12th December 2014

Almost it for another year.

Struggling with a foot injury.  I have a Mortons Neuroma in my right foot.  Basically a tutor on the nerve between the metatarsals.  Silicone toe stretchers every night will hopefuly fix it.  If not its the injection....

Hence no running for a couple of weeks.  I have started easy jogging over last week so we'll see how I get on.

Did the Norwich half in November.  Horrible conditions.  Did a 1:45:48.  It's a PB but I know I can go so much quicker.  It was freezing, pouring down with rain and windy.  Most unpleasant race I've ever done.  Ankle deep in water within the first quarter mile wasn't good.  First 5mile I was cruising along at 7:30 pace.  Then the hill for half a mile before another mile through a sodden show ground.  By the time I got to 7 mile I was shot to pieces.  Really struggled for the last 6mile.  Never mind another one in the bag.

I sold my TT bike - Trinity.  Bit sad.  I got £650 for her which isn't bad.  Bought her in April 2008.  Thousands of happy miles and memories.  2 ironmen.  6 halfs.  Loads of TT's, sprints and Oly's.

Bye Trinity :

On the plus side I've have ordered a new bike.  I'm getting a Planet X Exocet 2.

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXEX2FOR/planet-x-exocet-2-sram-force-22-time-trial-bike

Can't wait to get riding.
won't be updating for a while.  Xmas coming up and then I'm off skiing!

So Merry Xmas and a happy new year.

17th November 2014

Not much to report lately.  Been struggling with niggles.  Hips and hamstrings.  Had to pull out of the late October club xcountry 10k after 3 steps as I got a pain behind right knee.  Had a a week off and I'm up and running again.

Did the Caldecott XCountry in 43:24 for the 5.43miles.  Good fun running with Richard.  Although he dropped me in the last mile.

Couple of parkruns to report.  22:28 on the 8th November and 22:05 on the 15th November.  My PB is 22:04 so obviously a bit cheesed off that I didn't beat it.

Yesterday I ran the second club 10k at Whittlingham in 47:02.  Had a hangover after the beer festival and a park run in the legs so was quite pleased with the time.  Ran with Richard again and got dropped again at 4 miles.

I have the Norwich half marathon on Sunday so I'm going to have an easy week leading in.

Chloe was home for the weekend which was good and we went to see Noel Fielding on Friday in Ipswich.  Never laughed so much for ages.  Bizarre but funny.

17th October 2014

Crappy training last few weeks work and life getting in the way.

Also hip flexor is playing up a bit.

One recent result.  Did the Aylesham chase the train a couple of weeks ago.  8.94mile averaged 7:30mins/mile, to finish 36th.

http://nnbr.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Chase-the-Train-2014Result1.pdf

4th September 2014

Not much time for training.  It's been fit and starts since the outlaw.

Waveney sprint this weekend.

Other news, my Gran is ill.  She had a minor stroke and is in hospital.  Going up on Monday.

Chloe is going to Leeds Uni in a couple of weeks.  Not sure how I feel about it.  Proud of her doesn't describe it, but also sad that I won't see her everyday.  Bit selfish I know but I'm going to miss her more than I can tell her.

Wrote this :

The first time I held you

The first time I saw your eyes

The first time I smelled your skin

The first time you held my finger

The first time I wiped your tears

The first time we brought you home

The first time I fed you

Your first smile

Your first laugh

Your first steps

The first time you said “daddy”

The first time I held your hand

Your first day at school

The first time you read to me

Our first holidays as a family

The first time you kicked a ball

Our first football match together

The first time I realized you had better music taste than me!

Your first time away without us

Your first drunken night out

The first time you were sick on me!

The first time you left home

29th July 2014 - Outlaw 14 Race Report

I wanted another crack at the Outlaw as last year was real attrition with the +30degC temperatures causing a meltdown.  Although not disappointed with my 2013 result I knew I could improve the time and performance with another year of training under my belt.

This year I was self coached after learning a lot from Simon last year.  I probably swam less and biked more.  Winter I ran a lot and hammered my 10K time down.  However the main difference this year was staying injury free.

Camped Friday and Saturday night and despite being worried about the heat it cooled off nicely for Sundays race.

Swim

The Outlaw swim.  I think the best way to describe it is a submerged bar brawl.  There is no free space for most of it and you get continually punched and kicked.  I don't think I swam any better than last year but was 7mins quicker.  It really just depends on where you end up in the washing machine!

Time 1:11:53

Bike

My plan was to hold 18mph throughout.  It's a fairly flat course so I didn't envisage any problems.  The only issue I had was injuring my right knee a fortnight ago.  I had it taped up but was struggling for the first 30 miles.  I was a bit worried that it would get worse but an couple of ibuprofen and I didn't feel it again until the 100 mile mark.

I actually got a bit bored with the course this year.  4th time I have ridden it now and by the time I got back to the south loop I was just wanting to finish.  I felt sick throughout and couldn't stomach the high 5.  Switched to water and gels and it helped a bit but not ideal.

The last 10 miles were a real struggle into an increasingly strong headwind.  Pushed through and got off the bike in a slightly below target pace of 6:22:04.

T2

When I dismounted I tried to run to the change tent but couldn't.  I was wobbling all over and legs were aching.  Not a good sign with a marathon to run.  Got changed and headed out.

Run

Surprisingly I started off on target pace between 9:30 - 10:00 and felt fantastic.  By halfway I was on for a 4:20ish marathon and it felt easy.  I knew the pain would come eventually but was determined to keep it going as long as possible.  I took a salt tab throughout the race every hour and only used coke and water on the run which kept my stomach settled.  The wheels did come off a bit at 21 miles and the last 5 hurt like hell.  I dug deep and managed to hold 11ish minute miles to the finsh.  Despite fading in the second half I managed a 4:32:32 marathon which I didn't think I would achieve at the onset.

Conclusions

All in all a good race and I'm extremely pleased at the 1hr 18min improvement from last year.  I really didn't anticipate a 12:21:57 time with a my aim being to break 13hrs.  I still have improvements to make, especially on the bike.  Going in I thought my bike would be my strongest discipline but it turns out it was my weakest.  Another close season of sufferfest and long miles should push me forward again.

Frankfurt 2015 now beckons and I will have to revise my goal time.  Sub 12hrs??

Pos.	Bibno.	Participant	Category	Club/Company/Sponsor	Finish time
1	605	Mark Dixon	(M) 40-44	Tri-Anglia	12:21:57	1:11:53	8:13	6:22:04	7:15	4:32:32

28th July 2014 - Outlaw Results

Outlaw Triathlon 2014 (Outlaw) Results / Search Leaderboard Participant info Result Bibno. 605 Name Mark Dixon Club/Company Tri-Anglia View certificate Share result TwitterFacebook Date 27/07/2014 Position overall 424 of 1004 Position 40-44 101 of 226 Start time 6:00:01 Finish time 12:21:57 Chip time 12:21:57 Compare result Split times Total time Pos. male 40-44 Split time Speed split time Swim(Time: 1:11:53) - Pos. 274 Swim 1:11:53 274 65 1:11:53 1:53 min/100m Transition 1(Time: 8:13) - Pos. 648 T1 1:20:06 322 80 8:13 - Bike(Time: 6:22:04) - Pos. 595 Bike16M 2:11:47 425 109 51:41 29.89 km/h Bike64M 4:56:27 502 122 2:44:40 28.15 km/h Bike80M 5:45:51 513 127 49:24 31.28 km/h BikeTot 7:42:10 529 133 1:56:19 26.44 km/h Transition 2(Time: 7:15) - Pos. 537 T2 7:49:25 528 134 7:15 - Run(Time: 4:32:32) - Pos. 319 Run1 8:16:30 532 133 27:05 5:48 min/km Run2 8:55:00 520 130 38:30 6:27 min/km Run3 9:03:45 515 129 8:45 6:02 min/km Run4 10:00:12 481 125 56:27 6:15 min/km Run5 10:38:56 442 115 38:44 6:30 min/km Run6 10:49:02 440 114 10:06 6:58 min/km Run7 11:49:01 408 104 59:59 6:39 min/km Run8 12:21:57 397 101 32:56 7:00 min/km

30th June 2014 - Viking 2014

So I did the Viking tri yesterday at Fritton.  Half IM event.  I finished 14th overall and 3rd AG.

My time was 5:40:53,  Overall happy with result and race.  No fatigue hardly this morning and that was the easiest run I've ever had in a triathlon.

The swim was long hence the slow times.  Between 2250-2300m

The bike was also long at just shy of 60miles.  As for the race it was held in brutal conditions.  Swim was in calm bright sunshine, but half way round the bike the heavens opened in what can only be described as a biblical downpour.  The third, fourth and fifth lap were horrendous and I had to slow down along the Belton to St Olave A143 stretch as I couldn't see!

Run was just as bad with the rain making the off road bits a swamp.  By the last loop I was ankle deep in mud and water.  Still a good race and good event.  Happy this morning that the IM build is where I want to be.  Faster and stronger than 12 months ago and that can only be a good thing.

Pos	M/F Pos' n	Race No.	First Name	Last Name	Gender	Age Group	Swim	Pos	T1	Pos	Bike	Pos	Run	Finish
1	1	28	colin	lewin	Male	45-49	00:30:39	2	00:02:16	1	02:33:02	1	01:18:57	04:24:54
2	2	31	Philip	Paterson	Male	30-34	00:30:20	1	00:02:17	2	02:36:30	2	01:30:55	04:40:02
5	3	24	John	Jacobs	Male	35-39	00:35:44	5	00:02:10	5	02:44:12	3	01:26:35	04:48:41
6	4	14	Philip	Denby	Male	35-39	00:33:21	4	00:02:03	3	02:44:56	4	01:28:38	04:48:58
8	6	18	Lee	French	Male	45-49	00:39:39	14	00:02:12	6	02:46:52	5	01:41:28	05:10:11
7	5	5	Rich	Brass	Male	40-44	00:31:07	3	00:02:16	4	02:47:45	6	01:46:21	05:07:29
10	8	36	Roland	Shaw	Male	55-59	00:40:02	15	00:02:18	8	02:59:26	7	01:36:42	05:18:28
22	17	11	Richard	Connell	Male	45-49	00:37:52	8	00:03:35	7	02:59:34	8	02:06:18	05:47:19
9	7	26	David	Jones	Male	35-39	00:37:58	10	00:02:49	9	03:01:10	9	01:36:04	05:18:01
15	11	32	Tom	Price	Male	30-34	00:41:01	21	00:05:26	12	03:05:49	10	01:40:23	05:32:39
23	18	40	Martin	Stacey	Male	55-59	00:38:57	12	00:03:58	11	03:07:38	11	01:59:45	05:50:18
14	10	20	James	Hepworth	Male	30-34	00:40:56	20	00:02:54	13	03:08:31	12	01:37:06	05:29:27
16	1	10	Aimee	Canham	Female	25-29	00:37:25	7	00:02:29	10	03:08:45	13	01:44:26	05:33:05
25	20	3	Danny	Bond	Male	35-39	00:45:38	29	00:06:18	18	03:10:49	14	01:50:46	05:53:31
17	12	27	justin	lawton	Male	40-44	00:41:28	22	00:03:29	15	03:11:15	15	01:41:37	05:37:49
18	13	15	Mark	Dixon	Male	40-44	00:37:57	9	00:04:05	14	03:12:16	16	01:46:35	05:40:53