Well first of all welcome to my new blog! The focus of this blog will mainly be training updates, race reports and the general madness of endurance/multi sports.
Lets kick off with the first race of the season; the Monster Duathlon organised by Monster Racing. This race was a 5k run, 25k bike and 5k run format.This is the first time I’ve competed in this event, so I was unsure of what to expect on the day. Registration opened at 6.30am at the event HQ – Witchford Village College, and since I live so close I decided to cycle down to the start, with my race clothes on, and also some joggers, t-shirt and hoody, plus two hats – the weather was a little chilly to say the least!
As ever my keenness and paranoia at being late meant that I was the first to arrive and rack up my bike – however I was greeted by the ever friendly Peter at the entrance – it was nice to see a friendly face to start the day! I chose a space for my bike and kit relatively close to the transition entry/exit and then went to register and get my kit sorted. As people started to trickle in, there were nods of the heads and a sly look at the other bikes/kit that people had chosen for the day, and as the sun rose and the transition area began to fill with chatter, a great sense of anticipation filled the air.
After I had gone to the toilet for the third time (no easy feat when wearing two tri suits) Ben turned up. Ben is one of the people I train with most, and I had been waiting for him to turn up so we could go for a quick jog to warm up the legs. As we chatted about the race and trotted around my adrenaline started to build up and I was really eager to get going. Eventually everyone gathered for the race briefing, at which point I started stripping off the extra layers to get race ready.
Ben and I lined up at the start for the first 5k run leg, and found ourselves right at the front – no pressure! Then go!!! We sped off the front, and for the first 1.5k I found myself leading the pack, running on the frosty pavements out of the housing area, and out towards an old airfield – as we hit the track I was over taken by some of the more seasoned athletes however I managed to hang onto a decent pace. As we looped the airfield we ran through mud, Ice and water and back out towards the track again, through the housing area and then back into transition. I finished the first 5k in a time of 18 minutes 2 seconds – a new PB on my part.
At this point I was fairly sure that I was in somewhere around 10th place, and wanted to keep it that way. Transition 1 took a little longer than it should have as I chose not to leave my cycling shoes on the bike, and instead opt for a slower start. However once I was on the bike it felt great to have a change of pace for the legs, and we pushed out of Witchford towards the A10. Here I managed to overtake another competitor whilst on the straight, and turned into Little Downham, and then Coveney. During this section I was overtaken by another athlete, and I could hear the dreaded sound of an aero wheel creeping up on me. After that I vowed to not let anyone else past!!
Through Coveney was windy and frosty, however I had chosen to leave my winter tires on the bike, so was able to give it a little more through the bends. As I approached the end of the Coveney wind tunnel (semi-serious) I turned onto the A142 and started really giving it some. I could see two others about 30 seconds ahead. I overtook one as we approached the Lancaster Way round about and turned back on ourselves – with the wind behind me I decided to finish off my bike legs and give it some up to the turn off, down towards the college. I saw Ben on the return leg and gave him a big roar of approval – although he had his race face on so I’m not sure he saw! I managed to finish the bike leg in a reasonable time of 45 minutes and 16 seconds.
Into T2 I managed to fling my cycling shoes off, drop my helmet and slip my elastic tied running shoes onto my feet in almost half the time of T1! Ben later commented that when he arrived into transition (he was racked next to me) that it looked like a bomb had gone off in my kit. Sorry Ben!
As I ran from the transition area I realised that my legs didn’t feel painful or tired. This was because I couldn’t feel them at all!! For the first few hundred metres I was running on jelly legs, egged on by Ely Tri Club supporters who were marshalling and gave me a great boost. I was over taken by someone, but decided to keep my pace consistent for the return leg so I could give it my all. Again up the track and through the ice and mud – this time trying to count the number of runners that I could see on the return leg of the run. As I made the turn around and headed back towards the village I could feel a runner behind me, and stepped up my pace, down the hill, into the housing area. The finish line approached, and I knew it would be a sprint finish – however the guy behind had crept up slowly and sprinted past me just at the last moment. My second run leg was finished in a respectable time of 20 minutes and 37 seconds – giving me a total time of just over 1 hour and 25 minutes and 12th place!! I waited for the other competitors to come in and drank some water and ate some of the free sweets (thumbs up!) and saw Ben turn the last corner and cheered him in as he gave a super strong sprint finish!
All in all it was a great race, with great support and organisation. I felt comfortable for most of the race, and felt I was able to push myself more than I have done before. With a few transition tweaks and brick runs I can hopefully improve future performances.
Needless to say I ate anything in sight for the rest of the day.
To check out a selection of amazing photos to purchase from the event, check out Ian Green Photography.
Thanks for reading!!
Armstrong 
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