Up, down and pfffft!

Out for a short pootle today to try out my new reclining bottle rack on the aero bars and it started with some traffic, a contra-flow and not feeling too bad at all.  My Planet X Stealth Pro TT bike started to feel really rather exciting to ride.

The usual 3 Hills 80km route was going really well, the first hill got eaten up more easily than ever and I was down on the bars zipping through villages and lanes, feeling powerful when as I was going through the woods I hit some debris.  I thought I had a leaf caught in my wheels - there was a PFFF PFFF Pfff Pfff pfff pfff pf sound, like dry leaf stuck in a spoke slowly disintegrating.  Then FDDD FDDD FDDD FDDD from the rear wheel and I pulled over straight away.  Puncture.  The tyre was flat as a pancake and I was about 3km out from the next sharp hill and on a narrow, fast road with no pavements or grass verge.

And no mobile signal.  I walked a bit, found some patchy signal and left a voicemail for MrTOTKat who I was supposed to be meeting at the top of the 3rd hill for a cup of tea and who'd given me a 15 minute head start.  Just as I got off the phone, I heard the distinctive sound of the Jet wheels he just fitted and he sped past me... I shouted and shouted, but he didn't hear me at all and probably hadn't seen me in the shady woods.

I walked on, stopping in a car park to see if I could call again and try to use the "Pit Stop" canister, which fills the tyre with sealant and compressed air.  The bugger was that instead of pumping into the tyre, it squirted out of the sides of the rubber nozzle.  No mobile signal and a completely un-ridable bike.  So I ended up walking up Crocknorth hill and beyond until I got some good signal, left another voicemail.  And then MrTOTKat called back.  To cut a long and boring story short, I got cold, ended up walking another 2km,  had a chat with some lovely cyclists who gave me a Fudge to eat - which was most welcome at the time - and got picked up just over 2 hours after I'd had my puncture.

So.  I've changed the wheels for my Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels and fitted the right cassette back on the rear.  Just need to change the brake blocks for ones I know will work on aluminum braking surface and I'm good to go.  I am using the TT bike.  I am OK eating and drinking on the move on it.  I'm peed off about getting a puncture, but I got a 2 hour ride in and I got a really good feeling from the TT bike.

One more decision made and set for next weekend.  Hopefully I can get bits and bobs done each evening this week as we've not got Thursday off to prepare and pack this time.

Doing stupid things

Yay.  I'm officially stupid.

I'm managing to find really scary things to read in the final week into Bolton... what an idiot.

Here's an extract from a quite distressing article in Triathlete Europe online:-

"The final stretch.
If you’ve ever completed an Ironman, you know that the last few miles of the marathon are a unique experience that is only hinted at by the experience of running the last few miles of a regular marathon. Your body is so impaired from the beating it has taken over the course of the day, it’s almost funny. The simple act of lifting your foot off the ground to take the next stride feels akin to performing a heavy squat with a weighted barbell on your back. Research from the National Institute of Sport and Physical Education in Paris confirms that the energy cost of running at the end of a triathlon is significantly greater than that of running at the same speed without swimming and cycling beforehand. And that’s an Olympic-distance triathlon.
There are probably multiple causes of the “weightlifting” effect of an Ironman marathon’s closing miles. Stride form is measurably different at the end of a triathlon run than it is in the same athletes in an independent run. The stride changes that increase the energy cost of running at the end of a triathlon are themselves caused in part by local fatigue in specific muscles, which necessitates a change in form in much the same way you might start running with a locked right knee to protect a suddenly cramping right calf muscle. It’s neither efficient nor pretty, but it sure beats the alternative."

It's not even hinted at in the 70.3 distance.  None of this came to light. Yes it wasn't a walk in the park, but it was nothing even remotely like this.  After a good bottle of water and a hog roast bap after Wimbleball, I actually felt OK - sure I couldn't have jogged for the bus afterwards, but not crushed.  And there were only a couple of tough moments in the race itself, one on the start of the 2nd lap of the bike and a little bit of tribulation on the run when I clearly had underfuelled on the bike earlier.  But not the crushing feeling that I might not be able to go on or finish.  Nothing like it.

It's the not knowing that's hard at this point and scaring myself with this sort of article is just stupid.

Plus...

ohgod

I have to run a marathon in 10 days time.

After 3.8km swim and 180km bike.

And I've never run further than 28km in one run.

*whimper*

(coach Rich says it's fine and I trust him, but I've not done this before...)

Sleep. That'd be nice.

Work busy.  Home busy.  Sleep suffering most.  Last three days more intense than usual.

11 days to race day and I've not decided on which bike to ride yet.  I'm tired.  Really tired.  And no time as yet to do any race thinking or prep.

GAH!

Crunchy Spelt Bran Flakes

Sharpham Park are continuing in their crusade to bring Spelt to the masses in an accessible and tasty way.  This time in the form of a crunchy breakfast cereal:- Crunchy Spelt Bran Flakes (with dates and walnuts).

It's really blimmin' lovely.  Very VERY crunchy.  Firm, nutty bite to the teeth but with disappointingly little fruit and nut in the mix.  The flakes themselves are much thicker than usual cereal flakes and that makes them quite special.  A "proper" portion of 40g is not a disappointing puddle in the bottom of the breakfast bowl, compared with the same weight in muesli and with the thick, highly crunchy flakes this is a great little bowl for breakfast.  The dates, when you find them, are a bit too hard and take some chewing to soften them up.  Walnuts are few and far between too, so you're lucky to get more than one chunk in a bowl.  The taste is what you'd expect from a high percentage spelt product (40% wholegrain spelt and an extra 14% spelt bran) and that means a strong, nutty flavour that shines through any milk you add - whether it's dairy, soy, coconut or something else.  But they still need a bit more fruit and nut than is in the box.

Overall, I really like this cereal.  The texture and taste is a lot better than conventional Bran Flakes and I can add raisins if I want a bit more fruit in there.  Would I buy it if Ocado or Abel & Cole sold it?  Yep.

I found a bit of date!

Sainsburys are selling them though.  So, you can get them directly from Sharpham Park or in Sainsburys.