Up at 6.30, breakfast (only could stomach toast at that time) and off to the station at 7am. It was cold but not too cold. My lack of tights was not a problem. Got on the train to Godalming with a large coffee to try to keep me awake. I had no book or ipod so I had plenty of time to think about the race; Its amazing what you can worry about. My socks are wrong as I brought new white ones for a very muddy race. I don't have proper waterproofs. I haven't eaten enough. I haven't done enough hill training....I HAVEN'T DONE ANY HILL TRAINING.
I got to Godalming and set about using my printed map to find the race. I must get a Garmin bike Satnav. The 7 mile cycle was ok if a little hard work on my battleaxe of a bike. I love my hybrid but is is heavy. I registered ok, stored my bag in the duatlon transition area and queued for the loo. This took 40 minutes - more loos needed.
The runners started first at 10am with the duathlon coming 15 mins later. The 1st few
kilometers were hard going as I tried to find my rhythm and catch my breath. I got talking to a guy called Martin who was in training for the London marathon (dressed as a Gorilla) and that helped pass the time. We parted company at around 6k and I pushed on feeling pretty good, especially up the hills. The course did a 10k loop back to the start before a different and hillier 5k loop. As we got to the end of the 10k I was thinking how the advertised mud was pretty non-existent until we were herded through a knee deep freezing puddle. Nasty.
The 5k loop was tough especially with soaking feet. Whilst the 10k seemed to follow a natural route, the 5k was designed to catch all the hills with a couple of down and back-ups. There was also a wade through the edge of a pond. The end was mean; you ran down a hill towards the finish only to be force back up the hill and down into the finish. I managed to run up all hills apart from the last 20m on the last hill where i got stuck behind a couple of walking blokes. Never mind.
I really enjoy the race the was pleased with my form although I thought I'd finished higher up the field. The next one in the series is a 10k in 2 weeks. I can't wait.
I got to Godalming and set about using my printed map to find the race. I must get a Garmin bike Satnav. The 7 mile cycle was ok if a little hard work on my battleaxe of a bike. I love my hybrid but is is heavy. I registered ok, stored my bag in the duatlon transition area and queued for the loo. This took 40 minutes - more loos needed.
The runners started first at 10am with the duathlon coming 15 mins later. The 1st few
kilometers were hard going as I tried to find my rhythm and catch my breath. I got talking to a guy called Martin who was in training for the London marathon (dressed as a Gorilla) and that helped pass the time. We parted company at around 6k and I pushed on feeling pretty good, especially up the hills. The course did a 10k loop back to the start before a different and hillier 5k loop. As we got to the end of the 10k I was thinking how the advertised mud was pretty non-existent until we were herded through a knee deep freezing puddle. Nasty.The 5k loop was tough especially with soaking feet. Whilst the 10k seemed to follow a natural route, the 5k was designed to catch all the hills with a couple of down and back-ups. There was also a wade through the edge of a pond. The end was mean; you ran down a hill towards the finish only to be force back up the hill and down into the finish. I managed to run up all hills apart from the last 20m on the last hill where i got stuck behind a couple of walking blokes. Never mind.
I really enjoy the race the was pleased with my form although I thought I'd finished higher up the field. The next one in the series is a 10k in 2 weeks. I can't wait.
Distance: 15k (9.3 miles)Time: 1:27:56
Pace: 9:25 minute miles
Position: 100th out of 123
First Place: 1:01:29
Last Place: 1:44:31
Great to meet you too :) Hopefully see you at Mud Man.
ReplyDelete