CAMTRIER

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Short training ride and it showed my FTP was increasing as my bike fitness improves

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Short training ride on Zwift London route using the Saris H3 turbo trainer. Ride limited by time

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20 km training ride on ROUVY using Saris H3 turbo Trainer

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Quite hilly in places which is good to build on other rides as getting used to the trainer and software.

Starting to add blogs to events in 2016 retrospectively. The first one was a usual 10K run in Nice along the promenade des anglais in Nice. I did this with my friend Ivor in the picture above and completed it in 57 mins and 58secs. Nice sunny weather along the beautiful Nice promenade. Lunch afterwards in a restaurant in Nice market – Fantastic

 6500 runners took part in the 10K and half marathon on a good day for running – cloudy with a breeze and no rain. The course started on the promenade des anglais and then traversed through the town of Nice past the port and back along the promenade des anglais following the Nice Prom 10 Km course down to the airport and back which I did in January. Felt good at the 10km stage and seemed to be getting stronger on the next 11Km finishing in 2hrs 6 minutes and 45 seconds. This was faster than expected considering the running training I had done so far (Total of 4 runs) and this time was only a few minutes slower than the half marathon I did in Cannes back in February 2008 when I was considerably fitter having done the London Marathon (April). London Triathlon (August) and the New York Marathon (November), the year before in 2007. So pleased with my time several years on and looking forward to improving on my run timings in the triathlons and other events planned for this year with the added endurance in my running legs from this run. Next race hopefully the Trivert in Callian which will be challenging !

Nice 20km hilly and in places technical MTB ride around Figaniere near Draguignan. However there was a 30Km and 40Km. But advised from previous experience that the 20Km was sufficiently challenging and the other distances maybe too difficult. The first 10Km was mainly up hill and challenging in places with a few technical areas. The weather was very pleasant in the region of 25C and made it a great mornings activity.

The 23km MTB ride was 2hrs 10mins at a speed of around 11kph and an elevation of 420m. This was followed by a lovely lunch at a friend house in lovely weather.

As shown below in the article in Var Matin there were more than 600 participants, so a very popular MTB event in the region

 

On a cloudy day took part in my first ever duathlon after a few months of preparing for the above challenging event (5km run, 35km Cycle. 5km run) with minimum running & road cycle training, so a real challenge.

 

Race started at 13.00 with a 5Km run round the town of Grasse which is the perfume capital town inland from Cannes . The run was flat for about 2,5km and then turned hilly for the other 2.5km. Arrived in transition one feeling OK but took some time preparing for the hilly road bike ride up to the panoramic village Cabris which is nestled on a hill at around 500m (hence panoramic). It was a slow climb up from Grasse to this village via another village called Speracedes.. After Cabris there was a fast steep downhill stretch into Grasse for a second lap. On the downhill section it started raining so had to take it easy on the slippery wet and oily road. Arrived in Grasse for a second lap which was quite a challenges as not done much hill endurance training with my Giant road bike on hilly rides. The second lap up to Grasse was quite energy sapping and the downhill section was quite difficult as the rain had become quite heavy and aquaplaning was an issue and a slow descent was important to avoid an accident. Arrived at transition two and this was reasonably quick turnaround for me. The run on the same course as outlined above was slow especially on the hilly section going up to the finish. Arrived at the finish very tired but did a brief sprint which was initiated by the support team as well as the applause of the organisers, participants and spectators and this was followed by a brief interview by the compare. At the prize giving, I was called forward to receive a consolation prize and a photo on the podium with a bouquet of flowers ( My wife Jacqueline was delighted with these) – See below ……

My results were as follows: Total time 2:59:51,  First 5km run 29.43, Transition 1 : 2.01, 35Km Bike:1.55.57, Transition 2: 1,51, Second 5Km Run: 30,22. 197th overall and 5th in my age group.

Great start to the season and need to do some more endurance work in hilly cycling and running  to increase my fitness and be more competitive for such an event. Next event coming up is the Figa Bike a 20 Km hilly MTB ride with friends.