I’ve definitely caught the TT bug and the last couple of weeks have seen some great improvements for me over the classic D10/1 Rainford 10 mile TT course. After my disappointment at my puncture at 9 miles a few weeks back I was determined to go back the week after and see if the average 22.4mph I’d managed to hold up until that point was a fluke or not.
Wednesday 22nd June I headed over to Rainford for round 11 of the 2011 season. As the sole representative on the night for North Cheshire I was fired up and managed to get a nice early start time at number 3. As I was getting ready I met a guy from Manchester Tri who was doing the course for the first time so feeling like a regular I talked him through it and rode with him down to the start line. I went my separate way for a warm up as his nice bike and Zipp wheels suggested I wouldn’t be able to keep up.
At the start line I wished him luck and as he was number 4 I asked him not to pass me too soon but he did, less than 2 miles in… zoom into the wind he was passed me and gone. I just got my head down and concentrated on what I needed to do. I approached mile nine having flashbacks and turned into the wind, I felt I was on for a good time but struggled to keep the speed up into the wind, I just kept pushing and crossed the line in 27:04 averaging 22.2mph.
Back at the car packing up I asked my new buddy how he got on to which he replied “not bad”. It was a different story when the results where read out and he had the fastest time of the evening at 22:49. Turns out after talking Triathlon with him he does the Olympic distance in Sub 2 hours!! Has won a half Ironman event and is currently training for Ironman UK.
Wednesday 29th June I wasn’t sure whether I had recovered from Liverpool Triathlon or not but the wife was having a friend over for a catch up so I took the free opportunity to have a go anyway. After recent results I’d set my next target at averaging over 22.5mph. Another early start at number 2 this week and was feeling good after an 8-9 mile warm up with NCC member and work colleague Gary. It was tough this week; the wind was strong with twice as strong gusts, great when it’s behind you but the last 3 mile was in your face and my legs where feeling it and in the last mile I had nothing left and even crossed the line shouting out the wrong number. I shouted my last week’s number 3 instead of 2. I cycled back to advise the Time keepers of my mistake and they made they made a few calculations and told me my time 26:34, another 30 seconds off my PB averaging 22.6mph. No wonder I felt ill!
The night soon turned sour though as we returned to our cars to find 6 or 7 of them had been broken into and bags, wallets, phones were missing. Luckily I was missed out but Gary was not so fortunate having 2 windows smashed and his bag stolen with Keys, credit/bank cards gone too. That sick feeling soon came back for different reasons, how can one human being do that to another?
Garmin Stats:
22nd JUNE – 10.07mile 27:09 avg 22.2mph avg HR 168bpm max HR 175bpm
29th JUNE – 10.05mile 26:35 avg 22.7mph avg HR 167bpm max HR 176bpm
So in 8 weeks I’ve knocked off 1 min 46 seconds and there’s still another 10 weeks of the season to go. Next goal is to break into the avg 23mph and then I might treat myself to a TT bike – shhh don’t tell the wife.
This year I turn 30 and its time I started to learn how to train correctly and turn my average times into more competitive times while setting my future sights on an Ironman. The biggest challange though is fitting all this in around becoming a daddy and the wonders of family life.
ironmeade 