Actually racing again, entered this to get some motivation on training, off road mtb and trail running, what could be better.
Odlo Coed y Brenin Duathlon. 10k, 25k, 5k
Bit of a crazy few days where I borrowed my friends mtb and ran around for shoes. Living with my mother in law for 3 months I didn't have a clue where I had all my gear. Put all my gear in a builders bucket and off we went.
Very cold 4 degrees wet and windy it was going to hurt, lined up the Specialized cross country and my inov 8 180. Long sleeve top and tri suit it was a good move. Started steady with 5 guys heading off on the gun, long climbs for the first 4k then a tough decent on way grass I gained a lot of time on the others, another climb and flat I lost a little ground heading over the tops, but in 3rd the end decent to the finish was brilliantly tricky with rock, trees and lots of mud. Coming down I passed 3rd and 2nd and came up short on the leader Paul Jones. Feeling quite strong.
Looking at the transition splits I was 2 min slower than the leader at the switchover. I had a bucket of clothes but had no idea what to wear. It took that Long! Very embarrassing looking back.
I hadn't ridden the bike before today just around the Car park and only worn the shoes the night before, it took a while to get things going. The bike was a little small but a superb bit of kit, top end stuff and felt fast. I got going on the bike in 5th position, the route was very kind to me and avoided the tricky slops sticking to fast flowing single trail and forest roads. I caught the guy in 4th and came in back to transition in the same position. Enjoyed 'the bike except for a couple of silly falls and the chain coming off. Should have been quicker.
The run from transition started off climbing again, very cold and tough going. The feet numb! Had no vision of 3rd so tried to keep going as quick as I could.
I caught the 3rd guy on top of the hill and went passed only for him to hold on to me. Then on approaching the last decent we caught eyes on 2nd. We kept going and hit the last decent. Full on free running at its best I passed the 2nd guy with 200m to go, and finished with a smile. Great race.
All through the race I dodnt have a clue what position i was in, so to be 2nd was a big suprise and 2min down on the leader I was kicking myself.
4 weeks later I put my interest towards GB QUALIFACTION. IBIZA here we come.
