Saturday 18th September was the date that had been in my diary for most of the year, my first full-on Duathlon.
It was a weekend dedicated to Triathlon (Swim, Bike, Run), the Saturday being "Sprint", Sunday was "Standard" and "Legend". They also put on Duathlon's (Run, Bike, Run), which is my current forte due to my shoulder issue, this puts me out of swimming for now.
I camped out the night before, sadly the tent behind had loud snoring folks. Some parents cannot clearly control children, who thought it was fun to pull up the guy ropes at times in the evening, not the best race prep.
We all used the same transition (the area where your bike is stored), and after registration, I "racked" up my bike and tried to settle.
You get a tiny area to store your kit, enough space for shoes and a towel (if swimming). There are many rules in triathlon, mostly it seems in transition when you wheel your bike in, you must be wearing your helmet. Rack your bike, then you can take it off! So officials were telling people all time. When you come in from the swim or first run, you must put your helmet on before taking the bike off the rack, so it is drilled into you!
Penalty points and disqualifications are easily picked up!
The sprint duathletes lined up to the start, the race director informing us we would get underway at 8:30am and go at the same time as the swimmers, so he had his radio turned up.
Even though I was staying local, I still had a 5 o'clock wake up, so I was glad to finally get underway, the first leg for us was a 2.4km run; turning right, we had to run up the hill, which we would later ride up, not a fantastic start to a race.
This section was tarmac, I had been told many times it was a trail shoe event because of the beach and woodland paths we would use... in hindsight, most of the routes on both runs were easy for a road shoe, the beach sand was so soft, it made no difference I think.
My Adidas Kanadi's, which serve me well for cross-country, were no better grip than the winners Nike "cheat shoe"... So next year road shoe it will be.
As we return to the event area from the beach, the climb out of the dunes is punishing, I was 3rd all the way through the run and headed into transition, searching for my bike.
TIP: Always rehearse finding your bike in what is a crowded space!
The bike section is my weakest; as you may have guessed, running is my background. However, it seems most triathletes are cyclists that learn to swim and get better at running. So I have to get better at cycling and modify my bike with "marginal gains".
The more aerodynamic and light you can make the bike and yourself, the greater the speed potential for the same effort. My Focus Cayo is a bit old but is carbon fibre, so light, more a "Sportive" bike, meant for touring at speed, rather than out and out Time Trial (TT).
The watch I use is the Garmin Forerunner 735XT which is excellent for triathlon as you can quickly change the sport as you transition. I have a Garmin Edge bike computer I set up before the race to be in "Extended Display Mode". As I get near the bike, it pairs up and displays my speed, cadence, distance travelled, the watch is recording, the computer just relaying. This way I can keep my eyes upfront and no need to look at my wrist!
As you can see from the photo above, I am not so aerodynamic, my shoulder pain means I cannot get so low, I have drop handles but my chin should be nearer the handlebars!
I have ordered aero bars now, they should be installed before my next race on the 3rd of October. The hope is I can squeeze out a bit more speed as I transform the bike into a beast, I presume the bars make it look like having horns... hence the beast.
The wheels I have are good road wheels but not racing, so I will upgrade them and be "bike fitted" later this year, where the bike and I will be tuned to work in harmony.
The sound the beasts make as they whirr past you is fantastic, also annoying as you push like hell and they sail on!
I averaged 29 km/h, which I hope to improve next year; the course has excellent flat sections and a few hills, favouring the beast!
About halfway around, I took a corner too quick, managing to stay upright as I mounted the grass verge, a little scary but non the worse. As the race progressed, bikes were whirring past me, most wearing red race numbers (triathletes) and blue numbers like me, so I slipped to 13th.
As I approached the mount line, I got the "dismount" wrong and slid off onto the bar, uncomfortable and embarrassing. But, much to the delight of the marshal, as she quoted, "take it easy, it's not a race", haha.
I did get off the bike before the mount line, so no penalty, but it meant I had to run a little further into transition, rookie mistake.
As I racked the bike, removed my helmet, changed shoes, I knew I had some ground to make up. Run 2 is just over 5k and uses more of the woodland and a more extended section of the beach. I started to pick off runners, some were triathlon, but some I recognised as duathletes, so I felt good I was progressing well. The races were being filmed for S4C, so it was the first time I have had a film crew on a 4 wheeled scrambler in front of me. Technically they were filming the Team GBR woman that would go on to win, so I kept up with her for as long as I could 😆
On the beach, I managed to clear more runners, at least 2 from my race; the sand was hard work, as this picture shows:
One of my shoelaces came undone, again a rookie thing, rising in transition. I decided not to stop and "plough on" in the sand.
Yet again, you have to scramble up a dune to get off the beach and then head for the finish. I was glad to get over the line, not that it shows well on my face:
I finished 7th overall and 3rd M40, a pity they don't do the same as UK Athletics and have MV45 might have won that!
