The Past 3 months have been a busy and very enjoyable, they
have included lots of different races, training, weather and opportunities. I
have been working hard to achieve a few certain goals and learnt more about
myself and what works and what doesn’t work for me.
On the 18th Oct I competed in the National Duathlon Championships
in Milton Keynes at the Big Cow Duathlon http://www.big-cow.com/Results/IndividualResults.aspx?Id=100
I was able to recce the bike course the day before and it
soon came apparent that it was going to be a fast race, staying overnight
always makes things a lot easier and is much less complicated than travelling down
on the morning.
It was a largely flat bike course with a few sleep pokes
that will certainly blow the legs apart. The run was flat….pancake flat, a pb
course for sure!
The race morning was on a very brisk Oct Sunday morning, the
fog was thick and the temperature was very low! It was the coldest morning
since the official end of the summer and it was obvious that everyone was
thinking the same, base layers were everywhere!
The race started fast and a few ran off very fast and
actually maintained that pace throughout. I was able to stay with the second
lead pack on the run and actually felt very comfortable will around 8k when I
actually realised we had another lap of the run course (got laps confused and
thought we had to turn in, but no one was so soon realised we had one more L
). After the very fast 10k I came into T1 in a decent position and behind some
very good athletes who I know very well, but I always knew that my bike legs
were not there because of previous session and after a very fast run was
expecting nothing less than to loose a few spots on the bike leg….which soon
happened. The fog was actually really bag and I thought my visor was steaming
up, but it was actually the very bad visibility. It took me around 20mins to
shake the pain from the first run and as my legs felt weak (cant get the strength
in them at the moment…..need some work in the winter months in the gym). My run
to bike strength at current is not good and its something I certainly need to address
in the winter….thinking lots of strength and conditioning work will help. After
a tough bike and loosing ground on some of my fellow competitions I went into
T2 determined to gain a few places back. I had a quick transition and ran off
the bike very well. I has lost a lot of ground but wanted to put in a good
final run. I was able to claw back a few places and finish 18th overall.
I was mostly happy with my first run 33.59 10k….a PB by around 86 seconds for a
10k. So very happy with that!
The race highlighted some areas that I need to work on ready
for my next race on the 8th November, but also areas that need to be
addressed during the winter. I must get stronger on the bike that is for certain
and need to continue to run at the race I can now sustain. I have no need to
back off from this race and conditioning, I need to now use this a new platform
and grow on from here and get faster, fitter and better.
Things in my life are in a good place, work, training and
personal relationships are all in sync and life is good! Long may this continue
into and throughout the winter!
