Jevon reports from Bala Middle 2008

I'd heard different stories about Bala but every one of them mentioned that it was both tough and a great race.

I'd driven up late on the Saturday and stayed ten miles away in the Welsh town of Corwen which, with it's late night market square revelry was as close to the Wild West as we can get here in the UK.

The day dawned misty but it was obviously going to burn away and be a hot one, so I was glad I'd brought the factor 30 sun cream.  The quality of the race can always be judged by transition and this time was no exception with discs and carbon in abundance.  I met up not only with Graham, Andy and Martin who had recced the course the day before but with some other friends I knew who were doing the race.

The Race

My swim was reasonable - I've been working on relaxing my stroke to achieve similar swim times but with much reduced effort - and I exited directly behind Andy but, as usual, took a while faffing around in T1 and was behind both Andy and Graham at the start of the bike.

My legs felt good though and I kept my cadence high and hammered away at both hills and downhills on the way out of the out and back course.  At the turn I felt strong and began to pass people on the hills which was a good sign.  My race nutrition plan from Mark K. helped immensely and my aero drinks bottle - on the bike for the first time - worked a treat.  The biggest revelation though was the bike itself.  What a sound investment.  It eats hills and munches up the miles - cycling on it really is a pleasure.

Following a hairy near miss with another cyclist and motorist just before T2 I made a quick transition to the run, being careful not to over stretch myself on the very hilly and demanding course.  On any serious incline I slowed down to a 'rhythmic bob', content to get to the top with minimum effort and re- assuring myself that I'd pick up the speed on the way down.

I realised a sub-5 was on the cards at the 10k point and was careful not to be greedy and blow it, keeping to my pace and nutrition plan.  In the end I was delighted to come in at 4:54.

I'd really recommend this race - we should give serious thought to giving it a go as a club next  year.  It's extremely challenging, well run and particularly scenic.

Jevon