Aber Twin Peaks

Aber Twin Peaks

A Race which is always on the calender, local and hilly. Training on the up with some solid sessions taking place on the roads of Aberaeron I felt a PB was on the cards. Started up front with some strong runners, but looking around felt I could give this a good go. Heading to Pen dinas climb on the feet of 2nd I passed him and put in a push to spread the field. 100m prior to the top I finally used my head and settled the pace to let others catch up knowing that I could put a push on the down hill. Arriving at the summit I put the gas on again and on arriving at the bottom of the hill I had a large lead.

 

Had to give it the full beans now as there was no slowing down, heading down the prom I probably had a 30sec lead and on arriving at the bottom of Consti Hill I had nothing left, I managed to run up to half way and on the sight of the 2nd place guy on my toes It was a dark time. Arrived at the summit with my lead halfed and hoping I had something left for the last down hill mile.

 

Somehow held on to the downhill and opened a nice gap to Win with a painful smile. Top Stuff.   

Cerist Duathlon 13

Another event which really suprised me with the step up in training stepping up the results.
8.5km run / 38k Bike /8.5 km Run

Having completed few of the Cerist events in previous years this run route was familiar to me and a really bitch which kicked up at 4km mark before a decent down to the main road.

Training going well I was hopefull of a good day but always had doubts of my cycling ability especially as the route was pan flat and potential head winds at play.

A Competitive field I headed off from the front and slowly gained a substantial lead up towards half way mark on the run. Came in to transition with a 2min lead and shot off on the bike towards mallwyd which was turn around point. With no company up to the turn around point I had a good lead and enjoyed every moment with the bike going well. I arrived back for the last run section with a 4 min lead. Felt horrible off the bike which was no suprise and felt I was going backwards but I think this is normal for and TRi or Duathlon. Strong finish I came in 6 Min ahead of 2nd place to take the Win.

Aberystwyth Triathlon 2013

Having really focused on this event for the past months, (avoiding marathon training the real reason) I felt strong on all aspects. Arrived early to set up and got in a gd bike and run warmup to get things moving. The swim was calm and I made sure I was first in to avoid the chaos behind. Got passed by a few but felt I was top10, came out in 11th in 15.33 and having sprinted to the bike I then started to unzip the suit which was tough going with limp fingers. Shot off on the bike and flew up penglais hill taking some notable scalps in the process. Little  concerned about my flat speed due to no tri bars but flew past some tri bikes to make it to 3rd overall and on 2nds toes going into aber. With 3 cars ahead of me going down penglais hill I had no ability to speed  and I lost the gap to 2nd. Came into transition 20sec short but with a quick change I was on his tale, but once off the bike the legs felt dead. I kept with 2nd for the first half but lost a minute at the finish. Excellent race which I feel I should have had 2nd if I'd trained the run legs better. 1 33.24

Poppit sands 5k (2)

Nant y moch Skyline

A bit of a blast from the past here with the race running the route around nantymoch dam, which 15 years ago we used to slam our motocross bikes on. Horrendous weather greeted a strong welsh champs field. Nice and steady to start with 14 miles and 5kft of climbing it was going to be a long one. Kept at it for the first 1hr and enjoying the zero directions and free running on the hills. Last climb included plumlimon which decided to hit us hardest with its wind, lost touch with a group at the top and then with a hunch I saw a fence and decided that's the one I wanted to follow, 100m before I would have seen the last checkpoint. Having got lost and realised it I walked the last mile in the waist high grass. Could have been a gd day but a great experience none the less.

Source of the Severn

Race up in the hills of Hafren Fforest where the route traces the source of the river Severn and beyond. With some solid training in the legs with the aberaeron chumps I felt strong and confident of a strong run. Quick start I settled into 3rd position through some awesome single track running following the river before starting the climb up. Caught 2nd place runner prior to top who held me up and kept me running a steady but not race pace. Off the top I quickly gained a lead and pushed towards the finish. A longer than anticipated finish had me burnt with a mile left and got caught just prior to the finish. Finished a strong 3rd in 58min. Andreas winning in 54.