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pip
Joined: 22 Sep 2004
Posts: 5122
Location: Tooting (hopefully not for much longer)
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 Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 3:00 pm Post subject: Hever castle half IM distance - Sept |
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| Has anyone done this before? I won a free place (yeah!). the bike and run course looks pretty brutal!
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hammerer
Joined: 19 Nov 2007
Posts: 16420
Location: Right Next Door To Hell
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| Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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The bike and run are brutal. Bike has no flat at all, either up or down. Nothing too steep, but relentless. Run is mainly trail, hard but nice. It's a really good weekend, well run and if I'm not mistaken the biggest kids event in Europe, well at least the country.
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TriSam
Joined: 26 Aug 2011
Posts: 1227
Location: Tunbridge Wells
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| Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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| If you ever fancy a bike/run recce, just send me a PM. I'm about 5 minutes down the road and will happily take you around, whatever speed.
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burning
Joined: 25 Feb 2014
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 10:51 am Post subject: |
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I've done it twice and both times I had a great time! Both times the weather was great.
Plenty of other races to watch (including kids), challenging course, very well organized, nice village event...
Concerning the half:
> Swim, water is pretty chilly and navigation on the course is pretty easy
> Bike is challenging. It's a two lap course and plenty of up and downs. It can be hard to maintain a constant effort if you are not used to it. The roads quality is decent and not technical
> For me the run is the hardest part. I'm OK running on trails when only running but in a HIM I really struggle. But at least it's not a boring run! Also if it's been raining a lot in the previous days of the race you may want to wear shoes that do not slip too much on mud....
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pip
Joined: 22 Sep 2004
Posts: 5122
Location: Tooting (hopefully not for much longer)
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| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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| thanks everyone. I live in quite a hilly area so i guess i just need to get out on the bike and run. Sam thanks for the offer. I am going to try and get down at some point, but i think i need to build my fitness otherwise i might not make one lap!
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hammerer
Joined: 19 Nov 2007
Posts: 16420
Location: Right Next Door To Hell
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| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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| pip wrote: | | thanks everyone. I live in quite a hilly area so i guess i just need to get out on the bike and run. Sam thanks for the offer. I am going to try and get down at some point, but i think i need to build my fitness otherwise i might not make one lap! |
I did the bastion (Iron distance) which is 3 laps of the same course but with a 10mile extension of 5mile descent followed by 5mile climb back up. It was essentially an IM length interval session. Id suggest for bike training have some sessions where you do interval work with 5-10minutes of low cadence @ around threshold or just under interspersed with similar length recoveries which will help simulate the day.
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pip
Joined: 22 Sep 2004
Posts: 5122
Location: Tooting (hopefully not for much longer)
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| Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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Anyone else doing this?
I rode the course yesterday. Hammerer you aren't wrong! It's the toughest bike course i have ridden in a triathlon. I just about limped around 2 laps.
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iwaters
Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Posts: 395
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| Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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| I looked at doing this but shat a brick at the cost. I;m doing the Sussex middle instead which has a fairly rubbish looking course but is a fraction of the price!
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awenborn
Joined: 18 Jan 2017
Posts: 9
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| Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:28 am Post subject: |
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| pip wrote: | Anyone else doing this?
I rode the course yesterday. Hammerer you aren't wrong! It's the toughest bike course i have ridden in a triathlon. I just about limped around 2 laps. |
I've done it before, but this year I'm doing the Olympic, which uses a shorter, much flatter course.
Yeah, the Gauntlet bike course is tough, barely a flat km on it, but the descents are good and you can make up a lot of the lost time there if you're comfortable going downhill fast. The only bit I'd flag up is the tight turn coming down from Fordcombe, it's off-camber, under tree-cover and you can easily carry too much speed coming into it if you're not careful. The organisers were very good at marshalling this point though and gave everyone ample warning.
Unfortunately the run course isn't much more forgiving either. A good portion of it is on bridleways and through fields, so very uneven underfoot and hard to keep momentum. It's fairly undulating too, so I'd certainly hold something back on the bike for later.
Good luck though, it's brilliantly organised!
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pip
Joined: 22 Sep 2004
Posts: 5122
Location: Tooting (hopefully not for much longer)
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| Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 9:58 am Post subject: |
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| I made it! It was a tough but a good race. Cold water, hilly bike and hilly and off road run is not what my dream race is made of but it was good to do a tough course (i usually opt for flat/fast races). Very well organised and my fear of coming last was just a fear as i finished half way through the field in 7h11.
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