Johnny Hall's Travels and Travails

Saturday was the first round of the ERC Winter Duathlon series.  The last couple of years, I've thought about doing these but didn't get my finger out in time.  This year, I got my act in order and I've entered rounds 1 and 2.  The 3rd round clashes with the Carnethy 5, which is a shame.

The race format is straightforward.  It's a 4km run (almost) from Kirkliston Leisure Centre, which has a couple of wee draggy climbs in it, then a 10 mile ride on the back road through Winchburgh towards Linlithgow, and then the run is repeated.  Winning times are usually in the low 50 minutes.

I haven't been cycling regularly or with any sort of structure for about 16 months, since before IM Austria but I have worked hard on my running in that time, posting about 1500 miles this year.  I'm knee deep in winter training though, which consists of lots of steady run mileage (I'm at 40-45 miles a week at the moment, building towards 60 a week by the spring) and I've got my triathlon bike set up in the office on my turbo, with a rented Powertap.  My cycling program is still in it's infancy though, I've only been at it for 3 weeks, not enough time to make much difference.

So, I was interested to see where my fitness is, particularly the difference between my running and cycling.

It was very foggy on Saturday morning so I half expected the race to be cancelled (the roads weren't particularly safe) but it went ahead.  There were about 70 competitors on the line, out of an entry of 100 (poor show really), with a mix of obviously serious athletes and a few beginners and everything in between.  I'm not sure where I lie on that spectrum - towards the serious, I guess.

The race was late starting, which played a bit of havoc with my warmup - I wasn't sure how long I had.  I definitely didn't warm up properly, next time I'll do it properly.  The racers charged away at the line and I was left in the middle of the pack, making a mental note not to get too carried away and stay within myself.  It did seem very quick though and I've not got much speed at the moment, I don't think.

After 10 or so minutes, I started to catch some runners who had obviously gotten a bit excited at the start (easily done) and on the last section back on the main road, I caught a fella in orange who I would be up against for the rest of the race.  I passed him and then he came past me again just before transition.  My first run time was 14:33, I was hoping to go under 15 minutes, so that was good.

My transition wasn't the quickest - I had to sit down to put on my cycling shoes and I had trouble getting on the bike (clumsy) but instantly felt comfortable and worked hard reeling in quicker runners.  Again, I caught the orange chap and went past.  However, unlike every other cyclist that I overtook, he wouldn't stay overtaken and over the next 10 miles we caught and passed each other several times (no drafting though, I hasten to add).  

Just before the turnaround, I flew past him on a downhill section and noted after the turn that I had 10 or 20 seconds on him.  I kept the pace high and felt good on the homeward section and overtook a few more cyclists.  Through Winchburgh, I got bogged down a bit and lost some pace and Mr Orange came past again, which was frustrating.  We came into transition more or less together but again, I wasn't the quickest.  My ride time was 27:27, which was about where I was hoping it would be.

Running off the bike in short races is a brutal affair and I was breathing hard as I got moving, right on Orange's heels.  I was determined to stay with him and he was running pretty hard.  We caught a runner after the farm and another before the main road (I think) and I stayed with him all the way.  He kicked the pace up at the end and I matched him but couldn't get past.  Our battle meant that we kept a high pace for the second run leg and I posted a 14:45 time, only 12 seconds off the first leg.

In the end, I was 18th of 70 starters in a time of 58:14.  I wanted to go under an hour, so I have to be happy.  In my first run, I was 25th and the second I was 21st (which in itself is pleasing - must warm up properly next time) and I was 10th cyclist.  So, despite hardly cycling, I still posted a decent ride time.  Hopefully, by the next race, my bike training will have kicked in.