Anyway, Bedford, for the first time this year, was going to also be a World Championship qualifier so the field was pretty strong and full of names that I have seen on my travels before. It was nice to not have that added pressure of trying to secure a spot as well, I was just there to have a good race and have some fun.
The swim all took place on a very narrow stretch of water and whenever you set some 100 odd blokes off in one direction, there is gonna be a few bangs and bashes. For the first 100m, I was convinced that the person next to me was just trying to swim into me...who knows, he may have thought the same. I eventually found some clear water and settled into a rhythm that I thought would get me out in a decent time. I slowly made my way through some of the tiring swimmers but was annoyed that I was not able to get back in touch with a group of about 10 swimmers in front of me. Still, all in all, not bad....I was out and now it was time for 40k of pretty much flat roads.
The bike course turned out to be my dream course. I was flying past loads of F people (guys in my age group) and I was constantly looking at the Garmin to see that the average speed was creeping up nicely. It was not long before I had it over 40 and then it finally seemed to settle down a bit around the 42.5kph mark....I felt comfortable at that speed and that things were all going well.
However, at just over 30k, I heard that horrible noise which I have come to associate with me racing. The sound of a tire blowing. It was me.... I thought that I might be able to get out of this one though as I had brought some sealant that I was hopeful of just being able to spray in the tub and then ride off again. Alas, the hole was too big and the sealant just ended up all over the place and the tub remained in it's deflated state....another race down the pan I thought. However, not long after I had started walking, a mate of mine came past....he had been having a bit of a nightmare on the race with no energy in his legs. He proceeded to do the most magnanimous thing I have ever seen in a triathlon....he gave me his bike - it was almost like being a pro cyclist. Low and behold, it fitted well and he even had the right pedals on for my shoes. I was back in the race. I eventually got back to transition having lost about 6 minutes with the puncture, in 1:04. The next part was where I was most interested to see how I would perform as my 'proper' run training had only really been going on for two weeks.
Over the course of those two weeks, I had gone from about 8-10k a week of running to about 40k and a lot of that a good pace. Within the training, I had started to feel a lot lighter on the feet and I was vaguely confident that some of my running ability was coming back. It was not all there, but we were on the way. Out on the run in Bedford, I felt pretty good. A quick look at the average speed for the first lap and it was all looking good, what with the Garmin saying 15.5kph. Over the course of the next two laps, I only dropped another 0.1kph, so pretty steady running all the way round. I actually recorded my fastest ever triathlon run I think of 37:15. The problem with the Garmin though is that it lets you know why that is the case...the run was short by about 300m. Still, even if you add on that time, this is still one of my best ever runs.
So, although I punctured and came a lot further down than I had hoped, it was nice to see that I would have been right up there had I not had to stop etc. I now on my last week of hard running before I start to taper off a bit in preparation for my main triathlon for this year - Antwerp 70.3. I am hopeful of a slot for the 70.3 World Champs....but I reckon I need to knock out a 1:23 half to be in line for that.
I think I also found the cause for all the punctures thanks to Bedford. Some damage on the carbon disc wheel (I think) had been causing some small flints of the fibre to be piercing the side wall of the tire. I have done a little repair job on the wheel now, so here's hoping.
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