Home Chat General Chat

Bala

Good luck!



It's used as my club's middle distance championship. Quite fancied spectating, but, alas, I have to get down to jolly Slough for an early start on Monday.



Really looking forward to seeing how Hussler gets on - make sure he gets his pre-race nutrition sorted, will you CH?



Might be a bit cooler than Hawaii. And the views should be better [:)]

Comments

  • JulesJules Posts: 987
    There's a fair few Chester Triers off to Bala. Not me though!



    Good luck guys. [:)]

  • husslerhussler Posts: 237
    When are you heading down CH?



    Im leaving Stoke about 1ish 2moro afternoon.....



    Im looking forward to racing...hopefully i have sorted the nutrition out this time.... ate plenty this week and drank loads of Nuun and High 5 isotonic inbetween training and high 5 extreme whilst training. Early night tonight then one final training session 2moro morning.



    Kit is ready to throw in the car too....



    Im camping at pen bont campsite on the edge of the lake.



    Hopefully see you there CH:) Ill be on the Argon.....
  • risris Posts: 1,002
    best of luck with the him guys, i hope they've ironed some of that course out for you.



    conehead - more chance of being washed away than melted this time, eh? get the whole set - him in northern canada followed by hurrance conditions!

  • husslerhussler Posts: 237
    ooooo Bacon butties:)



    Ill keep thinking of that well earned bacon butty whilst im destroying myself around the course.....



    Ill keep an eye out for the bomber then! :)



    Mine has 'jason walkley' and a Union flag on the top tube..



    See ya 2moz then, im setting off in 15 mins!



    Cheers Ris! No doubt CH will have a report up soon after the race..Ill add my bit to that lol:)
  • julesojuleso Posts: 279
    I'll be there watching the other half; he'll be racing in an Oxford City RC orange & black kit.



    Looking forward to an evening in Wrexham; my Britain guidebook calls it 'uninspiring'. Oh yes.



    Conehead, I'll look out for you. Good luck.



    juleso
  • pippip Posts: 170
    Best of luck everyone hope it all goes well for you all. Afinish and no injuries are the main requirements.Afriend of mine is doing her 1st 70.3 at Bala and she`s only ever done Nantwich sprint so fair play
  • FlavadaveFlavadave Posts: 749
    Event post please!!! I'm doing the standard race in September, but this one is my dream race for next year... dream as in I'll never be fit enough!



    I hear there are a few hills?
  • husslerhussler Posts: 237
    Just back from Bala.......



    In two words.........



    Absolutely Nails!!!!!



    Swim was endless and alot of people posted slow times so a possibility of slightly over distance.



    I dont know what my time was for the 2k swim as my wetsuit decided it wasnt going to let me take it off my arm with my watch on it so had to do the swim with no watch......

    However I was 63rd out the water.....



    Onto the bike, Very Hilly, Very fast decents (max speed 44.5mph), a little head wind to the turn point,

    I was making good progess and shifting up a fair few places.... Turn around I was upto 45th...

    A 3.7 mile long climb came next for us..... and we could see everyone else coming down the hill on their way to the turn point.



    I kept plugging in and arrived at T2 after been held up on the high street by a few cars. My bike split was 2hrs 27mins according to the garmin so not a bad effort really..



    Through T2 in no time at all..... Out onto the run in 32nd place.



    Set off and comfortably doing 6:30 per mile for the first 2 miles then the hills kick in.... my pace slowed to just over 7 min miling... after a series of hills which took everything out your legs, it suddenly turns upwards onto what the race director described as the really the only hill on the run????? Which run he was thinking of I dont know! lol

    5 mile point this was.....

    Half way up the final climb to the turn point my Left Quad tightened and started to cramp up! so I backed off slightly.... I arrived at the 6.5mile turn point in 44 something.... not to bad going...



    I turned and begin my endless run back to the finish.



    At 7.5miles my head had decided that this wasnt as easy as first thought.... Every incline I struggled to get going and I lost a fair few places because of this....



    I went steady on the descents as whenever I pushed too hard I got a stitch. On the flats I was fine.... But tired from all the climbing so was around 7 min miling....



    I crossed the line with a run time of 1hr 33 mins......



    So without the swim I had done bang on 4 hrs..... I anticipate my swim will be around 35-40 mins as it was slow so that would give me 4hrs 35-4hrs 40mins....



    Not a bad effort..... Could of gone faster, but from my recent races I was just glad to cross the finish line with no stomach cramps:)



    I went back to Transition to collect my kit and I saw some stuff in my Helmet......and a note.......



    From the man we know as Conehead!!!! He had gave me loads of Gels!!! :) THANK YOU CH!!!!!:)

    He had sadly DNF'd as he had no mojo in his legs......:(



    On a more positive note..... The race was one of the most organised races I have attended, brilliant!!!



    Would I do it again???



    Initially I thought no....However now Im home I would deffo be doing this again sometime, mainly as I have a score to settle with 'that' hill....



    Well worth Doing and again Thanks for the stuff CH:)



    Ill post my overall time and placing etc once I know! lol

    There was a wave 10 mins behind my start so placings above may differ with full results

  • GGBGGB Posts: 482
    great report Hussler - and excellent result, sounds like it was hard work on the run - and again great result



  • OranjOranj Posts: 45
    Good work Hussler. Shame you didn't finish Conehead. I saw you in transition sorting your bike out, I was going to pop over and say hello after I'd sorted my own bike out but you'd wandered off later.



    My first half-ironman and I finished in the vet prizes with 4:21, very pleased. That bike course was hard, and very well marshalled. I didn't get a medal for winning my 45-49 age group though, 'cos I'm not a BTF member, I didn't realise that until about 10 minutes before the presentation, oops.
  • JulesJules Posts: 987
    Oranj wrote:


    My first half-ironman and I finished in the vet prizes with 4:21, very pleased. That bike course was hard, and very well marshalled. I didn't get a medal for winning my 45-49 age group though, 'cos I'm not a BTF member, I didn't realise that until about 10 minutes before the presentation, oops.



    Bit harsh that, you've paid for your day licence after all. Do they just bin the medal then?
  • FlavadaveFlavadave Posts: 749
    Very harsh that Oranj... Screw em though eh?



    Bala sounds tough man... Might have to rethink my first middle distance race for next year. Great results though lads.



    Sorry to hear you DNF'd Conehead, what went wrong man?
  • OranjOranj Posts: 45
    Bit harsh that, you've paid for your day licence after all. Do they just bin the medal then?



    The day licence is just for insurance, isn't it?



    The gold medal went to the guy who finished 2nd!
  • JulesJules Posts: 987
    Well the rules are the rules but I still think it's pathetic. If you allow everyone, BTA members and non BTA members to compete then everyone should be eligible for whatever prizes or medals are on offer.



    Were you acknowledged in the presentation? Does they guy who got the medal know he only got it on a technicality? If I were him and I knew I'd been beaten I'd hope I'd refuse to accept it.



    Still, as Flavadave said, screw em! Onwards and upwards!



    And I don't think I said before - 4.21!!!! Blinding effort.
  • OranjOranj Posts: 45
    Were you acknowledged in the presentation? Does they guy who got the medal know he only got it on a technicality?


    Yes. I got the £ prize for coming 2nd overall vet, which was good. The guy I beat got a real surprise, we'd been chatting beforehand. Just one of those things 'll know more about next time around, I guess. Still pretty green at this sport.
  • FlavadaveFlavadave Posts: 749
    Oranj wrote:


    Still pretty green at this sport.





    Errrr... pretty green? You nailed it man! What the hell did you do before? Olympic decathlete?
  • husslerhussler Posts: 237
    Well done Oranj... Awesome effort!!! :)



    My race went wrong in the swim and never really recovered.... I didnt have the best of swims.. 37:01... Not sure what happened there as Im usually around the 31/32 mark....



    On the bike although I posted a fairly quick time of 2:27 I never had anyone to pace with as I was constantly catching people, overtaking them and leaving them so no one challenged the pace I set so Im sure If I had had a better swim I would of gone a few mins quicker on the bike.



    My run was ok-ish... big thing was I didnt get stomach cramps



    So all in all a time of 4:40 dead.... not bad by some standards but well below par for mine :( Im beginning to think Im not suited to Hilly run courses...This will hopefully show up at Dambuster on Saturday, a nice quick course, but well see....



    Well done anyone else who did Bala in what turned out to be very very hot indeed!!
  • julesojuleso Posts: 279
    Oranj won't mind me saying that he's a bit of a super cyclist; his name is spoken with awe in Oxfordshire cycling circles (and beyond).



    I was watching the race yesterday though and a bloke behind me saw him run past and said 'I thought that was a lady'. I should have remonstrated with him I suppose but I thought it was too funny. Must be the new haircut!
  • JulesJules Posts: 987
    Just checking out the results, I see the winner did their run in 1.14 after being "only" 5th on the swim and bike. Blimey.
  • pippip Posts: 170
    Jules wrote:


    Just checking out the results, I see the winner did their run in 1.14 after being "only" 5th on the swim and bike. Blimey.

    Blimey indeed thats a mint time even without doing a swim and a bike.

    Some excellent results there chaps well done.It`s one i`m contemplating for next year,i`ll see how Tatton Olympic goes first before i commit. Well done again[;)][;)]
  • Jack HughesJack Hughes Posts: 1,262
    Great performance Oranj. Really enjoyed your blog too.



    Join the BTF sooner rather than later, as membership only runs until March/April (i.e. not is just for a season, not the year from when you join). Next stop: competing for GB!



    I guess your are juleso other half!

  • julesojuleso Posts: 279
    Oranj is indeed my lovely other half. The quickest of the halves by a long way!
  • Jack HughesJack Hughes Posts: 1,262
    juleso wrote:


    Oranj is indeed my lovely other half. The quickest of the halves by a long way!

    You must be v. proud (although I expect you are used to his brilliance by now, and just grumble when he doesn't do the washing up properly. Ho ho).



    Have the pair of you done any Tandem racing?
Sign In or Register to comment.