Concept2 Challenge Series ..... Anyone signing up?

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  • Congratulations that's a good effort.

    I finished my half marathon in 1h 42m. Not that happy with my time though. Run was quite boring as it was 8 laps of the meadows in Edinburgh. iMy fuelling strategy was all wrong as well. Don't think i'll do that event again.

    2 more half marathons in april and may. got a pb of 1h 32m to beat. Hoping to get under 1h 30m so i've got a bit of work to do although they are pretty flat and fast half marathon courses.
  • springtide9
    springtide9 Posts: 1,731
    Congratulations that's a good effort.

    I finished my half marathon in 1h 42m. Not that happy with my time though. Run was quite boring as it was 8 laps of the meadows in Edinburgh. iMy fuelling strategy was all wrong as well. Don't think i'll do that event again.

    2 more half marathons in april and may. got a pb of 1h 32m to beat. Hoping to get under 1h 30m so i've got a bit of work to do although they are pretty flat and fast half marathon courses.

    Thanks. The Bath 1/2 is just two loops and pretty flat - and is pretty well known for being a fast course, which obviously helped.

    PB of 1:32 is very good and even more impressive is going for sub 1:30. Those extra mins make a huge difference in terms of effort. It's amazing the difference between running 13km/h compared to 14km/h - I take my hat off to you.

    Haven't really taken to running if I'm honest; but I'm sure not really giving myself enough time to build up to a 1/2 hasn't helped.
    Will keep the running ticking over... but also looking at a triathlon (and have no desire for doing an Ironeman), so 10k will be enough in terms of distance.

    Good luck with the other 1/2 Ms.... let us know how you get on :)
    Simon
  • springtide9
    springtide9 Posts: 1,731
    Last day....... before the next event... :)

    Managed a 'haul' last week.... but slower than my 5k :(
    Simon
  • WisePranker
    WisePranker Posts: 823
    I'm out of the challenge from now on.
    I got sick to the back teeth with the gym that I use so I cancelled my membership. My gym membership money is now being spent on a roadbike to try and help improve my fitness a bit.

    I actually got to the point where I was only using the gym for the rowers and they often had a few missing for the circuit training so it just wasn't worth the £40 a month.
  • springtide9
    springtide9 Posts: 1,731
    Don't leave me!

    Only two months to go, one long 6k and just a 50mm sprint.... so pretty much finished :)
    Will finish off...

    I see we both have added a roadie to our sig :) Enjoying road riding... does mix things up a bit. Have my first Sportive this weekend!
    Simon
  • WisePranker
    WisePranker Posts: 823
    The roadie has been quite a surprise for me, it's pretty enjoyable if you find the right route.

    Hopefully I'll be moving soon with work so I might be using the roadie as my commuter as well. In the meanwhile I'm just using it for improving my fitness as I've got a 75km MTB race in September and I need to improve a bit before then if I'm going to get the tie I'm aiming for.

    I've signed up for the Endomondo Crud Catcher challenge so that should be pretty interesting to see how I get on there.
  • That's my second half marathon of the year completed. Finishe din 1h 35m. couple of minutes slower than last year but faster than i did the meadows marathon.

    6 weeks until my next event. plenty time to get a bit of training in to see if i can knock a minute or two off my time.

    Got signed up fro edinburgh to st andrews cycle in June. Not a race but should be a good trip. 68 miles on cycle path and back roads.

    I Think i've identified my first tri athlon as well. The Durty triathlon. open water swim, mountian bike then off road run. should be good.

    anybody given the 6344m row a try yet?
  • springtide9
    springtide9 Posts: 1,731
    Congrats on the 1h 35m - very good time. Good luck with the next Half M :P
    Durty Triathlon looks like a great event, if a bit tough! Let us know how you get on.

    Did my first 100 miler Sportive a week or so ago, which was great. Really enjoyed the day which was what it was all about. Not the fastest, but also not the slowest.. so was happy.

    As for the 6+k row, still haven't done it. Started doing a few interval rows the last couple of weeks to try and get my strength back up on the rower (seemed to have lost a bit)... so will give it a go probably next week.

    Enjoy!
    Simon
  • springtide9
    springtide9 Posts: 1,731
    Almost there....

    Avoiding the Touch - 6,344m

    23m29.1s [1:51.1 /500m split]

    Just the 500m sprint left to finish :)
    Simon
  • biggles1982
    biggles1982 Posts: 15
    Only managed to do the 6344m row the once. I'll be giving the 500m row a good few attempts to get my times down. first attempt tonight.

    Completed my first spring triathlon at the weekend. 1h 16m - pretty happy with time. Gives me a benchmark to work from now. Looking forward to the next one in July although looking to see if i can fit one in between now and then and between other events i'm signed up for.
  • springtide9
    springtide9 Posts: 1,731
    @biggles1982:

    Same here with the 6k row... takes a lot of time and blows you out for the rest of the gym session. 500m sprint will hopefully be much more manageable and have more ops for a few tries with this distance :)

    Congrats on the triathlon. I'm sure the first must be the hardest (or with the most unknowns)... I guess you just have no idea on what to expect (and hard to push yourself too hard as you know what's coming).

    I would be very interested to hear more on your first triathlon.

    Still debating entering one in July as have not run since running the Half M (apart from last night) and only just coming up to the distance in the pool.

    Ideally I wanted to enter an 'olympic distance' - mainly as I think I'm better at distance than speed as I'm in my 40s - so do nothing fast & transition times are less important; but wondering whether to wait for a bit until I'm more confident on the distances etc.

    I did my first (sprint) duathlon last night (2 miles, 10miles, 2 miles or there abouts) which was a good laugh I must admit, but really struggled with the second run (not aided by the fact I haven't run at all for 2 months!)

    So now I've got the bug a bit and thinking again about the triathlon in July again, and at least do a sprint (but not as a sprint) first just to get used to the format etc

    My transition times on the duathlon were terrible (1:45 & 1:23) compared to other people... (I was the slowest at both transitions), but I figure this is easy time to recover. Overall time was around 55mins.

    Interestingly, my run times were both OK (considering I haven't run at all). Also got told I had weak glutes (and not using them for running or cycling) and had been given specific training to address - and the good news is that my glutes are aching the most today - hopefully that means that I am now using them :)
    My Bike TT time was pretty slow (about 26 mins for 9.3 miles), but I'm glad I didn't push harder as it would have killed me for the second run. My god though, how odd is the feeling trying to run after getting off the bike?
    In terms of HR, I seemed to be at around 94% average HR for the runs, but more like 89% for the bike. Not sure if this is normal or not - or whether I'm pushing too hard with the runs and not enough on the bike. Any comments?


    Good luck to all with the 500m sprint... that is... all who are still left in :)
    Simon
  • biggles1982
    biggles1982 Posts: 15
    Official times were
    01:16:32
    Swim 00:14:57
    Cycle 00:36:25
    Run 00:21:59

    I knew i could do each of the elements of the triathlon but i'd never done them all together before.

    Found the swim fairly easy, although i was in a lane with 5 people one of which was doing breaststroke. i was the last swimmer away in the lane and ended up overtaking everyone. Had a slowish transition to the bike, getting socks and shoes on. cycle was good i thought. 2 laps of 10km course. first part of route was uphill for about 600m or so after that it was either small inclines or flat. there was one very long 1-2km downhill section which allowed me to make up some time and push on a bit. transition was quicker shoes off and runners on (had a pair of those elastic lock laces so shoes just slipped on which is a good little time saver). As you experienced with your duathlon legs felt very strange going from bike to run. ran that out in a couple hundred metres though.

    Having gone into it reasonably blind as to times i'm happy with what i have done and now i have a benchmark to work from. probably looking at august/september for my next one on road anyway (doing the durty tri in July).

    I've been having problems with my hrm so i'm not getting an accurate reading all the time. it sometimes jumps to over 200 bpm which i know is wrong.

    I'm going to stick with the sprint ones just now but i think the olympic distance is pretty manageable. I'd need to up my swimming a bit more as i currently only do 1km max a couple of times a week.
  • springtide9
    springtide9 Posts: 1,731
    @biggles1982:
    Thanks for the tip about the laces. Just ordered a pair :)
    Also thanks for feedback on your triathlons. I'm obviously in a similar situation, but several months behind you in terms of experience (and fitness)

    The 'Sprint' vs 'Olympic' distance, it's the swimming that if my weak point (also swimming similar distances/times per week - but I'm slower... 50x 25m currently takes me 32mins in a pool; so the Olympic swim would be around 40mins I would guess. My swimming is very much limited by my breathing, as in if I go too fast I can't get enough air and start drowning! Hopefully it will improve.

    I guess as long as you can finish the event, neither is easier or harder (in the same way that competing in a 100metre sprint isn't any easier than a 800 metre - it becomes more about speed rather than long endurance)

    To sign up or not to sign up, that is the question... just need to check with the in-laws again about having the children for the day... as the wife is away in Spain (with friends) - but think I will at least do the sprint (as long as I can offload the kids)
    Simon
  • springtide9
    springtide9 Posts: 1,731
    500m Sprint [I got the tee shirt!]

    Will be giving this a few goes.....

    11/05 1:31.4
    18/05 1:31.2 (*)

    Surely a sub 1:30 is possible (or at least a little closer)... but I really think you have to really nail that start.
    Simon