12th April 2015 - The Wilton Arms, Belmont
With the week leading up to the Duathlon being the hottest of the year, my hopes were high for the day, but as the week progressed, rain and wind settled in for Sunday Morning and it wasn't going anywhere.
The first thing I have to say is a massive Kudos to Bolton Decathlon for the organisation of this event, constant updates, the Facebook forum always fun, and the marshalls and support on the day was second to none. The marshalls braved the wind and cold of this one of April morning all to point us in the right direction, make sure we were safe and most of all give us that little bit of encouragement when we needed it most. Thank you to you all.
During our briefing of what lay ahead I was noticing that my body had started to shiver and shake, the temperature had really dropped, maybe the rain was coming a little earlier than expected. With no time to think about it, Wave 1 (my wave) was hustled into position and the event began.
Trying to find a pacer, we set off down the main road, only minutes later to be presented with the first of our inclines. A long stretch through quaint little houses into the farm land, through open fields and down country paths I was feeling pretty strong. I had found myself a runner with a Tom Tom MultiSport watch who told me that she was running at an 8:30 per mile pace which is a comfortable pace for me, so I bored her with conversation whilst using her as a guide. As we left the farm land and turned onto Smithill's Dean Road, the incline we had all been warned about, my pacer took a little bit of a break from me and tackled the hill perfectly. Once we turned at the top on Scout Road, the route took an a more level gradient and I found my pace again, and my pacer. Finally turning down an offbeat track with slippy rocks and undulating terrain we found ourselves back on the main road en-route to the Wilton Arms again and the second leg of the duathlon.
Quickly through transition, whacking on my helmet and stocking up on gels I was off. I seemed to be making great pace and although there is a little incline to start with, the route seemed much easier than my previous test ride. Down into Belmont and then a few climbs back out to Tockholes, the M65 roundabout was soon in sight. It was as I found myself on the latter half of the roundabout that I noticed why I had managed such a great pace. I had been riding with a serious tail wind that I had just turned back into it. Immediately off the roundabout is what I can call a monstrous climb, add in the serious head wind that was now battering down and this became a lot more difficult than I had anticipated. The head wind never let up for the whole return journey, and I am sure someone must have built some more hills on the way back, because it seemed like I was climbing for the full distance.
There were points I had to stand up to cycle down hill as the hurricane-esque winds seemed to get stronger and stronger as the surroundings opened up more. I was having a serious sense of humour failure, and started swearing at the wind. I know it may sound a little crazy, but it was the only thing I could do.
I had felt really strong on the run, and held my own with the group, but now on this hellish cycle I was being over taken continuously. I can honestly say, for the full 28k I did not overtake a single cyclist, not a one, and with so many passing me on the hills I was checking to see if my wheels were actually square or I was on a bike at all.
When the Wilton Arms was back in sight I was ready to get back on terra firma and stretch my running legs again.
I set off again, with no pacer this time on the final stretch of the 6k run. Following the same path as before I knew what lay ahead. Passing some of the cyclist that had left me on hills a few minutes before I was back strong and trying to put the incline at Scout Road out of my head for a little bit. The run up this road was far from any normal pace, and again, someone must have extended the road as I don't remember it being this long before. As I turned at the crest, I knew it was pretty much down hill to the finish line.
With a spring in my step and ready for action I picked up the pace and pushed to the finish line.
Not setting any records, but finishing at 2 hours 30 I was bang on what I was aiming for. Using this as a little training session before my Half Marathon in a couple of weeks, I am happy to say that without a daft windy cycle in the middle I feel quite strong on the run.
Again, Decathlon Bolton, excellent work on a great event, I will be signing up for next year, but if you can do something about the two least favourite things beginning with "H", Hills and Head Winds, then I will enjoy it more.
Mark Lysycia Photography took some great pictures for us to remember the day with in addition to the ones from my darling wife and person who signed me up for this madness in the first place.
Also thank you to my awesome brother for the T-shirt (I will be there to support you for your Ironman) which was created by
Here are our split times (My fellow competitor, great friend and excellent cyclist Daavv (John) and mine)
A fantastic video of the event was done by Chris McGloin Films&Photography, which seems to show quite a bit of me on the run and cycle, and thankfully has my finish too...must have been the T-shirt
Comments
Post a Comment