Jake, Florence & I entered this event not least because of the 2pm start! Today was dry and bright, not cold, but the stiff wind was cold. We had agreed that Florence and Jake would ride a 2Up with me hanging on the back for the first 20 miles and then I hoped to give them something of a rest in the last 10 by taking turns at the front myself.
The first 20 minutes were awful and I went off the pair of them in a big way; even with them holding back I was on the rivet and the slightest increase in effort required meant a gap opened up. I was visualising then that "the first hour & 3/4 were the worst" but in truth it was only that first 20 minutes. I think after that we turned into the wind making it harder for the pacemaker, but giving me enough of a breather that the puffing eased a bit.
The course is a 2 lap job with no real hills, but a couple of short inclines and at least one reasonable descent. By the second lap I was in my stride a bit more and although the heartrate was pretty steady at 180 I wasn't puffing quite so much. The first bit of the lap hurt as before, but I had an idea of where I was likely to have problems the 2nd time round and hopefully the others remembered where I shouted for an easing up on the first lap. We were going so well....
And then my calf muscles started threatening to cramp. Not being too familiar with this phenomenon - last year was my first real experience of cramp - I have no idea what (if anything) can be done to ward off cramp when it threatens but hasn't yet struck. My attempts gave Jake & Florence a rest of an unintended sort and I struggled on, trying to maintain the race pace but without tempting the cramp to strike. Well, it didn't work and they definitely both heard my yelp when it did strike. At least I know what to do then, but that does involve stopping which slows you down somewhat. Still we finally finished in 1:43:58. To be confirmed that we were the slowest team, but we did beat all the DNS's!
All in all a good outing and a good workout for all three of us. My legs hurt now for some reason.... Jake is pretty strong, but Florence is amazingly strong. Hopefully a good season awaits us all.
Lisa
P.S. Dennis Sacket of DGS Photography was out taking pictures of the event. They are usually online quite quick.
The first 20 minutes were awful and I went off the pair of them in a big way; even with them holding back I was on the rivet and the slightest increase in effort required meant a gap opened up. I was visualising then that "the first hour & 3/4 were the worst" but in truth it was only that first 20 minutes. I think after that we turned into the wind making it harder for the pacemaker, but giving me enough of a breather that the puffing eased a bit.
The course is a 2 lap job with no real hills, but a couple of short inclines and at least one reasonable descent. By the second lap I was in my stride a bit more and although the heartrate was pretty steady at 180 I wasn't puffing quite so much. The first bit of the lap hurt as before, but I had an idea of where I was likely to have problems the 2nd time round and hopefully the others remembered where I shouted for an easing up on the first lap. We were going so well....
And then my calf muscles started threatening to cramp. Not being too familiar with this phenomenon - last year was my first real experience of cramp - I have no idea what (if anything) can be done to ward off cramp when it threatens but hasn't yet struck. My attempts gave Jake & Florence a rest of an unintended sort and I struggled on, trying to maintain the race pace but without tempting the cramp to strike. Well, it didn't work and they definitely both heard my yelp when it did strike. At least I know what to do then, but that does involve stopping which slows you down somewhat. Still we finally finished in 1:43:58. To be confirmed that we were the slowest team, but we did beat all the DNS's!
All in all a good outing and a good workout for all three of us. My legs hurt now for some reason.... Jake is pretty strong, but Florence is amazingly strong. Hopefully a good season awaits us all.
Lisa
P.S. Dennis Sacket of DGS Photography was out taking pictures of the event. They are usually online quite quick.
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