reaching White Bridge and there find a number of what appear to be first time DoEers out wild camping.

Another river crossing and jibes to Tony – “How many more river crossings today Tony?” as he has the map. Then a bog, and a comment from Tony “It’s not a river – it’s a bog!”. We are all in a good mood – even me – although I am in a lot of pain. I have two painkillers left – next time I must bring more!

The track deteriorates – becomes rocky single-track. Probably great without Panniers – I can see that Al is loving it. It becomes very exposed as we enter Glen Tilt and start to head down. It is quite beautiful – but my leg is killing me and I am scared of heights! I walk an awful lot of it. The guys – to their credit – do not get annoyed with me – which is amazing considering how much slower I am. Eventually we reach the bridge at the falls. The track widens and I start to ride.

The climbs really hurt now – I am almost in tears on some of them. Al falls off in front of me – while turning around to look at a potential photo opportunity. Nothing damaged – we both take a photo and eat a sausage roll. This truly is a beautiful part of the world. The slog down is done one legged in the main – my left leg has become so painful that I am unable to put any power through it. Now I am peddling with just one leg – I speed up! We ride into the station to see the Pullman arrive and all the sightseers are getting off to be greated by four sorry looking muddy individuals.

Hands are shaken and bikes packed – a quick pint in the pub and that’s it. Even though my leg is on fire – I am sorry to be finishing. What a great three days.

It turns out that I have torn the ligaments in my left knee – so I am pretty lucky to have finished the ride at all.

One thing that made this ride for me was the people that I rode with. Tony Chaplin, Neil Sinclair and Alistair Biggin. These guys were great – very supportive – and always waited for me.

Thanks guys.

What’s next? :-)

Tour of the Cairngorms - Day 2

Tour of the Cairngorms – Day 2


It was a cold night last night. I had to put on all my extra clothes just to keep warm – there is no way that the rating on this sleeping bag is correct! The tent is very claustrophobic – there is hardly any room to move and it doesn’t feel long enough – my bag touches the end. I wonder how it would fare in a wind? I get up and start to pack. Breakfast is one of the Rita breakfasts – it’s horrible – oats and fruit in a fruit juice sauce. Bleuch! Neil and Al are having porridge. This may be a better idea in future. We are joined by Tony’s friend today – who even comes complete with a pannier to make us feel better!

As we start – it is crisp – Al has his extra base layers on for the cold and I am wearing my Gortex shell to keep the chill away. The sky lightens to a red glow – and we ride up some lovely wide wild track. Tony, his friend and Neil all ride off ahead – they are obviously feeling good today. We stop to take off the extra layers and the midges strike! My goodness they are terrible today – my legs are bitten to pieces quicker than I have ever seen before – and the bites will last for over a week! I stop to take photos of Al riding up the track – and once again get bitten.

A great downhill through the southern part of the Abernethy Forest leads to yet another river crossing. I take my shoes and socks off for this one as it is early – and I dried them all out last night! I really don’t know why I bothered – the next one we try and ride and I get soaked! So does Al! A couple more crossings follow and some great singletrack lead us to the col above the Braes of Abernethy. I fall off my bike here after hitting a large rock that I simply didn’t see. I twist my right ankle – but more importantly (although it didn’t feel like it at the time) my left knee twists as well.



A decent, another river crossing – lead us eventually to the road up to Tomintoul and a lunch break at the café there. Bacon sarnies all round – and in hindsight – not enough slow release calories. Tea, cake and a brush with the local grumpy shopkeeper and we are off up the hill. Tony’s mate turns back at this point – leaving us to our own devices. We slog up the tarmac road after passing some very fine iron gates. We can hear the gunfire of the guys on the hill – grouse shooting. My left knee is hurting now and I know I have a problem. I don’t say anything yet as I hope it may work itself out – but when we accidentally cross the river and have to backtrack – I am in so much pain that I take some of the painkillers in my pack. It doesn’t help. I am worried that it is my cartilage – my other knee had a similar problem from playing hockey when I was younger.

The head wind is terrible – and after a long spell at the front – Al runs out of energy, We find him round the corner sitting down – exhausted. I take the lead and ignore the pain. Probably a pretty stupid thing to do in hindsight – but there we go – it gets us up towards Inchrory and the lodge there. What a lovely lodge. Tony is far behind – I am amazed that I have dropped him – given my knee pain, but all is revealed when he arrives. It turns out that when he broke his chain yesterday ( at the campsite!!!) – it was put on incorrectly. Minor repairs follow – and Tony is off! I am at the back now – and that is the way it stays.

The scenery all merges into a blur as my left knee is in agony. I tell the guys as we pass the Loch Builg where we were originally going to overnight – that I only have about two hours left in me – that’s all. We cycle on. Al is worried – we need to get over the Culardoch which stands in front of us at 900m and if we stay this side and my leg freezes then we are in big trouble as we are now in the middle of nowhere.

We meet a couple of mountain bike riders coming the other way – who say the climb is not that bad! I guess they had never ridden with panniers! I start pushing up the climb – there is no chance of riding with this weight. Al is always in fron and goes on to cycle up the latter half of the climb – a very impressive feat. Tony just keeps going – I overtake Neil – I didn’t realise it but he was exhausted.

At the top there is heather in cages and a weather station. Very weird! The descent is manic and I get a puncture. Neil rides by – which I think is strange. Takes me ages to change my tyre – left knee knackered! I can see Al riding back to check on me – thanks Al. Neil apologised – he was a mess! Not enough cals consumed and he had started shaking! Nothing like digesting muscle to make a mess of you!

We eventually get to the campsite in Braemar to find a Games going on. Its madness here – so we decide to push on and ride up the road. I am nearly in tears – my knee is on fire. We eventually decide to wild camp down by the river opposite Mar Lodge – next to the Victoria bridge. I am so knackered I do not even notice the big lump in the ground when I put my tent up. No sleep for me! I crawl into my bag – leaving the others drinking whisky that Neil purchased earlier in the day. I eat two meals and feel broken!

Tour of the Cairngorms - Day 1

Tour of the Cairngorms – Day 1

My bike was very heavy as we cycled down the main street of Blair Athol after leaving the cars at the train station first thing in the morning of the 2nd September. The start was an early road ride along the B8079 and eventually onto a dedicated cycle track just past Calvine after our first navigation error – and it wasn’t going to be our last! We eventually turn off the track and cross the A9, we headed into the wilds along a landrover track past Dalnacardoch lodge North, and it wasn’t long before we felt totally alone – not another sole in sight. We stop at the bridge crossing the Edendon Water and take the obligatory photo of Al being daft – every trip has one! A quick jump across the river further up after yet another navigation error – led us to a singletrack by Loch au Duin. The singletrack is amazing – however we are seriously hampered by the panniers. Only Al with his rucksack seems to be able to fully enjoy it – although I also suspect that this is because he is a lot fitter too! We cross the river just after the Loch – Tony and myself just wade across as the river is pretty deep – and we had read the route description that tells you about getting wet feet! Al and Neil try to keep dry feet! Tony and myself sit on the other side laughing!

Lunch is after yet another river crossing at Lochan a Ghaorra. I pump some water through the water filter – but everyone else just takes it direct from the River. Tony makes a brew on his MSR – and it tastes great. There is something about tea brewed outside after hard work! Alistair and Neil both make pasta for lunch – mine consists of pork pie, salami type sausages and peanuts. In the afternoon I feel fully energised – it is referred to as pork pie powered!

We end up crossing a foul smelling bog just after Feshiebridge – I end up going in up to my thighs – and my shorts are now rust covered. We decide to try to make the campsite after this. Alistair is quite annoyed as he also ended up with wet feet! The ride after the bog however is great. Through the forest both myself and Al feel much better and could have carried on – we were enjoying the ride so much. We stop at the campsite – and arrive before the two mountain bikers that had overtaken us earlier in the day – I guess we must have taken a short cut with the route through the bog! Tents up and we manage a shower! Hand-driers are used to dry wet socks and shoes.

Well again and back in the saddle

I'm finally recovered - it's been a long haul. The balance is back - and apart from an occasional deafness in my left ear I am fully fit. With that in mind I went to Wales this weekend with a few friends to go mountain biking. Bloody great fun - piccies in the gallery at http://www.clansharrock.co.uk/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Wales-March-2005-Pencelli and Julian's piicies are at http://www.julian-edwards.com/gallery/Pencelli-2005. Great riding - good weather, nice beer and a great laugh. Can't wait to go again - which will be the South Downs in a couple of months - so need to get back on the bike regularly beforehand so I can keep up with everyone.

Also agreed to do the Meridia 100 at Builth Wells this year - I am going to do the 50k route as I am a wimp and its my first long distance "race".

M.

Labrynthitis

Not much has happened here recently - and that's basically because I have
been ill. Once I recovered from the accident on my bike and my arm had
healed - I came down with Labrynthitis 4 weeks ago.

This was a viral infection of my inner ear - causing me to loose my balance,
throw up, and have virtigo etc. Bloomin horrible - spent 2 days in St
Thomas's hospital in London and a further couple of weeks at home.

I am back at work now - but only 3 days a week and I still cannot drive or
ride my bike!

Hope it will all go away soon - I am still quite dizzy.

BHF Sponsored ride

I am riding for the British Heart Foundation on the 3rd October from Oxford to Cambridge - please sponsor me here: http://www.bhf.org.uk/sponsor/marksharrock/

This is a 70 mile road ride - a distance I have never covered before and I'll be doing it on my mountain bike! Go on - donate a few quid!

Cheers

Mark.