Oddly enough, this was my first duathlon of any kind. Rather than pick some nice easy flat tarmac event, I've ended up running and biking round a very challenging course. But I think this is much more fun than a standard race.The race takes place on an all terrain army training ground near Aldershot. I've been there before as I did the Grim Challenge last year - so I knew what to expect. I expected to get quite a bit more tired, but in the end it was about the same really.
I was very pleased to have fellow Evolution Triathlon club members Zoe, Hank and Elliot for company - I had a great time last year on my own, but it's even better with friends. We all met up in plenty of time on a sunny morning and racked our bikes in the muddy transition area. Some heavy rain during the week and overnight ensured that we would have a very messy day.
We warmed up with a bit of a run - and got to near the front of the start funnel. This was a very good move - I've been caught out too many times behind slower runners.
As usual, I was fine for the first fice minutes of the race, then struggled a little wondering why I was there. Settled into it quickly though, especially once my feet got completely soaked in the knee high water.I finished strongly in a time of 21:32 - good for a tough 5K.
Out on the bike I was feeling good, when only 2-3K into the first 10K lap (a two lap bike course) someone overtook me and said my tire looked flat. Sure enough, I'd punctured and had to stop. I was not properly prepared for this - never really expecting it to happen on a brand new bike. I had a spare tube, but no pump. Sod's Law states that it must be the rear wheel, which it was. Decided I had to do whatever I could - my 'race' was over - but the day wasn't finished yet. I changed the tube and started running with the bike.
Hadn't gone too far when I turned a corner and found a couple of fellow competitors by the side of the track. They were very helpful, and pumped my tire up for me. Sadly there wasn't anything I could do to help them, and so I was on my way.A few minutes later I overtook Hank, and Zoe, both with punctures - what a day. With no spare tube or pump, unfortunately I couldn't help them either. Hank did manage to get his bike fixed though and completed the race.
Loved the course, so much variety. Some scree covered hills, lots of watery gravel tracks, covered in mud and grass and even clay in places so that you just had to get off and push. Even a bit of cycling through the trees. I was way back due to the puncture but never got overtaken again and steadily made my way through the field. This was very difficult, as the person in front was always taking the easiest route, and to overtake them I had to pull out into more marshy track and really push. The second lap was better as there were a few less bikes to contend with and I knew what was coming up so could plan my overtaking spots a bit ahead.
Got back to transition for the interesting bit - how would I cope with another 5K run. My running has been good this season, so I expected to be OK, and I was. It was tiring, but I maintained my overtaking and passed quite a few more people - never being passed myself - very much like my triathlons where I come out of the swim near the back of the pack.
Was a little surprised by the crawl under the camouflage net for the second lap. This time it was covered in wet mud and I got plastered! How can you finish a Grim race NOT covered in mud :-)Very pleased with my 22:58 time for the second 5K, and also with my final time of 02:05:51 - which placed me 106th out of nearly 350 competitors. If I hadn't punctured and lost 10-15 minutes I think I could have done very well - I definitely want to go back with stronger tires to have another go next year.
So even though this was a 5K/20K/5K duathlon, it felt similar to last years 8 mile pure running race - different muscle groups for the bike, and pacing myself, meant I was less tired this year in fact, even though it took an extra hour. Could be that I'm also fitter. Maybe my next race, the Puma Hellrunner, will show which of these options is true :)
Note: things to remember. Nutrition is much more difficult to handle - I didn't get much chance to eat of drink (my drink was a bottle in transition which I only went through twice). It was much too difficult to open gels on the bike. I need a proper plan for this for next time.
[Currently you can see the full results here]
