I had a funny (scary) moment a couple of weeks ago when I got confused at my local lake and thought the loops were 400m instead of 750m! I was looking at the swim times from last year and thinking I was going to be at least half an hour behind the slowest!
Luckily I discovered my error before the following saturday otherwise I'd have knocked out (or tried) a full iron man swim for no reason!
Turns out I'll just be among the slowest instead but at least I should be out of the water before the bike cut-off
Lee you may of been last but that was a bl00dy gutsy performance to stick it out for the finish
I am getting up there friday so I can have a couple of beers with my bruv (mk snail) and then chill on the saturday was going to stay sunday for more beer but we have to get back now for a funeral on the monday
We're going up on the Friday and staying til Wednesday to make a holiday of it, we're staying in a cottage cos we are wusses. I will try to say hi to you guys, but as I don't have any pirate kit it will just be a stranger saying 'hi.'
At least it is just one loop this time bhflyer, so you can't go wrong
That's sad news RBM, sorry to hear that. Shame you can't stay up longer
Tiago, we'll still talk to you Will be good to see you again!
Head cold feels worse tonight, annoying, so going to tank lots of Vit C, have a bath, and have an early night. Swim tomorrow, bike Thursday then mini run Friday, and fingers crossed afte that!
Max - sorry about your news and that you both wont be there on the sunday.
Keep an eye out for my bruv on friday in his blue VW camper van as he's going up a day earlier than us. We should be arriving around lunchtime on the saturday.
Hope the cold stays away Lee and look forward to meeting you all again
is it just me or have they made a cock up with start times and cutoffs?? the vets group is probably going to be a bit slower right?? should they not have gone off first?? do you think they will know if i go in the 9.30 wave to give myself a bit more time????...i couldnt pass for the ladies race but i can get away with under 40!!
oh crap...i was hoping you wouldnt say that!!! i am such a useless runner...i think i will have to walk the whole of the first 10k till i can come back down....i'm so gonna be last!!!!
Don't worry about it, Andy, this ain't a fun-run, it doesn't matter where you finish, just finishing is more than most can dream of. Think of times you've toughed it out in training, take in the atmosphere and the awesome scenery, enjoy it when you can, and you'll be fine.
So its us old gits at the back of the field again, and the first will be out of the water before we start. Still we'll have plenty of the real oldies to swim over. !0:00 start, perhaps I'll have a lie in on Sunday then.
Oh come on guys, it's all relative isn't it. Any ironman distance race is going to be harder - and the weather conditions will play a huge part. On a warm still day with good support this course is perfectly doable. You've done the training and there's no reason that with "no bad luck" you won't be fine on the day. Now stop wibbling and prepare.
Plan your race strategy including pacing and nutrition. Practice your transition. Anticipate problems and mitigate them where possible - practice changing inner tubes, have a plan for your goggles being knocked off in the swim or your chain coming off on the bike. What will you do if you get cramp or feel sick? Sure there could be things that are out of your control - but its your race and there's loads you can do to prepare. I've done Bala three times and absolutely love this race. I'm not particularly quick but have found it very manageable and incredibly enjoyable.
le. You've done the training and there's no reason that with "no bad luck" you won't be fine on the day. Now stop wibbling and prepare. Plan your race strategy including pacing and nutrition. Practice your transition. Anticipate problems and mitigate them where possible - practice changing inner tubes, have a plan for your goggles being knocked off in the swim or your chain coming off on the bike. What will you do if you get cramp or feel sick?
Done this every year so far, number 9 coming up
So far I've had go wrong, in different years - it will go right one year!
Weather very hot - yes
Pacing and nutrition - yes
Blow out - yes
Chain off - yes
Cramp - yes
Sick - yes
Goggles off - Oooo not yet ! - Wont be this year I already know whats going to go wrong this year
Slugs - now you mention it I've had boiling hot weather, chain falling off, bad pacing, bad nutrition, timing chip working loose in the swim, bad mood, sunburn, cramp and digestive trouble at Bala too - but over the course of three 6 hour races you'd expect a few hiccups woudn't you.
Out of interest - if you started 9 times how many did you finish?
Number 9 is this weekend.......... so fingers crossed, that on Monday I can say I finished 9 or is that tempting fate? I really hope my knee holds out for this one.
If you see some crawling back along the lake side dragging his left leg, that'll be me! Its only 20k.
This will be my third tri and first half IM, hope I'm not cursed with all your misfortunes, coping with a tough course with not much training will be bad enough.
I've become a rattling cage of vitamins, so hopefully will keep worst of lurgy at bay This will be my fourth triathlon, and whether I finish while the timekeepers are still about will remain to be seen, but I'll finish it regardless. Well, barring something horrific happening of course!!!! *touches wood* OOh that could be miscontrued....
Anyway, I was calculating the nutrition I think i'll need on Sunday. I've got an extra bottle holder so could potentially have 4 bottles of fluid. Haven't decided whether to take three and pick one up, or what. I shall bring enough stuff and decide on the day i think! I'm pretty sure my bike nutrition has never been as good as it needs to be, so determined to drink and eat enough per hour to keep energy levels up this time. Last year I left my bento box in the car so had no nutrition at all until Griffen very kindly gave me two gels when I saw him at half way! So plan is not to make the same mistake this year!
Tonight i'll be sorting all my stuff out, making sure i've got everything washed and I can find all my bits and bobs. Last year I had FAAAAR too much stuff in transistion, 'just in case i needed it', which I didn't, so need to pare it down a lot this year, haha.
You race for long enough and eventually every misfortune will come your way. 14th season for me, but theres still quite a few I've yet to experience.
'Best' ( as in most unusual) was the sheared bolt in the seat clamp. No saddle for 10 miles of a hilly sprint race, Cycling stood up for half an hour , that made the quads scream, but I wasn't going to DNF! Dont fancy having to do three quarters of the Bala course with no saddle.
You race for long enough and eventually every misfortune will come your way. 14th season for me, but theres still quite a few I've yet to experience.
'Best' ( as in most unusual) was the sheared bolt in the seat clamp. No saddle for 10 miles of a hilly sprint race, Cycling stood up for half an hour , that made the quads scream, but I wasn't going to DNF! Dont fancy having to do three quarters of the Bala course with no saddle.
Feck me. That falls into my 'something horrific' camp, and would mean a call to a taxi firm and a lift back to the finish!
Comments
I had a funny (scary) moment a couple of weeks ago when I got confused at my local lake and thought the loops were 400m instead of 750m! I was looking at the swim times from last year and thinking I was going to be at least half an hour behind the slowest!
Luckily I discovered my error before the following saturday otherwise I'd have knocked out (or tried) a full iron man swim for no reason!
Turns out I'll just be among the slowest instead but at least I should be out of the water before the bike cut-off
Lee you may of been last but that was a bl00dy gutsy performance to stick it out for the finish
I am getting up there friday so I can have a couple of beers with my bruv (mk snail) and then chill on the saturday was going to stay sunday for more beer but we have to get back now for a funeral on the monday
Sorry to hear that, rbm.
We're going up on the Friday and staying til Wednesday to make a holiday of it, we're staying in a cottage cos we are wusses. I will try to say hi to you guys, but as I don't have any pirate kit it will just be a stranger saying 'hi.'
That's sad news RBM, sorry to hear that. Shame you can't stay up longer
Tiago, we'll still talk to you Will be good to see you again!
Head cold feels worse tonight, annoying, so going to tank lots of Vit C, have a bath, and have an early night. Swim tomorrow, bike Thursday then mini run Friday, and fingers crossed afte that!
Cheers Lee, you too. Just take it easy this week, if in doubt miss the session.
I managed to pull summat in my back yesterday, so I'm going to do sweet FA (not whinging about corruption) and hope to be fresh for Sunday.
Max - sorry about your news and that you both wont be there on the sunday.
Keep an eye out for my bruv on friday in his blue VW camper van as he's going up a day earlier than us. We should be arriving around lunchtime on the saturday.
Hope the cold stays away Lee and look forward to meeting you all again
do you think they will know if i go in the 9.30 wave to give myself a bit more time????...i couldnt pass for the ladies race but i can get away with under 40!!
i am such a useless runner...i think i will have to walk the whole of the first 10k till i can come back down....i'm so gonna be last!!!!
Don't worry about it, Andy, this ain't a fun-run, it doesn't matter where you finish, just finishing is more than most can dream of. Think of times you've toughed it out in training, take in the atmosphere and the awesome scenery, enjoy it when you can, and you'll be fine.
Are you doing the swim on Saturday as a warm up?
I think they send the old blokes off last to avoid them clogging the lake and the roads up. Gives the young fast men a clear course!!
Plan your race strategy including pacing and nutrition. Practice your transition. Anticipate problems and mitigate them where possible - practice changing inner tubes, have a plan for your goggles being knocked off in the swim or your chain coming off on the bike. What will you do if you get cramp or feel sick? Sure there could be things that are out of your control - but its your race and there's loads you can do to prepare. I've done Bala three times and absolutely love this race. I'm not particularly quick but have found it very manageable and incredibly enjoyable.
have fun
You tell 'em Waffe.
Max- Just the couple of beers?
This is an endurance weekend.
Done this every year so far, number 9 coming up
So far I've had go wrong, in different years - it will go right one year!
Weather very hot - yes
Pacing and nutrition - yes
Blow out - yes
Chain off - yes
Cramp - yes
Sick - yes
Goggles off - Oooo not yet ! - Wont be this year I already know whats going to go wrong this year
Strange YOU called them all though.....................
You haven't been sticking pins in the left side of the tail of a model of a slug have you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlBiLNN1NhQ
Slugs - now you mention it I've had boiling hot weather, chain falling off, bad pacing, bad nutrition, timing chip working loose in the swim, bad mood, sunburn, cramp and digestive trouble at Bala too - but over the course of three 6 hour races you'd expect a few hiccups woudn't you.
Out of interest - if you started 9 times how many did you finish?
Number 9 is this weekend.......... so fingers crossed, that on Monday I can say I finished 9 or is that tempting fate? I really hope my knee holds out for this one.
If you see some crawling back along the lake side dragging his left leg, that'll be me! Its only 20k.
And Woody very apt for me, given my real name.
No, I'm Brian
Ha - well then - it's perfectly achievable even with all those hiccups.
See you all at the weekend.
;-)
Morning folks.
I've become a rattling cage of vitamins, so hopefully will keep worst of lurgy at bay This will be my fourth triathlon, and whether I finish while the timekeepers are still about will remain to be seen, but I'll finish it regardless. Well, barring something horrific happening of course!!!! *touches wood* OOh that could be miscontrued....
Anyway, I was calculating the nutrition I think i'll need on Sunday. I've got an extra bottle holder so could potentially have 4 bottles of fluid. Haven't decided whether to take three and pick one up, or what. I shall bring enough stuff and decide on the day i think! I'm pretty sure my bike nutrition has never been as good as it needs to be, so determined to drink and eat enough per hour to keep energy levels up this time. Last year I left my bento box in the car so had no nutrition at all until Griffen very kindly gave me two gels when I saw him at half way! So plan is not to make the same mistake this year!
Tonight i'll be sorting all my stuff out, making sure i've got everything washed and I can find all my bits and bobs. Last year I had FAAAAR too much stuff in transistion, 'just in case i needed it', which I didn't, so need to pare it down a lot this year, haha.
You race for long enough and eventually every misfortune will come your way. 14th season for me, but theres still quite a few I've yet to experience.
'Best' ( as in most unusual) was the sheared bolt in the seat clamp. No saddle for 10 miles of a hilly sprint race, Cycling stood up for half an hour , that made the quads scream, but I wasn't going to DNF! Dont fancy having to do three quarters of the Bala course with no saddle.