Mick W and Emma S were in running action this weekend but had very different experiences.
Mick, still gently returning from a nagging foot injury, had a go at the new Wakefield Thornes parkrun which - for anyone interested in visiting - he reports as being a good, testing, undulating mixed terrain affair. A very respectable 13th overall in 21.03 amongst some very stern-faced Wakefield Harriers (the local 'serious race' club) bodes well for some off-road sprint duathlons that Mick has coming up.
Emma had it tough on Sunday. The Isle of Axholme half marathon had a good number of the field excited by the prospect of PBs on what should be a fast course in this esoteric area; the weather had other ideas though. Unseasonable stiflingly hot / humid and no-oxygen-stuffy type conditions sapped the strength and will of just about all the field with many retirees and many who finished clocking personal worsts. Emma confesses to considering packing on a few occasions but battled on to the finish line; a silent gathering point for exhausted and bewildered souls.
Running is fun.
Finishing with a Bang...
...but not in a good way.
A rear wheel puncture saw Steve W out of the Teesdale Sprint Triathlon (400m swim / 28K bike / 5K run) tantalisingly close to the finish of the bike leg.
It was a pity as Steve reports having gone pretty well up until that point with a sub 7 minute swim and a much time gained on fellow competitors on the tough bike course which features a stretch that is - though undulating - essentially seven miles up hill. It was, naturally, almost at the top of this where Steve punctured out.
Doubly disappointing was the fact it was Steve's last triathlon of the year - not the most satisfying way to cap a tri-season that has featured many age group wins and some very respectable positions overall.
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A rear wheel puncture saw Steve W out of the Teesdale Sprint Triathlon (400m swim / 28K bike / 5K run) tantalisingly close to the finish of the bike leg.
It was a pity as Steve reports having gone pretty well up until that point with a sub 7 minute swim and a much time gained on fellow competitors on the tough bike course which features a stretch that is - though undulating - essentially seven miles up hill. It was, naturally, almost at the top of this where Steve punctured out.
Doubly disappointing was the fact it was Steve's last triathlon of the year - not the most satisfying way to cap a tri-season that has featured many age group wins and some very respectable positions overall.
Derby Day
Steve W was clearly on something of a mission in Sunday's (14/09) running of the Derby Sprint Triathlon (Swim 400m / Bike 18K / Run 5K) as he beat his previous two results on the same course (last done by him in the late 2000s) by a good three minutes. At this rate of improvement we reckon he'll be flying by the time he reaches his 60s.
Steve comfortably won his age group and was 9th overall in a field of well over 500, a decent number of whom were young enough to be his grandkids.
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Steve comfortably won his age group and was 9th overall in a field of well over 500, a decent number of whom were young enough to be his grandkids.
A Sigh of Relief...
...because last Monday saw the last of 2014's formidable Trunce events. Monday's was the 9th of 9 events and Rosie Wigg - our most prolific Truncer this year - once again took to the start line in spite of knowing the pain to come.
It definitely is that kind of event, it either puts you off for life or gets under your skin. Either way, it's worth a bash; go on, you know you want to...
Conditions were (for the Trunce) reasonable, and Rose made the most of them by getting to within a few seconds of her course PB and finishing a highly credible 29/81 in the female field.
Come 2015 we'll be back; except for those of us who think it's just to bloomin' hard.
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It definitely is that kind of event, it either puts you off for life or gets under your skin. Either way, it's worth a bash; go on, you know you want to...
Conditions were (for the Trunce) reasonable, and Rose made the most of them by getting to within a few seconds of her course PB and finishing a highly credible 29/81 in the female field.
Come 2015 we'll be back; except for those of us who think it's just to bloomin' hard.
Tri Overload
In an effort to regain some race fitness after five weeks of loafing around on holiday Steve W is now half way through a 4 week in duration sprint-tri-every-weekend-bound-to-end-in-injuryathon.
The Newbiggin open sea sprint on 31/08 (750m swim / 20K bike / 5K run) saw Steve getting back into the race-groove with a slightly running-out-of-beans last 3K seeing him going rapidly backwards to finish 2/35 in age group and 22/265 overall. We're told the belly full of salt water / unidentified flotsam from a 'thrashy' swim didn't help.
The Louth sprint one weekend later (750m swim / 22K bike / 6K run) saw a better paced effort resulting in an age group win and a 2nd out of 162 overall. Steve particularly enjoyed the bike course on this event which was a twisty-turny have-to-pick-a-line affair over quiet country lanes that played right into the hands of anyone from a sporting course time-trialling background.
Good Race Face...
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The Newbiggin open sea sprint on 31/08 (750m swim / 20K bike / 5K run) saw Steve getting back into the race-groove with a slightly running-out-of-beans last 3K seeing him going rapidly backwards to finish 2/35 in age group and 22/265 overall. We're told the belly full of salt water / unidentified flotsam from a 'thrashy' swim didn't help.
The Louth sprint one weekend later (750m swim / 22K bike / 6K run) saw a better paced effort resulting in an age group win and a 2nd out of 162 overall. Steve particularly enjoyed the bike course on this event which was a twisty-turny have-to-pick-a-line affair over quiet country lanes that played right into the hands of anyone from a sporting course time-trialling background.
Good Race Face...
The great clothing scandal
Emma S competed in an open 10 mile time trial in Boroughbridge last Saturday (6th) and got close to her course best time in spite of not attempting a pure time trial race for about 4 years.
A credible effort, but lost in scandal.
Emma took her GO VEGGIE trisuit to the event by mistake which meant rocking up to the start line without being clothed in sleeves 'to the mid-upper arm' as per open time trial event rules. The Cycling Time Trials officials did what CTT officials do best and hauled her over the coals. At least three gentlemen of a certain disposition separately took her to task for having the audacity to ride her bike with her upper-upper arm exposed. They like their rules, do CTT.
Not one of them though, whilst referring to sub-clause x of rule y, were in the slightest bit interested that she wore GO VEGGIE kit as opposed to the kit of her 1st claim affiliated club, Featherstone Road Club, indeed one even nodded approval.
So well done Emma on two counts: for a credible race-effort, and for proving that riding in GO VEGGIE kit - when not worn so daringly anyway - is just fine and dandy with the guardians of the 19th century.
A credible effort, but lost in scandal.
Emma took her GO VEGGIE trisuit to the event by mistake which meant rocking up to the start line without being clothed in sleeves 'to the mid-upper arm' as per open time trial event rules. The Cycling Time Trials officials did what CTT officials do best and hauled her over the coals. At least three gentlemen of a certain disposition separately took her to task for having the audacity to ride her bike with her upper-upper arm exposed. They like their rules, do CTT.
Not one of them though, whilst referring to sub-clause x of rule y, were in the slightest bit interested that she wore GO VEGGIE kit as opposed to the kit of her 1st claim affiliated club, Featherstone Road Club, indeed one even nodded approval.
So well done Emma on two counts: for a credible race-effort, and for proving that riding in GO VEGGIE kit - when not worn so daringly anyway - is just fine and dandy with the guardians of the 19th century.
Illness, Injuries and Holidays...
...have all conspired in recent weeks - weird how everything always happens at once.
Steve C and Len were up to their usual ultra-tricks in late August with a 'recreational' attack on the summit of Ben Nevis. The duo had a pleasant enough start but as is notoriously the case, the ascent brought its own weather with increasing wind and - by the top - heavy rain. The full ascent was knocked off in just 2:35; the usual time for a fit hiker is three and a half to four hours.
Len (and probably Steve too if we're being honest) put on their best hard-done to faces at the top in order to extract snacks from bewildered hikers before turning and disappearing back into the clouds for an equally impressive 2 hour descent.
The epic was unusually finished with a dip in Lock Lomond and - more usually - a pub...
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Steve C and Len were up to their usual ultra-tricks in late August with a 'recreational' attack on the summit of Ben Nevis. The duo had a pleasant enough start but as is notoriously the case, the ascent brought its own weather with increasing wind and - by the top - heavy rain. The full ascent was knocked off in just 2:35; the usual time for a fit hiker is three and a half to four hours.
Len (and probably Steve too if we're being honest) put on their best hard-done to faces at the top in order to extract snacks from bewildered hikers before turning and disappearing back into the clouds for an equally impressive 2 hour descent.
The epic was unusually finished with a dip in Lock Lomond and - more usually - a pub...