Well that was.......Hard,
It was also very different form anything i have ever done. I met James up at Masseys with about a half hour before start and as we were doing everything possible to save any energy we turned down offers of doing a lap and decided to walk a little to scope out the running course. We really only walked a little which came back to pinch me. We then headed back up to the start line and missed the brief just as we arrived, no sweat the gist of it was run-cycle-run. Seems easy when put like that. After a minute or two i heard over the loudspeaker 30 secs to start, looked around couldnt see James so i started to move up to the start line and......we were off.
This started near the main gate and went down and around the lower trail we sometimes use on the bikes and then back up that nasty climb to the start, steep in places and a little bit of mud. Anyway felt good running down that section and managed to spot James ahead and kept him and the group within my sights, i knew i had to pass people here as going uphill would be the killer so kept it steady but fast and as the hill kicked in i realised that i should have done a warm up as i really started to feel it by the time i got to the top. From here James and that group pulled away and i started to suffer. By the time i got back around to the hill the second time i had already gotten aches and pains, somehow managed to run/walk up the hill and get to the transition area, got the bike and started to run to the road, hoped on the bike and man my legs were in shock, i had no power so just picked someone ahead of me and spun the legs to try and catch up. I eventually got to the top at viewpoint and started to descend managed to keep up with some roadie on the flowy bits but then when the tight turns came i had some serious case of squealing brakes (God damn canti's) so didnt feel too confident with them and just pinned it on the straights. This was where i passed James
Yeah its true! mind you he was stopped on the side of the road fixing a puncture. he then got another, so that finished his race. Second lap along the road and i started to get it together, legs started to feel good and gave it all i could back up the hill to masseys where James was waiting with the heckling. So hoped off the bike and ran to transition and calf cramp set in, x2. I wasn't alone as i started to hop/skip/jog for my final running lap there was another fella suffering the same so it became a race between the two of us between stopping to stretch and and then trying to catch up to each other, i would say it was hilarious to watch we did see the funny side of it ourselves so that eased it a bit anyway i think i bet him, by the time the hill came again i didnt care. During the last climb to the finish i thought of those people who do initiation beatings and started to wonder if that would be less painfull.
After all that, it was something new so i enjoyed the challenge if there ever is a next time i will be more prepared, and i'll warm up first.
Out of a field of 57 people finishing i came 30th with a total time of 1.09 so i'm happy enough.
The next one is in july, I will have to have a long hard think about it before i sign up. I must say though the setup was very good well organised and marshalled throughout.
thanks again Dave for the entry.
Sorry i missed the club league Paul, wont happen again
