Bala Middle Distance Tri

Sun June 8 2008
Listed by ATOM.
Entrants (11) Club PB SB Pred Time WAVA
ATOM. Edited 5/6/08: OK, the new Bala Middle distance cycle course has been changed, making this event longer than last year and consequently a new pb whatever :) Pirate Ship Of Fools, Zoom Tri Club 5:40:00
bassy using this as a test pilot for IMF Unaffiliated 6:00:00 5:38:25 110.08
Crash Hamster Pirate Ship Of Fools
Flying Ant Black Pear Joggers 6:22:10 94.65
funkin Superb weekend away and race. Full report to follow soon at rowerunning.co.uk. Ranelagh Harriers, The Stragglers RC 5:23:28 111.44
GOM. Ely Tri Club 5:32:42 109.73
Hollywoof! Proper race report Preparation - week before did a 100 mile ride and a 19 mile run. Had this shall I? shalln't I? debate... somehow end up with I shall :-) Weekend in the caravan was fab - thanks especially to MrsF for cooking and MrsJules for providing cake - thanks also to Jules for letting us pick on his diet all weekend :-) Pre race - all was very calm and relaxed - very different to last year - missed Cath's wibbling! Swim - very, very, very quiet swim - started on the right, stayed on the right, had no company until the final few metres of the second kilometer (which turned out to be Rosey!) - possibly did 32 minutes - yippee! T1 - disaster - that wetsuit would not come off - which meant my legs got cramp... which meant I couldn't get my shoes on - all in all it felt like an age... given the amount of time I sat down pulling at my wettie, I am amazed that the clock shows I was only 50 seconds slower than Rosey! Bike - went to Heart Rate... and it showed... I was just over 4 minutes slower to the top of the first hill - 44 minutes rather than 40 minutes - and 6 minutes slower to the turnaround spot - 1 hour 22 rather than 1 hour 16... had some dark thoughts during this first half - had some stomach pains and really was thinking about stopping long triathlons?! Second half was then hard... finally stopped after 1:34 for a pee - which was heaven - Gyraffe must have wondered why I had my willy out and such a big smile on my face when she came past (sorry!)... then up the hill again - keeping heart rate down and getting overtaken all the way. Was the HRM worth it? In some ways yes - I felt great at the top of the big hill - not knackered... However, by the time I got down the hill to T2 I felt knackered and was not so sure... about 2:47 for the bike - so 18.7mph compared to 20.1mph last year (but much more climbing this year - and much hotter and maybe more wind too?) T2 - quick! No problems. Run - started off too fast... quickly regretted not having a hat (didn't like my buff for some reason)... quickly started hating the hills. Splits to follow later, but basically they started on 8s and slowly got worse as the hills kicked in. Really suffered from the heat. Really felt dehydrated (should have drunk more on the bike) and had to walk the hill after the last water station (with cup in hand) and the last hill before the mile dash for home - run time of 1:47 (out in 52, home in 55) - could have been worse - I was dying at the end... must do bike and run hyrdation much better in Nice. All in all... OK but should perhaps have done some basics better! Stats show I'm still moving up the field: 2006 - 00:35:13 57 02:35:17 182 01:51:37 143 05:02:07 134/279 2007 - 00:35:46 ?? 02:23:57 ?? 01:46:34 152 04:46:17 103/346 2008 - 00:33:41 34 02:47:32 126 01:48:07 150 05:09:20 100/347 Superb well done to everyone who tackled the course! Not easy in that heat, nor with that new bike course. Pirate support was ace - fab! Next stop - Nice.... Unaffiliated 5:09:20 116.53
Iron Bry! First time at this distance so not sure what to expect. 45 minute swim, 3 hour cycle and a two hour run sounds achievable but let's wait and see! With the course change comes more hills so I'm not sure about a 3 hour bike now. I'm hoping a quicker swim and a slightly slower bike will even themselves out - and still make 5.45 achievable. 35 minute swim, 3.16 bike and 1.52 run - 5.42. Pleased with that. Mersey-Tri 5:45:00 5:42:47 105.16
JPenno Unaffiliated 6:00:00
JulesR Well it's done - here's a Bala report. Sorry if it's too long and boring! PRE-RACE Training was quite consistent in the few weeks leading up to Bala. Besides impressively dropping out of a 10k race after 4k last week everything else went according to schedule, even a bit of lean proteins and carbo loading stuff. We travelled down to Wales Friday and had an hour's easy bike, a 20 minute run and a 20 minute swim in the lake on Saturday. Race day up at 6am and managed to eat 7 thick white slices of bread with jam. Also managed to cut the electricity in the caravan and sound the smoke alarm with the kettle smoke - was not popular with Hollywood, Shiraz and Funkins! Jog for 2k and a quick swim around the lake before the race. Weather was very nice 23 degrees, rising to 28 degrees during the run, the lake was calm. SWIM 2k Second wave - senior men 10 mins earlier, women and relay 10 mins later. Started on the left deeper water slightly back and swum pretty well up to the turn. Most others started on the right so took a shorter and more direct route. On the way home my sighting was poorer and I zig-zagged and slowed a bit, although it was better than my usual vertical swim. The last 50m was shallow and stony so I lost a bit of time hobbling up to the exit pontoon before getting to transition by the lake. Transition smooth, wetsuit off, helmet, sunglasses, socks and bike shoes on. Drink from bottle and off TIME FOR SWIM PLUS T1 = 43:50 so swim about 41mins? Overall 230/360 Age Group 39/54 BIKE 51.5miles (82.5k) Ascent 700m Drank 1 bottle and 2 gels every hour as instructed, but couldn't find salt for bottle mix (this may have been important later...). Steady start into a lot of climbing in first 12 miles and generally overtaking people uphill whilst spinning up in easy gears. Fast down to halfway then u-turn and climbing for 13 miles again overtaking people, some on posh bikes then big descent into T2. Met Funkin going down the last hill towards Bala. Pushed fairly hard all the way round except spinning the hills. Couldn't always stay on tri bars as seat uncomforatble on way back after all that crouching on thin tri-shorts! Flying dismount worked. TIME FOR BIKE 2:43:33 - Ave Speed 30.5kph Overall 89/360 Age Group 16/54 RUN 20k Ascent 120m Quick transition helmet off, shoes and gel belt on, gulp from bottle and out. First two miles felt good in just over 7 minute miles overtaking plenty of people as course started to undulate in narrow country lane, then at 2 miles attack of cramp just above back of left knee so had to slow. OK again so picked up pace and ran with older bloke until about 6 miles. Steep hill from 5 miles to turnaround point 6.5 miles. Stopped to take extra water then on downhill just after turnaround big cramp attack in back of both knees (hamstring?). Had to stop and stretch out legs against tree before being able to carry on. Last gel at 9 miles (caffeine) then at 10 miles big cramp downhill so stopped to stretch out again. Came home ok after that with decent last mile. Great pirate support around halfway and end of the run. Mile Splits: 7.14,7.23,7.26,7.35,7.55,8.50 (cramp),8.24 (cramp cont.),7.25,8.01,8.12 (cramp),8.14,7.49, 2.52 (0.4mile) TIME FOR RUN AND T2 1:37:48 Overall 65/360 Age Group 9/54 OVERALL TIME 5:05:11 Overall 84/360 Age Group 14/54 GOOD THINGS FROM THE RACE Longest race ever and finished ok Nutrition plan worked perfectly Swim comfortable if slow and exited in good shape. Didn't breast stroke at all (1st time) Bike really strong on hilly course Run not a disaster given I was in 'survival' mode from mile 3 onwards NOT SO GOOD THINGS FROM RACE Cramped badly in run - must take those salt tablets next time Swim still slow, but much stronger than it was - sighting bad. All in all a great weekend and thanks Hollywood and Shiraz for letting us share your palatial country residence. Fab company and enjoyed meeting friendly pirates. Stirling Triathlon Club 5:05:11 128.30
tri-harder Unaffiliated 6:16:47 95.95

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