I’ve had to change my fitness strategy since leaving my old job and losing the cycle commute, and I’ve started to do a little bit of road racing on the bike again. I’ve been fairly encouraged by the results but not startled. It’s just nice to do something different than cyclocross or fell running. I love both of them, but road racing’s so different.

I’ve also realised that I’ve become more aggressive in my road racing as I get older. I can’t be bothered to mess about slip-streaming and saving my energy for the finale -I’d much rather give myself a good kicking. If I lose a few places in the finale as a result, then so be it, but it’s a lovely thought to hammer yourself in the breaks whenever possible just in case they pay off, which they sometimes just do!

The Bowland Road Race today (Google Earth KML file here) was surprisingly fast for a 3rd category race, 23.9 mph - albeit only over 42 miles. It was hilly and breezy, and fairly relentless. All worked out well though when my team mate Stuart Reid got in the break that worked, and won the race. I finished fifteenth or so. My legs cramped on the uphill finish and that was that. A great, hilly, fast workout though.

My first fell race since Whittle Pike some eight months ago after a bit of a break from competitive running trying to get my back injury better. I was really very chuffed to finish 11th out of a field of about 250. I was 25th in 2005 (last attempt) in 1:20:06. I covered it in 1:16:25 this time round.

The Garmin Forerunner clocked this at 9.71 miles and 1770 feet of ascent and descent. Advertised at 10m and 2,500 feet, there’s quite some difference here, but I trust the Garmin. The start’s almost 700 feet up and Kinder’s only a shade over 2000 feet.

Still - it’s a tough, classic fell race. Faster than many Lake District ones, it’s descents are good under foot, and easy to keep your momentum up without being too steep. There’s a killer (for me) 1.5 mile run in at the end - the type I detest(!), and I annoyingly lost two places here, but that’s the price I pay for being a cyclist who just can’t be bothered to train to run on roads.

View the race route magically trasported from my Garmin Forerunner into Google Earth KMZ here.

Click on the image above for the profile of the route (and my pace along the way in blue)

For anyone interested, here’s the 2007 road bike built up - just dying for the weather to ride it now!

Great video sent to me by Ray Pugh of Liverpool Mercury. Gets the atmosphere of the race so well. Leave the DVD menu bit running for a few seconds at the beginning…!

I went for alovely run this morning with Elvis and my camera. It’s been a while since I did my back in and I gave it long enough to recouperate, but it wouldn’t play ball - so I just started to run again anyway. After a brief venture up Ingleborough last weekend, I had a 40 minute run this morning up Bull Hill - in the most spectacular anticyclonic weather. Bleeding gorgeous. The back still aches, but running’s designed to hurt anyway, so I intend to carry on, weather permitting.