Another Positive Result After Saturday's result at the Ashbourne Duathlon I decided to take part in the 1485 Duathlon, an event I have done already twice and which I really enjoy doing. After cycling to the race venue with Bill - 34miles down the road, it was a matter of setting up transition and do a little bit of running warm up in the hope of finding my running legs as I was really sore from the previous day's efforts.
I wasn't very sure of what I was doing to be fair. I had never raced two successive duathlons and I was quite unsure of what I had to expect. The distances were 5k run - 21k bike - 5k run so plenty of running distance - not good on sore legs! I was certainly looking forward to the 21k time trial as the course suits my strength as its very undulating and there are quite windy sections at times.
So at 10.30 am we set off. I was really worried that after a few minutes of running my legs would just go stiff and it would be a very painful experience, but that never happened. I felt strong all the way posting a 17.48 run split in 6th place, that's 11 faster than in the Elite Duathlon Championships 2 weeks ago. At that time I was think...... WHAT??? Quick transition and off on the bike. I settled quickly into a strong tempo and moved up the field to 2nd position. Legs were feeling good surprisingly. I finished the bike ride, including transition in 34.54.
On the last run I tried catching the guy in front but although I did close the gap I could not get him. I was later overtaken by Chris Jordan, who is a hell of a runner. In the end I had to settle for 3rd place 16sec from 1st place and 2sec from second. Still, I am very pleased with my performance especially since my overall time of 1hr 10mins 52sec is a good 4mins 30sec faster than my personal best time on the course!
So certainly a good weekend of racing, but now am really sore!! Will take a couple of days easy to recover and than start preparing for the BUSC Universities Sprint Triathlon Championships on May 1st.
Dermot
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