As I don't have a race this weekend, I thought I'd look back at my double weekend of racing last week. I posted about my Kent XC League last Sunday, so here is a post on my duathlon. On last Sunday morning, I am lying in bed, the day after my kent XC League and it is fair to say my legs were feeling rather heavy. I still managed to pull myself out of bed and get downstairs for my porridge, which was topped off with some raw coconut chocolate. Once I was up I was a lot more ready to go, and once my bike was in the car and all my kit was ready, we were off. On arrival, I was very excited because my duathlon was at the Olympic park, which is just pretty awesome! After following a tunnel to the velo park, I quickly checked in with the organisers and was given my race number. I then realised I had forgotten my race belt so, I had to saftey pin my number to my tri suit... not ideal (purely because I was most worried about it getting holes in). this also meant I could grab a top to put on over my number for when I was cycling but this was fine because I didn't actually get cold in the end. After I had set my bike transition up, helped by my number one marshall, aka my dad! For the start I managed to get to the front of the line and when the whistle went I found myself in the front few. After getting into my rhythm, I quickly got up to the front and I found myself leading the run out... this was a very new experience for me. But as I came into the last straight of my second and final run lap, I had a 15 second lead, this isn't a huge lead but I was pleased to have covered my 2 miles in 13:32. I still haven't quite masted already clipping my shoes into my cleats and then doing them up while cycling, but I am still practicing lots, to try and master it. Anyway I was soon off on my bike course and I was in the lead. The bike course was 10 miles, made up of 10 laps... *yawn* that is pretty hard to keep track of and also a little bit boring doing the same loop, but surprisingly it wasn't. I think it was probably to do with being in the Olympic Park,which made it so much more cool! 3 laps went by and I was still in the lead, although this lap I was overtaken twice, and I my legs were starting to feel the burn. Nonetheless I continued to push through each lap and by the end of the 10th lap, I jumped off to find myself in 5th place. I was determined to try and catch the person infront of me in this next run, but we were all too spaced apart by this point and I came in, in 5th overall, and 1st in my age group. The last run lap was so painful and the lactic acid in my legs, was a little overwhelming, however I tried to run through it, and my legs finally got back to normal with about 100m to go. This is usually fine in a triathlon because the run finishes with a 5km run so I can run normally for the last 4km, but in this case the run was just too short, to work in my favour. I was rather pleased to have won my age group, however I was a bit gutted to have missed out in the top 3 for the overall rankings. I still need to continue to improve my bike part and this was really the main reason I did this duathlon, to continue to improve my bike racing. Afterwards we had a wonder around and we got to go and see the indoor cycling track, which was pretty awesome. I was shocked at how steep the sides are because when you see it on the tv, they effortlessly glide up and down the sides. After a busy morning we headed back to the car and set off home. I was pleased with my mornings work and my final time was 55:28 with my splits of R1- 13:32 B1- 34:46 R2- 7:09. I couldn't manage to get out on my bike this morning because of the bad weather, but I am going to jump on my turbo later. Have a good Sunday everyone.
G x
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HelloI'm Grace, a 18 year old runner, and fitness fanatic. Join me on my crazy journey through life, squeezing in an adventure in every second of spare time I have. Archives
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