Dumb, Dumb, Dumb, Dumb, Dumb, Dumb, Dumb, Dumb, Dumb, Dumb, FLASH, AAAAAAHHH

I was going to use a Ming the Merciless quote for the title but my legs felt that re-interpreting the theme tune was more appropriate. I was warned in advance that the long 13-mile run was a cruel and evil course and I decided that after a 7-mile run going on the long 30-mile bike would be too ambitious, so I restricted myself to doing the short-short race. Short run was 7 miles, short bike was 17.

Even the short run is cruel. It starts off ok on a nice quiet, winding country road with a bit of a gentle climb. But then it gets rapidly harder when you are turned into a field and have to run through fresh cut grass along the side of a hill tilted at 30 degrees right to left. That goes to a rutted farm track, then another section of road, then a nasty little wooden bridge. All this was already making it hard to get into a proper running rhythm but this was before the climbs and the forest tracks. Then it turns down hill and you have the same combination in reverse. With the added option of a 50-yard shortcut if you want to cut through the burn instead of the bridge (pass!).

I eventually came off the run in 7th, but I think I came out of transition in 4th and snuck up to 3rd by virtue of clipping in faster than the kid I came out of transition with. That actually worked out better for him than me as he got comfortably onto my wheel and sat there getting a completely free ride for the first 8 miles until I had my first major attack of cramp and he pulled up alongside. I managed to ease my calfs off a little and as soon as I was back on the power he just slipped in for more of the slipsteraming.

I was struggling enough every time I had to stretch that my shadow decided to go on the attack. That is maybe a bit harsh. The first couple of times he just rolled around and didn't have much more to go so he ended up pulling for a slower quarter-mile stretch till I recovered enough to put the pace back up. The third time when he got level I was seriously considering getting off the bike to stretch and I told him just to drop me and push on. He didn't need to be told twice and he quickly opened a decent gap. Unstrapping and loosening off my shoes helped a little but not enough. A nice downhill section gave me a chance to try and stretch but being on the tri-bars was tightening my hips so I still wasn't getting much respite.

Then a couple of back-markers on long-short combinations started coming into view in front. The incentive of picking people off and catching back to the kid put my race head back into gear and was enough to help me work over the cramp. I managed to catch my shadow and he got another couple of miles free on my wheel before two of the long-long riders caught us. They were pushing at a different pace and I was able to get a few hundred yards of my own wheel-sucking into each of them and despite the pace increase I was getting enough of a rest to ease of the cramp so when I lost each of them I was able to keep the pace high enough that I finally dropped the kid with about a mile and a half to go.

The 7-mile run is the furthest I have run since September last year and averaging under 8min-miles for such a testing course was much better than expected. Despite the regular pedalling breaks to try and stretch off I still managed to clock my fastest ever bike ride, averaging 17mph for the hour. This probably had a lot to do with the relative flatness of the course but it was also the hardest and cleanest I have worked on the bike yet even including the stretching breaks.

Only real mistake of the day was the decision not to wear calf guards or compression socks. Have had them on since I got home to try and cut down any overnight effect so that I can go out to Knockburn tomorrow.