First proper timed Duathlon

Last week was all about the RRR club championship and the Ron HIl Hyde 7 mile race, which I still can't believe I did so well with the 29km run two days before. So this week, I had the same dilemmas about training for the Marathon and racing in a crowded season.

Tuesday, I had one eye on Sunday's Manchester Airport Duathlon, so I did a 20-minute bike ride followed by a quick run which, if you read my blog, then a few weeks ago, I mention the virtue of doing brick runs.

The brick run aims to train your legs in getting used to the change in demand, with slightly different muscles used in somewhat different ways. It is definitely helping, and "jelly legs" were kept minimal.

I had booked onto the Hopwood trot, which is a 5.5-mile trail race. I had till lunchtime to decide whether to race or not; I can't really load my body so much; my sarcoidosis seems to be making my lungs suffer at the moment, but nothing like a flare-up, thankfully. So on Wednesday, with a heavy heart, I did a cheeky 5k instead at marathon training pace. Watching the Strava notifications coming in and giving out kudos to what can only be described as a quality set of runs in a downpour. Not racing when your mates are... very hard to take.

Thursday, I had what is becoming a rare thing to run with the RRR group B, given they mainly had been racing the day before, I insisted we do just 10k and not at a hard pace. We finished the run and went into the clubhouse for the monthly social "Pint" it was great to catch up after so long, keeping distanced!

Friday morning was my re-arranged Long Slow Run (LSR), usually done on the weekend, but they have to shift with races and still be done. Once you start Long Distance training, you have to keep at it. Each session helps your body and mind adapt to the pressures of being out for such a long time; your feet must harden and better to get blisters now than when you are racing. I often describe it as getting hobbit feet, they get a bit gnarly and rough, but this resits the blister and toenails dropping off when you really don't want it.

So at 6:15am I trudged out and started my way around Tandle Hill Country park to get onto the canal. I have decided all my LSR now will use the same sort of route mainly because:

• When using roads, my lungs suffer from car emissions and it makes running super hard
• When training for a race, try and emulate the elevation and surface, Manchester is pretty flat, so is the canal towpath!

It went well, and my comfortable pace is getting a little quicker, sooner rather than later I need to fix my marathon pace and train shorter distances at that pace. I even managed to miss most of the rain, and it was cool, perfect running conditions.

Sunday was race day, the weather was atrocious. I was seriously considering not doing it. My wife, ever the pragmatic and supportive person said just go, and if you get there, it is terrible you can always come back. Sound advice and when we go there, it started to ease up.

The race is about 4k run, 34km bike and 2.4km run again, I was in the first wave of 10 and set off, the guy who eventually won was like a rocket and soon was out of sight. You have to head up the pedestrian path that goes under the runways at the airport, do a deadman turn and head back, the roof leaks for no respite from the rain as such and puddles to jump through.

Back into transition, I got the bike out and headed to the "mount line" it took way too long, and it is something to work on, I was at the far end of the transition area, so that's just unlucky and further to amble!

The bike route is two laps, I only shoved one gel in my pocket as I couldn't find the other. Ideally, I wanted more energy but managed without. I pushed hard on the bike, but I don't have the "aero" packages and often describe myself as a "Runner with a cycling problem"; my mate Bernie describes himself as a "Drinker with a Running Problem!". But Rochdale Triathlon Club is training me well and the bike skill nights are paying off for sure.

Love the running part

Crossing the road to start on the mount line

Just about managed to stop, steep downhill finish.

9th overall and 2nd in my Age Group

Edgars Team GBR wins, Chris Horner team GBR 6th

I came 4th on both times on the running segments, so I definitely need to get the bike work beefed up, best of all no jelly legs... brick runs!

Overall I am very pleased with the result and learning all the time!

Manchester Marathon training going well

It's been a while since I last blogged, and I have much to update you with, so starting with the latest is the Dr Ron Hill - Hyde 7 mile race.

This is part of the Tour of Tameside (ToT), a 4-day event with fell races, 10k and a half marathon; tough to do all 4, especially as Saturday is the half marathon,  Sunday is as a hilly 7-mile road race, with 4 lumps!

It is also one of the races that Royton Road Runners use in the championship, which entails around 12 events in the year. Your best 7 results count, so if you come first in your group, then 25 points, 24 for second, 23 for third and so on. I am in group two, which is for people running around 42 minutes for 10K, so above us are groups 1, championship and the fastest "Premiership".

So far, I have managed to do 4 of the races, this was to be my 5th, because of Covid, the 2020 and 2021 years have merged, with some events still postponed. This makes the race calendar very hectic and haphazard with so much to squash in. This has also had a knock-on with my preparation for the Manchester Marathon, which I am running in aid of SarcoidosisUK. I had planned to do some events in the lead-up, but that I will cover in the coming weeks.

The start of the race was back to pre-covid style with a mass start and not much social distancing. One fella coughed into my back, a disgusted look was thrown back at him; in regular times, that would have been bad manners, these days positively unwanted!

The race elevation looks like this:

I set off and quickly found myself darting around what could be described as a slow herd being pushed by a farmer! Thankfully, halfway up the hill, I got into free air and started to pick up speed and get into my rhythm.

Throughout the race, I saw pretty much the same people; we would be faster or slower on the hills, then the flats and downhills, regroup,  so it became a sprint to the finish. One runner, in particular, was annoying me by running right beside me, to quote my friend Bryan L. "breathing like a horse" i.e. heavy and fast. But, if you have ever raced me to the line, I revert to my sprinting youth and can crack out a decent finish. So, all those years as a junior on the running track are finally paying off!

I finished 34th on gun time, but 30th on chip time, 7 miles in 46:28. Somewhere in there, this set off all-time bests appeared (well, since records began after my 2009 - 2012 years).

In the last couple of months, I have been busy training. Unfortunately, the endurance cycling was proving too hard, I seem to be just fine running, but I struggle cycling. I have failed to finish anything seriously long and hilly.

As most running races had been cancelled, cycling seemed the best way to keep fit. Also, as you are naturally distanced from each other, they seemed more likely to go ahead once restrictions started to lift.

Both the Stockport Sportive and Tour of the Pennines, I was hampered severely with snowstorms which saw me retire with leg cramps, on the last one hyperthermia. Just try going up against big hills in two layers of lycra in a snowstorm… barmy.

So to address my lack of cycling skills, I joined Rochdale Triathlon Club, which has been absolutely brilliant in training me, supporting me with cycling skills and motivation. My shoulder is still being assessed, and I await an MRI as to why my left shoulder is so painful and weak. It is not sarcoidosis related which is a relief. Still, they can only say it is the rotator cuff moving very roughly through the joint. What is causing this cannot be seen with the MRI, so until that is fixed, I cannot swim so I am stuck doing Duathlons which triathletes sometimes refer to as "Dryathlon" as you don't get wet! 

So far, I have done a test Duathlon at Dunham Massey, it is a starter event designed to give you experience and all went well, apart from doing one too many laps on the first run! 

The transition to bike went well, and I pushed hard to make up time. Although this left me with severe "jelly legs", and it took a while to wear off, my running pace for the last leg didn't suffer too much, and I didn't make the same mistake and did two laps as I should.

Since then, I have been practising "brick runs", usually going from doing a bike session to running. This helps prepare your body for jelly legs in races, much like track work when running. Doing sprints with short recovery helps to train your body to tolerate and even remove lactic acid that builds up when you work your legs hard.

Last week at the RTC cycle track session, I stopped after about 1.5 hours of near-constant cycling, put my trainers on and ran the opposite way to the cyclists and happily the jelly legs was minimal, there are techniques like spinning in a high cadence as you approach transition which helps loosen your legs

So I am now in the latter stages of marathon training; the long runs are getting longer, my feet are toughening up like a hobbit. Mixing this with duathlon is not so bad as cycling is acting as cross-training where I can still do cardio but easier and slightly different muscle set/usage.

Coming up is a busy race month and the week before the Manchester marathon, I am taking part in the Oulton Park Sprint Duathlon, which is a TeamGB Age group (MV45) qualifier, if I come in the top 15 and nobody else bothers... I might be off to Spain next year for the European championships... wouldn't that be a dream!

Reflection and future view

As I reflect on the main event of last week, the horrendous weather and early finish to the Velo29 Tour of the Pennines, I had to pick myself up and get back into training.

Usually, races and events are on Sundays to take advantage of the quieter roads, but this was a Saturday, so I decided to meet the runners at the club Monday night and go for a run. There was only one turn up and this is the new norm since lockdown, runners have got used to training on their own, we hope more will come back soon.

I made a hilly route, not the ideal after going through what I did but wanted to push myself a little and other runners are training as well, we merged with the top group to make the numbers up and that helps push us along a little too.

It was a good pace all things considered and overall managed 8.9 miles at 8:12 pace.

On Thursday I chose a mostly flat route, my legs were tired, and my left hamstring seems to be lingering with a niggle, Owen who ran with me is only just back from injury so the pair of us set off with a little trepidation and headed off towards Middleton. 

Being in Oldham you are never far from a hill, so if you want to have a flat route, you best head towards Manchester, we had a real good natter and he was talking marathons, having never made it to the start line he is reticent about this and stated he probably never will do one. I talked to him as best I could at the pace we were doing and assured him he could, he worries about the commitment of training, which is huge for a marathon!

I will speak with him over the next few weeks, trying to get in any running event is tough with what's been going on and it may take some time for things to settle.

This put me back into my own thoughts of my training plan for the rest of the year, there are still 3 big events I am trying to complete, raising money for SarcoidosisUK and the next one is a week away now.

On the 23rd of May, I attempt the medium route of the Tour of the Peaks, a beautiful route but gruesome with two huge climbs. Winnats Pass is steep but I don't mind as long as it is constant with sudden 20% spikes, they sap me!

The second KOM (King of the Mountain) is the Cat and Fiddle, this is a hill that takes you out of Macclesfield and there is a pub called the "Cat and Fiddle" which gives its name to the ascent, not that I will have the time nor inclination to stop for a pint!

The route itself is hilly and this will my biggest cycling challenge to date, I have done longer rides but on very flat routes.

I hope very much to finish the event, in the last few miles, you pass through Youlgreave, which I recently discovered that my 3 times great grandmother was born there in 1807 (Family History is a passion of mine) so just an extra motivator to pass through it.

My training is a bit hit and miss so took a few days off and on Sunday we visited Moel Famau in North Wakes for a walk up the mountain, I love the ascent up through the trees and the views from the peak are stunning

In the evening I set the bike up on the turbo and did a favourite session in Zwift, there is nothing now I can do to get my legs ready for next Sunday's Tour of the Peaks, there is a simple notion that it is 3 weeks before you see any adaption from a tough session. So for the week ahead, I will use the turbo to just keep my fitness ticking over and be ready. 

So my challenge now is to plan my training to get the graph to smoothly show an increase in fitness until the Manchester Marathon in October!

I am nearly at 50% of my target to raise £500 for SarcoidosisUK, if you can donate please visit

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mark-kelly57

Thank you for reading, keep safe

Mark

VELO29 TOUR OF THE PENNINES 2021

It was Saturday 8th May 2021, the 5am alarm rang out and a grumpy Mark Kelly was struggling to get up, all the prep had been done for the day, just get dressed, load the car and head off!

Easier said than done, but we set off on time at 6am and headed North to Barnard Castle for the Velo29 Tour of the Pennines, the forecast was for light rain till 10am and then moderate with about 14mph wind, gusts at about 25mph for the rest of the day.

If I was quick enough I could do the medium 41-mile route and be back before the worst of it,  I had the option of the long route as that was what I paid for and had decided to see hows things went as I got to Stanhope for the feed station. 

My start time was 08:21 and had a few minutes to spare so got an expresso for a caffeine hit and rolled to the start.

Getting ready for the off

I am trying to raise money for SarcoidosisUK so even though the weather not suited to cycling I soldiered on and in the picture above you can see the screen giving the time, this is important now as to be Covid Secure riders go off in groups of 6, once every minute, this way you can't miss your time slot!

After the cycling is done, various cycling events are shown, on this occasion, it was a Zwift event and I can tell you after what I went through, I would have been better off on the turbo trainer!

The route is full of hills and up I think the second hill before the feed station, these photos show how steep they can be...

My Garmin Varia RTL515 which is a radar and light, came into its own today as you need as much notice as possible a car is coming, on the bike computer I see how ar the car is relative to me if the car is going very fast my bike computer goes red, the light on the back also goes very bright and flashes more.

By this stage I was wet and a little cold but soon after the deluge started and the wind picked up, what goes up must come down, the side winds and wet roads are a nightmare and I was starting to hate being out.

I arrived at Stanhope, sodden, freezing and miserable, I struggled to eat and get my soaking "deep winter" gloves back on, the next photo shows the best pose I could muster.

I spoke to some of the other riders and all now seemed to be heading back via the medium route, it is here the long route riders head north and the medium head south, straight to Unthank Bank.
I could only get a few fingers into the gloves so made changing gears and braking a little bit harder, I trudged and made my way up the hill I would rather never go up again!

The blue line is the segment, if you look on the gradient plot, there seems to be a step, this is a very steep switchback, which is super hard to get speed up for, turn the wheels and power back straight on. "Do Not try this at home" should be painted onto the floor!

It was soon after this the slow fell, then horizontal sleet, at times I could not see and the snow was hitting my eyeballs, glasses are no use. there is a steep descent and the brakes were useless, at one point I was only able to continue following the tail light f the ride in front.

I was frozen, couldn't see, the gloves were doing more harm than good, I dug deep and prepared for the next climb up over Bollihope Common. The snow and sleet were getting worse and at times I could not tell what speed I was doing, the last segment I managed is named "B6278 Climb" how these guys do in 5 minutes beggars belief and to be fair I cannot remember doing it, as I reached the top, I staggered to a halt, the bike fell from underneath me and my legs cramped up.

Somewhere on the common, this photo was taken, it shows the blizzard, grit and determination and a wonderful beard, which would have been handy to keep my face warm

Riders stopped to help me and it seemed almost immediate, that the Velo29 support van arrived, the bike was bundled into the back, make into the front. The van itself had around 9 people in it so very cosy. 

At this point, I was going hyperthermic and they assisted in getting my wet stuff off, a foil blanket over me and getting food and drink down me, my fingers and lips were blue. One of the riders was a paramedic and took care of me, when the actual paramedic got in the van, he tried to take my oxygen levels, but the oximeter could not work as my fingers were too cold.

The van took off and we picked up more people on the way back to the event HQ, I have never been so cold in my life and it took an age for my shivering and teeth chattering to stop.

When my bike crashed to the floor, the bike computer detected it and it sent an alert to my wife, who was parked up back at Barnard Castle, she could not reach me (the bike and phone being in the bike with other bikes all over it) so unbeknownst to me, she was driving to the GPS co-ordinates looking for me. 

As soon as we got back I got my phone and rang her, we got back to the car and headed home, I felt so ill, upset she had worried and headed out looking for me, it was a sombre and emotional drive back.

I got all my wet stuff off me and climbed into bed to warm up and recover from the physical and mental distress that nearly wrecked me, vowing myself, never to get back on a bike ever!

On Sunday I got the bike and all my gear washed, somewhat reticent of the day before and will get back training and ready for the next challenge on the 23rd May, Tour of the peaks, 61 miles of much the same hills, no offence if the weather is not forecast "good" then I will do something else to challenge me, maybe long run!

If you can sponsor me, you would be helping the wonderful charity SarcoidosisUK and give me a boost to continue!

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mark-kelly57

Keep safe all and a huge thanks to Velo29 and Ryan for getting me back.

Mark

Nutrition made simple

With one week to go till my first big challenge and fundraising event, it has been days with setbacks and a cutback in training.

This week I had planned mostly to talk about nutrition and specifically the energy bars I make and eat all the time, they are great tasting granola bars but jampacked with extra goodness.

What's best is they are homemade, quick n' easy, organic (where I can find it) and store in the fridge for a few days, except the family also eat them, my wife to sustain her through a 13.5 nurse shift, the kids to counter the chocolate rubbish they like so never last long.

So as I take you through the making process I will call out the nutritional benefits, not just for people doing exercise but anyone suffering pain in joints but mainly my Sarcoidosis family, who get awful pains absolutely anywhere in the body!

A great deal of the ingredients are anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant which you should look to incorporate anywhere in your cooking! This article at Healthline.com will give you a better explanation than I will attempt, I reference this website many times!

I am in no way linked to the website other than signposting, other resources are available, I am just being lazy and they talk good sense!

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/anti-inflammatory-herbs

Now the amounts of each ingredient can be up to you and I typically use what I have to hand but the core Ingredients, the links will take you to a specific article that gives you more detail.

A wide variety of ingredients

    

    

Granola (2 Cups) - Makes the base for the bars

Walnuts (Chopped and about 85g) - very good for you and anti-oxidant

Honey (3 tablespoons). - Adds sweetness and much better than refined sugar

Orange Zest and juice (orange) - The orange makes the bars yummy and Vitamin C loaded

Eggs (2 medium) - used to bind the ingredients

Rapeseed Oil  (splash) - helps keep the moisture and bake to perfection

The following I add, again with whats ever in the cupboard but will put my favourites to the top

Flaxseed - I add this at the end, the health benefits are superb, to say the least, also add to thicken the mixture so that's why I put in last.

Gogi Berries - an anti-oxidant, taste best to me when cooked!

Blueberries - Sweet delicious and super anti-oxidant 

Raisins - Sweeten the recipe and moist, also anti-oxidant 

Hemp Hearts - Incredibly nutritious 

Ginger - This has been used in medicine for thousands of years nuff said!

Turmeric - Your biggest friend in the anti-inflammatory space (I take two super loaded tablets a day)

Chia Seeds - Put these in porridge, sprinkle over cereal, invisible in the bars, great anti-oxidant

Cinnamon - anti-oxidant on another scale and adds a bit of flavour

Black Pepper/ Cayenne Pepper  - Now black pepper is proven to help you absorb the likes of turmeric in bucket loads, it's whether you like a kick to your bars... Now Cayenne is a favourite of mine I have Psoriasis and this is pepper is shown to reduce the inflammation 

Dark Chocolate/ Cacao Powder - If you like a chocolate taste, then either use chopped (up as high % dark chocolate you can find) or Cacao Powder, which can make the bars a bit bitter... though!

Now onto the method

1) Preheat the oven to 190°C  (375°F) 

2) Line an 8-inch square baking tin with greaseproof paper and lightly coat it with rapeseed oil.

3) Chop Walnuts into small pieces add to a plastic bag

Chop the walnuts as small as you can

2) Add granola to the plastic bag, Smash and roll the granola and nuts into smaller pieces, add the contents of the bag to the mixing bowl

Smash and roll the contents of the bag

Empty the content into the bowl

5) Chop Goji Berries and add to bowl

6) Chop Raisins and add to bowl

7) Add to bowl any ingredients you fancy from the list above

8) Mix two Eggs in a separate bowl, then add to the mixing bowl

9) Add zest and juice of an orange

Use a grater to get the zest and squeeze the juice

10) Add honey

11) add a splash of rapeseed oil

12 mix thoroughly with a fork

13) check consistency, if too sloppy add flaxseed as it quickly thickens and you can never have too much flaxseed

14) slop out onto a greaseproofed tray (lined with rapeseed oil) 

15) flatten and shape the mixture with a spatula

Prepped for the oven

16) pop into the pre-heated 190c oven for 12 minutes

17) allow the bars to cool for at least an hour before cutting into 10/12 bars

18) package in thin foil or airtight Tupperware and store in the fridge.

Wrapped in foil, two bars to a pack!

As for the training this week, 3 days in bed and not so good until Sunday when I did a 9-mile run which went well, nice to be out after an enforced break!

Hopefully, I can get some more running in this week Saturday will be an early start, as will have to set off at around 5am and though I haven't been able to cycle much my running should keep the fitness there!

If you can sponsor me at all, SarcoidosisUK needs all the support it can get, the link is:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mark-kelly57

Keep running and keep safe!

Mark