Dirty Duathlon - My Race Report

So this morning, I completed my first official duathlon! The forecast was showers/gale force and I heard all this on Saturday night which woke me up several times. In the morning, I got all my things together and got my hydration sorted before I left the house. Apple maps advised me that it would take approx 40min to get to the You Yangs park from Armstrong Creek but it ended up taking approx 30min to get there. I arrived just as the parking area opened and I realised that parking was in a private property (like, someone's front yard). I got the bike out of the car and applied lube to the chain as nothing had been done to the bike since my Dirty Gran Fondo ride, got my bags together and rode to the venue.

I was so early to the race venue that by the time I picked up my race pack, put the race number on the bike, set up my transition and visited the toilet, I still had 45min left to kill before race briefing so I just sat at the stage area (the only area to sit) and just killed time on social media.

With 15min left until race start, I had my pre race gel for the day and took my bag to storage. We were ushered to the start and then it was "off we go".

The start was slightly uphill so my heart rate shot up quick. After a few hundred meters or so, I realised that my legs were just heavy and didn't want to move...I was so frustrated, I could run faster than what I was doing but the legs just didn't want to play! I knew what I had done wrong - I did a 80km ride on Saturday and as much as half of the ride was done at <20km/hr (with the Liv Ride), the other half was also done with intensity. When I came home from the ride, I didn't recover well, I didn't ice my legs and I didn't spend time on the rollers. I paid the price and lessons were learnt.

During the first run, I noticed that I was second last in the race. When I finished the 5km run, I was so glad to get onto the bike. I had ridden this course before. It's not too technical and when you have good bike skills, you can do this bike course very well as it can be flowing fast. For me, I don't have the confidence and enough bike skills to handle myself at high speeds so I still applied brakes. I actually rode through some of the areas which I never did during my previous rides so that was something which I am extremely proud of. I actually "raced" the bike leg as much as I could. I had no one around me the entire time as the first run really blew my time out big time. Whilst I was going passed the marshals, I was telling them that I could be last or second last on the course.

I was a bit disappointed that the bike finished and I had to do a run. It is only 4km but my legs were still not coming out to play. I jogged the first 1km and my legs just collapsed under me that I had to stop and walk on and off for 2km in between. With 1km left to go in the run leg, the volunteer started to ride with me - my emotions at this point was mixed....One side of me was just shattered, I came to realise that I am THE LAST PERSON on the course (the other guy must have pulled out) knowing that I was the only one left last was just a huge slap in the face (not intentionally of course). But the other side of this emotion was actually a positive one - he was actually encouraging so I kept my run accountable. I think as I was the only one out there for a while, it felt like any run I was doing by myself - not stepping out of my comfort zone and stopping whenever I liked but with him there, I made sure that I was just running and stopped thinking about how shit I was feeling.

I finished the 4km run in about 27min which was ridiculous. When I crossed the line, they announced that I was the last person across the line and when I went to the bike storage, it was the only bag left on the table, I walked over to the transition area to grab my things and my bike was the last one left - everyone had gone home. I mentioned in my last post that I was sure that I was going to place last again but I guess I am reflecting on this more and how I shouldn't be (satisfied at being last)!

Lessons Learnt/Comments:

• I need to still train through these non A races. This means that I need to take care of my body better and recover better in preparation for the next day's event. 
• Do runs off the bike. In the next level of my training, I will start to incorporate Wednesday morning rides so I will try as much as I can to do runs off the bike. For now, I will somehow do this after my Thursday morning spin class and my Saturday long rides. 
• Wore the SOAS tri shorts for the first time. My stomach is still huge at the moment so the shorts are rolling down my stomach. This was frustrating me during my run. I am still to try and race with the entire SOAS tri top and shorts. Waiting for the warmer months do try this. 
• I wore thick wool socks with a pair of cycling socks as I thought it would be cold. This was an overkill and will not be doing this next weekend for Run Forrest. 
• For the terrain, I would not recommend trail shoes - normal runners is sufficient as the run is over the fire trails and not forrest trails or single track. 
• I rode without gloves and I found it fine for this event.

Race Stats:

Run 1 = 33min, 

Bike + Transition = 1:11

Run 2 = 27min

I placed DFL for the entire event - 79th for all the people who turned up and finished for the day. 10/10 for females 19-35, 21/21 for all females. 

Dirty Duathlon - The Preview

This Sunday, I have my first official duathlon event. Although I have completed several duathlon races - most of them being the corporate triathlons, I have never signed up for one on purpose!

This one is an unusual one too as it is off road. It is held at You Yangs and the event distances are:
5km Trail Run
17km Mountain Bike Ride
4km Trail Run

Why did I sign up for this event? I have mentioned before that this year, I am making myself accountable for my training and signing up to events, albeit will occur expenses throughout the year, will make me push beyond my comfort zone and will help me achieve my goals.

I felt that this event was do-able for someone with little confidence in mountain biking and less than ideal fitness levels. I have really enjoyed riding out at You Yangs (Kurrajong trails) so I signed up for this event when I saw it on social media around April. 

As this is a duathlon and off-road, my gear would need to completely change! The event is held at You Yangs, so I thought I would stay at my parent’s house out of Geelong so the drive over there would be around 45min instead of 1.5 hours.'

I have decided to wear just a plain pair of tri shorts for the entire event. I have never really found it too uncomfortable on the saddle on the mountain bike even though the saddle is totally different from the one I have on all my road/CX bikes. For the top half, I am either going to wear a short sleeve or a long sleeve running shirt. I am not going to bother with a cycling jersey or tri-top. I currently don’t have a tri suit to wear and I don’t think a tri suit will be required for a duathlon although I would like something to hold my stomach in. Considering it will most likely be showers on Sunday (today’s forecast for Sunday) – it will most likely be a long sleeve shirt. I will wear socks throughout the event, I might even double sock up for some comfort. 

On Run 1, I will have my trail runners on. Coming into transition, I will change out of my running shoes and into my MTB shoes, put on my Camelbak hydration bag for ease of drinking on the bike, have my helmet near my bike. Coming back into Run 2, I will change out of my bike shoes and into my running shoes, take off my hydration bag and off I go. 

I don’t know if I will wear a hat or glasses. I won’t be carrying any hydration on the run as there is a drink station on each one of the run legs. I will carry my nutrition on me. I will definitely have a gel before the start and one (or maybe two) more on the bike and then nothing for the 4km run. Based on my estimations, I will do the following times:

Run 1 – 0:30 – 0:35min

Bike – 1:15 – 1:20

Run 2 – 0:20 – 0:30

Total time of 2:20 – 2:35 (including transition)

Considering that I am very hesitant on the mountain bike even though the course itself is not technical, I am prepared to take the DFL placing again. Once again, I am not bothered as I am doing this event to make my training accountable and placing myself out of my comfort zone.

We received our race numbers yesterday - I am "duo29".