Next Level Endurance Coaching

Gravel riding has become increasingly popular in the last few years and has firmly established itself in the world of competitive cycling. One of the biggest events in the UK is the Gralloch which is held on a very challenging 110km route near Dumfries in Scotland, it includes some serious climbing (1,761m) and is used as a UCI qualifyer for the world gravel championships. NLEC had 3 Athletes racing in different age groups:

Keith Williams in a time of 5:03:59 to finish 164th out of 220 in his A/G. Keith has worked hard over the winter going out in all weathers to get fit enough to complete this tough course! A great job!

Steve Carter in a time of 4:27:42 to come 87th out of 220 in his A/G
You may have seen that Steve did the Mighty Fred Whitton last weekend so this was an amazing effort as he will still have had a lot of fatigue in his legs!

Jamie McCulloch in a time of 4:47:40 to come 124th out of 168 in his A/G. Jamie is new to Gravel riding and this was his first ever gravel race so he did extremely well! It certainly was a babtism of fire!

Fabulous efforts from all 3 and I'm sure they will be doing more on the gravel through the year!

A busy weekend for NLEC Athletes! First up doing the very early season Outlaw 70.3 was Richard Day and he managed a very good time of 6:04:21 which saw him in 983rd out of 1,503 overall and 34 out of 67 in his age group.
A good effort and good prep for his next event the Cotswold113 in July!

Also this past Sunday was the Fred Whitton Challenge. The "Fred" is a proper brute and some say is the hardest sportive in the UK. The route is 109 miles (175km) with 10,275ft (3,900m) of climbing which includes iconic climbs like The Struggle, Wrynose & Hardknott pass which has gradients of 30% NLEC Athlete Steve Carter took on the challenge and had an amazing ride! The weather was perfect for a change and Steve's time was an excellent 7:18:55!! That was good enough for 397th out of 2,207 riders that finished and 67th out of 564 in his age group.
Steve has worked so hard after coming back from a long injury issue so I'm super proud of his efforts in this tough event!

This past weekend saw the iconic MTB stage race Sani2C take place. Sani2c is a three-day, 270-kilometre mountain bike stage race, which takes place in the south-eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in South Africa. NLEC Athlete Bjorn Gaston was riding in the Solo event and finished 286th out of 770 riders and was an excellent 60th in his age group. His total time 14:30:40
A great effort on a tough route!


Next up Bjorn is Ironman Durban 70.3!

This weekend it was one of the most popular of the big European Gran Fondo's The iconic Mallorca 312! Having completed the 167 & 225 distances in previous years, NLEC Athlete Richard Meacham wanted to add the final and toughest distance to his list; the mighty 312km distance which includes 4,200m (13,780ft) of climbing! Rich smashed it in a time of 12:22:50 to come home in 1,302nd out of over 3000 that attempted the distance. He was an incredible 86th in his age group. A fantastic result for an Athlete that has worked hard over the winter in the awful conditions we have had here in the UK.

A few early season results from NLEC Athletes to catch up on!
Paris Roubaix is probably the most iconic of the Spring Classics and should be on every cyclists bucket list. This year Helen Phillips Bevis took on the tough challenge of 173km with 30 cobbled sections! Its an incredibly intense ride when you are on the cobbles and good focus and strength is needed! Helen has this in abundance and finished the course in 8:05:28
She is one tough Lady!

It was Ironman Florida in Panama City Beach on Saturday and NLEC Athlete Stacey Wimbledon-Emig was on the start line in her very first full Ironman distance. The course is unashamedly flat but comes with different challenges like the heat, humidity & sometimes rough sea swim. Stacey took it all in her stride (literally!) and smashed it with a fantastic time of 12:22:52!!! which saw her 12th in her A/G and 584th overall. The time was way under what we expected and shows what you can achieve when you do the training and stick to the plan. Stacey has been very dedicated with her training alongside being a full time Mum to a young family.
As always there were a few setbacks with injury but her determination overcame all that. I couldn't be prouder of her!

Sometimes in endurance sports its not about the racing!
NLEC Athlete Jenny Harley & her husband Peter have just completed an epic ride across Italy from Pisa to Maria di Leuca in the heel of Italy! The stats speak for themselves:
1,300km (808 miles) and 14,750m (48,400ft) of climbing in 13 days! An adventure of a lifetime!
Fabulous achievment!

The Jersey Marathon is considered one of the tougher Marathons around with quite a bit of elevation across the 26.2 miles! NLEC Athlete Chris Mahn who by his own admission is more of a cyclist than a runner finished his first ever marathon in a respectable 4:31:26 to finish 335th overall.
His comment to me after the race was "I can't wait to get back on my bike!"
A great result for Chris who has worked hard for this one!

Sunday was the ever popular Ironman Barcelona and NLEC Athlete Kevin Lawrie took the start line despite being unwell in the lead up to the event. Kev still managed a fantastic time of 11:22:50 to finish 1,057th out of 2,096 finishers!
It wasn't Kev's fastest Ironman and as we know in endurance sport sometimes the race doesn't go to plan but Kevin's huge mental strength saw him through!
Another race completed!