Johnny Hall's Travels and Travails

That was a good day even if it was a tough one for my first multisport event. The Bangcock (email me to find out why it's called that) was a hard duathlon, based around Tinto above Biggar. 2 mile run up and down the hill, followed by a 20 mile cycle round the hill, topped off with run right to the top and back down again. There were only 50 entrants and (being the time of year it is) quite a few less starters. However, because of its timing and toughness, everyone that entered was a serious athlete (unlike me). There were quite a few hill runners too, and that was where large amounts of time could (and was) lost. Unfortunately, I have no running speed at all at the moment, having been marathon training all year, so I didn't push it going up the hill the first time. I probably should have warmed up and then went out harder - I might not have been the second last to start the cycle! I guess it gave me a few to pass on the cycle. I really enjoyed the ride - the conditions were pretty good - not much wind, no rain, not too cold. Time trialling on a road bike can be hard work but I quite enjoyed myself. I think I must have overtaken around 15 on the cycle but a few of those went past me as I fannied about in T2. I was a bit indecisive with my kit selection. I had a little group of about 5 or 6who were ahead of me for about 5 miles who were bunched together,which, truth be told, p*ssed me off a bit, so I was determined to catch them. I did but, as I said, they all passed me in T2. The second run was a bit better for me, since I didn't have to feelbad about not going hard. It was mostly a nice easy jog, or a long stretched out run (advantage of being tall - walking fast up hill is easier for me, doesn't help my running though). I got overtaken by a couple of fell runners on the way down but I was going quite hard so I caught one runner. I'm not sure of my position (1/2 way or a bit lower) but my time was just under 2:09, which was quite a bit better than I had expected. It did confirm to me one thing - I'm a better cyclist than I am a (hill) runner. I'm going to do some speed training this winter in preparation for Lochaber, so hopefully I'll redress the balance a bit. I'm going to do some time trialling this year - it'll be interesting to see if I can get close to the hour for a 25 once I get me new TT bike built. All in all, it was a good event - well organised with a nice goodie bag - beer, cake, discounts and a free lunch. Good to meet a couple of guys from the Tri Talk forums, too - they made me nice and welcome. It's my second multisport event (the NYD triathlon next Monday) but I'm not going to be ready to swim crawl (I'm not relaxed enough yet), so breast stroke it is. Oh well, it's only 400m so I shouldn't lose more than a couple of minutes (and some face). Update: 25th out of 40 starters. 19th on the bike. I think I suffered for my leisurely transitions!