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| Only 45 minutes drive from Frome |
Introduction
This was a nice little event, close to home with some lovely scenery and a challenging off-road course, which fitted quite neatly into a Saturday morning - always conscious of using up family time.
The distances were 8k trail run, 20k off-road bike and a 6k trail run.
Friday Evening
Usual carb meal (slow release or low GI carbohydrates) at about 6pm - kidney beans, barley, lentils etc.
About 1ltr water to ensure I was fully hydrated.
Early to bed to get a good 8hrs sleep.
Saturday Morning
Up at 6, then 1 hr to eat a large bowl of porridge and get the bike/kit ready and packed in the car.
Drank 750ml of water + zipvit mix on the journey down to Broad Chalke.
500ml water + zipvit mix and 1 zipvit bar during the hour before the race
1 Torq gel just before race.
It turned out to be small event, probably 80 athletes tops. For me it was also a short race, which meant fast, a high HR and hard work. Being used to ‘plodding’ around IM courses this was going to difficult!
I met Keith and Ted in the car park of Broad Chalke sports centre just before 9am, then racked the bike and sorted out race kit.
Stuff I took with me
Gary Fisher MTB with 26*2.2 knobbly tyres, front suspension & spd pedals
Shimano MTB shoes
Ronhil compression shorts
Ronhill running shorts. Didn’t bother with tri top-shorts or bike shorts.
EL tech t-shirt
EL race belt
Inov-8 Roclite 315 trail shoes - without elastic laces, chump!
500ml bottle (water+Zipvit) on the bike
500ml bottle (water+Zipvit) in transition
After racking our bikes in the adjacent field we went for a pre race cup of coffee in the main building - nice small friendly setup run by Salisbury Tri volunteers.
We noticed both Doug Hall and Mark Threlfall were racing. These guys are sponsored by TF Bath and are v quick. No 1st place for me then!! Keith thought he could get 3rd, but I really hadn’t a clue (no change there then!) - top 10 would be fantastic.
After a short briefing and just before 10am we walked to the Church Bottom bridleway and the start line.
8k Trail Run
The route out of Broad Chalke started at 80m and took us on a circular route up onto Knighton Hill (160m), into Knighton Wood and then back via Knighton Hill Farm (180).
The starting gun went and Mark and Doug took the front straight away. Keith was in a small group of four just behind them followed by me.....on my own.
The pace was fast (14kph) and coupled with the rutted bridleway I was finding it difficult to keep up. A little later we started the climb up to Ox Drove, so the pace dropped a bit - in fact I think we were walking.
At the top (160m) we crossed Ox Drove and headed slightly downhill towards Knighton Woods. It was difficult to see the path at this point, due to the amount of leaves on the ground.
In Knighton Woods and 100m ahead of me I saw Keith pull up and hobble to the side of the path. I stopped briefly, but it was clear he’d twisted his ankle and was in a fair bit of pain. I hoped it would calm down after a few minutes and he’d be able to carry on.
Me and Ted followed the path south, out he back of the wood and then north along road/track up towards Knighton Wood Farm (140m). I hadn’t seen any route markers since entering the wood, so was a bit worried we were going the wrong way. I then saw other runners up ahead of me, so pressed on.
Over the 2k steady climb up to Knighton Hill Farm (180m) the pace was still about 12-13kph and I noticed my HR was 165-ish! My lactic threshold is about 157, so much more of this and I’d be getting cramp.
From the top of Knighton Hill it was a fast 2k descent across fields down to Broad Chalke. On gradual downhills I usually open up my stride a bit and try to catch others ahead of me. It took me the full 2k to catch the chap ahead of me.
T1
Turned out we’d all run an extra 2k. We should’ve turned left on the northern edge of the woods, just before Keith had his accident. Had we followed the right route he probably would’ve been okay! The extra bit we ran is shown by a dotted line on the map.
A quick change of shoes, on with the helmet and off I went.
20k Off-Road Bike
A short section on the road out of Broad Chalke gave me a chance to have a gel and kick my gears into action - muck and grit from rides around Longleat was stopping a smooth change, but this got better after a bit of encouragement!
At the edge of the village (80m) we went North straight up a rutted bridleway to Stoke Down and then through some woods onto Netton Down (180m).
Half way up Stoke Down Doug and Mark flew passed me! Why were they passing me? Had I gone the wrong way?? Confused, I just carried on.
It turned out they’d taken a right at Knighton Woods and run 3k’s in the wrong direction!
The route up Stoke Down was quite technical and I was glad to have wide (2.2) knobbly tires. I found the way to stay on your bike and off the muddy ground is to keep going at a good pace. Slow down and you’ll fall over!
Up on Netton Down (180m) we turned west and headed along a gravel bridleway for about 1k towards some woods. This section was slightly downhill so the pace picked up a bit.
In the woods we headed north for a bit then west towards the first proper downhill at Hoop Side. Coming out of the woods I saw Lucy (1st F) and Mike (3rd) 200m ahead, riding slowly along a rutted path dropping quite sharply along Hoop Side. Throwing caution to the wind I decided to open up the gas and passed her very quickly before getting stuck behind Mike on the steep uphill back towards Netton Down.
My downhill approach was brakes off (mostly), take my chances and enjoy the ride, while it lasted! This high risk strategy meant I usually made up a fair bit of ground on other riders, but was more likely to end up in hospital!
Me and Mike then rode together for a while along a lumpy bridleway out towards Compton Down (190m). The pace was again fast and my calf was beginning to cramp. I drank the rest of the water I had and stretched as much as I could. I couldn’t keep up with Mike.
My HR hadn’t dropped significantly since the start of the race, so I was still in Zone 4 and well above my LTR. Not surprising then I had cramp. During IM Wales I rode 180k without any problems, but my average HR was 142, easily in zone 2 and below my LTR.
After passing Compton Down we headed towards the summit of Fovant Down (200m) and the turn towards the final 3k descent to Broad Chalke (80m). When I got to the turn my calf had calmed down a bit and I’d closed the gap on Mike and Andy a little - about 300m ahead.
Within 1k I was right on Andys back wheel and looking for a place to overtake, no chance though. The path was flanked by trees, brambles and was heavily rutted.
I had a big adrenalin rush hurtling down this narrow path jumping in and out of ruts and weaving under and around trees and undergrowth - definitely the best bit of the day.
T2
As I rode into T2 with Mike and Andy I saw Keith, ankle strapped up and looking rather disappointed :(
The run route had also been changed, due to a shoot just north of Knighton Wood Fm. It was now an ‘out and back’ along Church Bottom Bridleway and Ox Drove up to a turnaround at Knighton Wood Fm.
Another quick change of shoes, but not quick enough. Mike and Andy had elastic laces, so were off before me. I gulped down a gel a swig of water and hobbled off on the last 6k.
6k Trail Run
With tired legs it was hard to keep up a fast pace, so I ran at about 12kph.
I wasn’t aware of anyone behind me and just focused on not loosing Mike and Andy.
After 2k the gradient increased for about 500m as we climbed up to Ox Drove (160m) - I was gasping as I got to the top. The final 500m to the turnaround point at Knighton Wood Farm on Ox Drove was relatively flat and I could see Mike and Andy about 200m ahead. Managed to pick the pace to about 13-14kph.
At the turnaround point Mike pushed passed Andy and out of reach. Still thought I might catch Andy though.
100m after the turnaround I saw Lucy, who was running really well and was sure to catch me unless I stepped on it. This made the last 3k painful and difficult - had to dig deep to keep the pace up at about 14kph.
The up-side of me running away from Lucy was that I caught Andy at the end of Church Bottom. I ran on his heels for a bit, which was mistake, I should have run straight past. Andy, hearing I was right behind him, kicked and picked up the pace. I kept with him for a short sprint, but 50m before the finish I had to let him go, I was spent!
I finished in 5th place in a time of 02:00:58, 6 secs behind Andy and 1min behind Mike. Lucy finished just over a minute behind me. Mark Threlfall finished first in a time of 01:48:35!
Would Keith have got 3rd? Probably. I’m sure he would have been a few minutes ahead of Mike, Andy & me going into T2 and would easily have held that through the run.
Over the 2hr race I used 1820 calories!, according to my Suunto. During a tempo run I’ll usually burn 500-600 C/hr, so this race was quite intense.
After calming down and watching Ted finish, Keith went off to A&E and I sat down in he sports centre for a cup of home made chunky carrot and coriander soup and cake - lush.
After chatting to Mike for a bit I decided to stick around and watch the presentations. 1st prize was a days MTB skills course, which I don’t think Mark Threlfall needed!
Great morning out and definitely one for next year.
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