The race was run over an unusual "long" distance of 20km run 77km bike and 10km run in a beautiful setting of the Richmond Park over roads closed to traffic.
Give the lack of training over the last couple of weeks before the race due to work commitments and our trip to New York it was always going to be a tough race but on the race morning I felt especially tired. I'm not sure if it was jetlag catching up with me or lack of training but I was very apprehensive. It looked like a great day, though, and I decided to give it a go and just try to do my best.
I started the run at a fairly conservative and comfortable pace clicking at about 4min/km pace. On the second 10km lap my lack of training was starting to show but I managed to keep the pace despite arriving into transition with big blisters in 11th place overall in 1:22.
After a quick transition I was glad to be on the bike and to give my feet a little bit of rest. The course was quite congested, but I was passing a lot of people, particularly on the fast downhill section where with no traffic we were going at almost 60km/h. I tried to keep each of the 7 laps consistently between 19:45 and 19:15. A couple of people passed me on the climbs but I was always able to drop them on the downhill. I finished the bike in 3:16, now in 6th position overall.
The last run was always going to be tough and a case of survival more than anything else. I was hoping that everybody was going to be feeling tired and running slow. The first couple of km were really slow and my hamstrings and lower back were really tight. As run progressed I started to feel better and picked up the pace. Soon enough I passed the 5th and then the 4th
man. Unfortunately 3rd was still way in front so the last couple of km were just about getting to the finish as by then my legs were cramping up pretty badly. Run time 44:30.
I finished in 4:26 in 4th place overall and 1st in my age group. I was very tired but happy with the result considering my condition and lack of training. It was one of the toughest duathlon races I've done, but I really enjoyed it and would like to do it again at some point.
One more race left for this season - the Vo2 Olympic Distance race at Dorney lake and then onto some well deserved rest.
