Archive for March 2nd, 2010

The Duathlon de Salon is over but season 2010 has just begun. While I did not come home in first place, or second, or third or fifth or tenth, I did manage to scrape into the illustrious top-18 ;-) I now feel old and slow enough to talk whistfully about the days when I was young and fast…..ahhh, thems were the days…..

So yes, it was hardly a display of white hot speed and terrifying pace but I felt strong and I felt good – just not fast. And that’s ok. To be honest if I’d pulled out a blinder for a race like this I would start to worry that either I had: (a) had peaked way too early for my goal race which is still over 17 weeks away; or worse (b) had incorrectly dedicated every spare hour during the last four years of my life to the relentless and slow moving war of attrition they call ironman when in fact I could have been training for one hour per day and enjoying the leisured life of the short course athlete.

Anyhow, the race itself was really cool, as was the weather – and grey and wet as well. I think it is the first time that I have ever raced in a beanie!

The first 5k run was a two lap course that was predominantly a trail run, though with the weather being as it was, the term ‘cross country’ would not be a bad way to describe it. Within 200m from the start line we were jumping puddles and trawling through mud. One competitor had already lost a brand new Newton shoe in the thick mud – nice shoes if you can keep them on your feet!

I think I finished the run in about 30th place. Onto the bike and the rain really hit. Out of transition and bang – a huge climb of probably 10-15 minutes. A nice way to put a bit of burn into the legs. After climbing, my hands and arms were so cold that I could not use them properly and had to awkwardly use all the strength I could muster in both of my hands to shift my gear lever to get the chain into the big ring. After this I dared not shift into the small ring again, despite a few more nasty climbs on the course.

I picked up a few places on the bike leg but did not manage to catch my mate Nico who had rather annoyinlgy put 20 seconds into me on the first run. I thought he used to be a pro biker not a pro runner! The last section of the bike course was the descent down the hill that we had climbed at the start. Descents are not my strong point but I thought was doing well until two guys tore past me…..both comfortably resting on their tri bars! The french sure do know how to ride bikes.

The final run was a one-lapper on the trail that by this stage of the day had really turned to a muddy quagmire. In many parts it was difficult to get any traction on the ground but it was all part of the fun. I had a strong final run and picked up a few places along the way.

The after party was very short lived as I donned as many warm clothes as I could find and we jumped into the trusty Punto, dialled up the heating and headed straight for home and warm shower.

It was a good day out and nice to be racing again. After a long time getting settled in over here and fighting through a long and cold winter I am now starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Spring is coming and then summer and the races are only going to get bigger and better!!! Yep, soon it will be ‘on like donkey kong’ and I can hardly wait!

If you are interested you can check out the results here: http://sudchrono.com/resultats_10/02.php

Thanks for reading