Categories: uncategorized
Date: 21 March 2004 21:45:26
so about time i updated you all (y'all for my american readers) on my weekend.
not sure if i mentioned before but on thursday i discovered that the race i was dithering about doing on sunday was in fact on saturday (you follow?). didn't stop me dithering mind.
but it was a localish 5miler, in fact one lap of the resevoir where ther 35mile race was in february. so i felt i ought to go and exact my revenge on it. however, being a little behind on my bike training i decided i ought to cycle there.
before i set off i checked out the weather station at the resevoir where the windspeed was something like 25mph, gusting to 44mph!
the ride there (15miles) was of course windy, mostly from the side (scary) and occasionally from behind (good!). the last stretch of road follows the back edge of the resevoir and the wind must have had a good mile of flat water/fields to gather itself up on, severl times i nearly got blown onto the verge! crazy condition but stopping wasn't going to make things any better.
i had a good half an hour to lock the bike up, change shoes and enter the race. i met up with a bunch of runners from esporta (the gym i go to) and we walked to the start... which was tough enough straight into the wind, with me hanging on to my cap.
luckily the start was back the way we had just walked, so a quick about turn meant the wind was behind us, to start with at least.
the course started with a little climb, before a sharp descent and left turn to run along just down from the top of one of the earth bank damns round the resevoir. the wind gusting behind us at this point kept trying to push me over forwards, continually pushing us on. as disturbing a feeling as it was it certainly made life easier, and i seemed to be harnessing it better than some.
mile 1 passed and i realised how short a race this was! we turned sharp left and met the wind head on, it was well worth a little extra effort to catch someone in front and follow behind them out of the wind.
mile 2, nearly half way and the wind wasn't easing off, a few people pass me only to fade shortly afterwards from the headwind letting me retake the place (not that i really cared).
another left menat the wind was blasting from the right, trying to steal my cap again and making breathing a challenge. a few times i picked up my foot only to have it blown into my other leg, making me wobble toward the kerb, i'm pleased to say i wasn't the only runner having trouble!
i did muse about how best to form myself into an aerofoil and try to gain some forward 'lift' from the wind, but i couldn't work out how to make the right shape, being fairly symmetrical as people tend to be.
left again and back into a bit of a tailwind i crossed the line in 33:48 & 39th place.
after some food and checking the results i struggled back the way i came, pausing a couple of times in a headwind that felt like at least 30mph. totally strength sapping, my journey home got broken into smaller and smaller chunks just to keep myself going. not sure how long the cycling took, somewhere under an hour each way.
todays weather had been bizarre, quite blowy still and alternately tipping with rain and blazing sunshine.
gardening & housework mostly today.
[saturdays race: 5miles]
[saturdays bike: 30miles]
[this weeks totals: 2.8km swim 42miles bike 16.24miles run]