One morning my friend Robert asked me if I would like to do a
duathlon in Dinton Pastures Country Park on 17th November 2013, organised for their first time
by Reading Barnes Fitness. Their headline sponsor
was Lexus Reading. Because I have never done any duathlon before I said
´Yes´.
The race was held in the country park in Hurst,
the borough of Wokingham, near Reading in Berkshire. It was a quite early
start at 8:30 am to make it safer for cycling. Roads were open and usually Sundays
mornings are very quiet. We had to be there at least 1 hour earlier to
do the registration and rack our bikes. There was also a briefing 30 minutes
before the start. Another friend Brano kindly offered to be our
personal photographer and main supporter. He was chasing us like
paparazzi.
Robert and I starting the race off
Around 200 people were competing in it including a couple of members of Evo tri club Matthew and Sarah. The route was
5.25 km off road run around the lakes, 20 km on road bike followed by another 5.25 km
off road run. The weather on the day was dry and around 10 degrees so
almost perfect for racing. I didn´t need to worry about my nutrition
much as it was a short distance.
My first run was good.
I really enjoyed the countryside. I was tempted to go faster but I
had to save some energy for later. My first run time was in 24min and
23sec. Robert was around 2 minutes ahead
from me. Then I went off on the bike.
Last run and I keep smilling
The bike course was around Twyford and Hurst
with a few hills. After a few miles I overtook Robert without noticing him. He
caught me up and from then we cycled along and we were pushing each other.
I was 1 minute faster than him in the cycling. So last part was coming up and I
felt strong. Last push of 5.25 km and I was counting kilometres as I was
passing by. In the whole race I was racing only with men. I was
curious if there were women as well. My last run loop was 24min and
47sec so there wasn't a massive difference between that and the first one. In the last few meters I tried
to sprint with Robert. We did it! Robert was only 8 seconds quicker then
me. My overall time was 1hour and 30 minutes and 37 seconds. I was very
happy with my time but when I find out that I ended up 3rd female out
of 38, I was even happier. I was glad to have my first trophy
giving by Mayor of Wokingham Cllr UllaKarin Clark as well as a Lexus flask.
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