Bala Middle Distance

If you swim at Tollcross in the mornings you will know Derek who always accompanies us. Derek is currently training for the same Copenhagen Ironman as us and whilst we chose the ridiculous 'Day in the Lakes' Triathlon as our 'B' race again this year Derek chose the equally ridiculous Bala Half Ironman as his. See Dereks Race Report below & you can also see his daily updates on his 'Mission Ironman' Blog where you can also learn more about Maggies - the great cause that is driving him forwards & the huge amount of £££ that he aiming to raise in the process......

http://www.derekmissionironman.blogspot.com/

It’s me, your lane tart from Tollcross – the slow moving obstacle you politely overtake on a Tuesday & Friday. I thought as you prepare for “a day in the lakes” I would share my Bala experience with you. It’s no wonder it is rated in the top 10 middle distance races in the world – it’s an OMG!

Bala Lake is cold and on race day a wind came through meaning it was choppy. I got off to a good start but at the turning point got a mouth full of wave and ended up being sick – that’s when the cramp started in my hamstrings as I tried to tread water and I thought my race was over. Fortunately I escaped from the water in 42 mins (2km) which was 3 mins under my target, including the 20 yard crawl out of the shallow water. One guy took 2 hours and was then stopped from going on – now that’s what I call perseverance! My transition was dreadful as I think I had an out of body experience but at least the wetsuit came off easily (thanks Gen for the advice)! My lack of shoulder flexibility meant it must have taken me 1 minute to get my gels into my trisuit – I was like a dog going round in circles trying to bite its tail.
The bike is the hardest 81km I’ve ever ridden, especially in the wind. Constant undulating hills and at one stage I thought I’d be the last cyclist as I had gone out in the mid-life crisis wave which was last and there were only 4 cyclists behind me at the turn point. I had a good finish passing many in the last 15 km and was pleased with 3hr 35 mins considering the terrain.

Whoever designed the run course should be tortured then shot. An out in back along undulating hills! Glad I didn’t check it out in advance or I may have given up. I know for every up there is a down but when the legs are gone those downs don’t feel so good. Despite that this was my best part of the race. I had targeted 2 hrs because I hadn’t run 13 miles in 15 years but managed 1hr 48 min and was delighted. My finish time was 6 hr 14 mins.

This was followed by a massage which is probably the only reason I could walk on Monday and was in the pool today for a recovery session. Ironman Copenhagen awaits in 60 days time so there is a lot of work to be done before then – thank god it’s flat!

Derek