Sunday 17 April 2011

Duathlon report

Today was a beautiful sunny day and the location of the event was beautiful, a country estate with a river running through it.  Yesterday I set out my game plan so here's how it went:
I completed the first 5km run at my target speed of 4.45 mins per km - this was a miracle as my Garmin watch wouldn't give me an average read out as it should.  The course was hilly and tough.
The bike ride was 22km not 20km as advertised - my average speed was 27.06 kmph, quicker than my target speed.
The second run was very tough, especially the hills.  I had aimed at 4.30 min per km but slipped to 4.87 per km.  Being my 1st duathlon I learned that it is all about the legs.  The good thing about having a plan with targets is that you can reflect on them and measure your improvements in the future.  Without a plan it would just have been an event.
As with every event you learn from your mistakes.  I forgot a towel so had a "Glasgow shower" afterwards (deodorant), I forgot my tribelt to attach my number to so had to pin on the number.  Doesn't seem too bad but shouldn't have pinned it on before I needed a pee - that raised a few laughs in the gents and it was a close call.  On the bike I managed to squeeze my energy gel, miss my mouth and cover my groin area - that got a few odd looks at the finish line but fortunately I had a spare gel!
All in all the event was a success and I am pleased with the result.  I did end up on all fours at the finish line but managed to avoid serving up a pizza, if you know what I mean!  Next time I'll be better prepared in every way.