Slateman Sprint Duathlon

It was a month after limping worried over the finish at my last race. My knees had been hurting and I wasn't quite sure why. And only four days after having had an appointment with the physiotherapist where I found out what the problem was. Not much time to sort anything out! But I would have to see how things would go. At least I had the blessing of the physiotherapist to do this race.

This was going to be the very anticipated duathlon! I registered for that, because I decided that most of the training for my runs is done on bike anyway. Why not try to cut out the middleman? And just compete on said bike?

I had registered for the sprint, as I wanted to find out if I liked this sort of stuff at all. So that was: 2.5 km running, 20 km biking, and 5.8 km running. I figured these 2.5 km are so short I couldn't really hurt myself. My knees would be fine on the bike! And if my knees were unhappy during the second run, I could always walk. It's only 5.8 km. 

It was a 9 am start, which was late by the standards of the event. There were both duathlons and triathlons happening, both in several distances. The first batch started at 7 am! So even though we were the most leisurely cohort, it was an earlier start than you generally get. And I suspected it would be busy, so I wanted to arrive in good time. I also still needed to get my race number. So I got there before 8 am. I parked at the parking lot out of town, where I had also gone for wild swimming with Kate, and biked to the start.

There I first got my race number. There was no queue whatsoever! And with that number I could now go and park my bike. It needs to be labelled up beforehand. And every number came with a designated spot for the bike. I could have guessed! But I was clearly new to this. I was also told I needed to have my helmet on, and fastened, when I parked the bike. This is clearly ludicrous, but I had been warned by the physiotherapist that this is the sort of rules they impose on you when you do an event like this.

My commuter bike among the other steeds

I had a chat with Jenny’s daughter who I spotted; she was cheering on her husband. Nice! And I checked where the bag drop was in case I needed it. And then it was time for the race briefing. At the same time, Jaco and Marjan arrived, but of course I had to be in that briefing. And when it was over it was only three minutes to the start. Not much time for socialising! And such a small group doing the sprint duathlon. 

At the start; pic by Always Aim High

We set off. Maybe I went a bit too fast. It was hard not to, given that we only had 2.5 kilometres to go! And when I got to the bikes I dutifully put my helmet on, turned my race number around, and ran the bike to the road. I saw Jaco and Marjan cheering! And then I got to the bit I had come for. 

It starts quite flat. It is quite forgiving! I was just pedalling along. I'm not sure I do racing very well! But stubbornly getting to the finish is something I can do quite well. And I knew I stood out with my bike; I don't think anybody else had a pannier rack. Or mudguards. And I know why; the mudguards were rubbing like the clappers. Maybe someone had accidentally tugged them, as they hadn't been rubbing between parking lot and event terrain. I stopped make it go away. And then I was back on.

I was overtaken by quite some fast people in one of the more diehard races. I didn't see anybody else with the same colour race number as myself! And I could just enjoy the views. This road is very beautiful, and it was closed for the occasion to motorised traffic. It will never again be this lovely.

Promo pic from Always Aim High showing the beauty of the road

A first: me on a bike in a race

It wasn't that arduous; my commute is not dissimilar in distance and elevation. Even though I don't do that in one go, of course. So I got to the pass, got down on the other side, but not that far down. Back up the pass was ok, and then I could do the long descent. I was a bit careful! That road has loads of blind bends. And you might just have errant sheep on the tarmac. But nothing like that happened, and I got back into Llanberis. I dutifully dismounted by the designated line, and went to park my bike again.

When I got off, I noticed my knee was not happy. Oh dear! I still had almost 6 km to go. I did a little ITB stretch, had a sip of water, and was off. Fingers crossed.

I was scared I would have to walk the whole way. My knee really wasn't enjoying itself! Luckily though, it was only the right knee. Nothing like the double knee malarkey of the previous time. But I jogged to the bridge. When I hit the first slope I walked. Uphill you don't go fast anyway. If you don't run, you don't lose that much time. And there is a lot of uphill there.

At some point there also were some mountain bikers standing by the course. I suppose they were waiting for the runners to pass so they could use the path again, but they were also cheering people on. One of them was my physio! So I gave him the brief update that my left knee was holding up but the right one wasn't. And that I was going to manage to finish anyway.

When I got to the top I tried to run again. Carefully! And I tried to run in ways that would be least detrimental to my knee. And I got away with it! I ran quite a lot. Nothing really fast. A lot faster than walking, though. And a lot faster than towards the end of the Snowdonia Half Marathon.

Not too far now! Pic by Always Aim High

I managed to run over to finish! And that was the end of my duathlon adventure. 

Jaco and Marjan were looking a bit cold and wet. It had started raining! So I suggested we run away and go for a hot coffee in town. And we did. For two of us, the hot coffee turned into hot chocolate. It really wasn't very summery weather! So it was nice to warm up again.

Then we went each our way. I needed to retrieve my bike. It was frustrating I hadn’t been able to race at full capacity, but at least I have now done a duathlon. And I kind of like it! I might do it again next year. But I really hope I can then properly race, rather than hobbling along, trying not to hurt my knees too much. I am very dedicated to my knee exercises. I hope I will be back in fighting shape soon!