BUCS Duathlon, 14 Nov 2021

Race day had started out as a fairly cold and grey November morning in Mallory Park. Fortunately, my race wave set off just as the sun was beginning to shine - perfect racing conditions! 

The girls in my wave set off at quite a pace for the first 5 km. My legs felt fresh and so I decided to keep running at a slightly faster pace than I had initially set out to run. I finished the 4 laps in a decent time and headed straight into transition to prepare for the bike leg. 

In and out of transition 1, and I was on to the bike leg. This was 6 laps of a very technical course featuring a number of hairpin bends and a small hill climb. Once I had figured out the best places to accelerate on the course, it felt like I was whizzing around and it was lots of fun! I was pleased with how consistent my pacing was on the bike. 

Transition 2 was not the speediest as I jumped off my bike and ran to rack my bike still in my bike shoes! I should really invest in a pair of proper tri-shoes and work on my dismounts!

It felt good to be heading out of transition and on to the final run leg. My legs weren’t too jelly-like after the bike, but fatigue was beginning to set in. I kept myself going with the thought that it was just 2 laps left until the finish line. It was motivating that I also managed to overtake a number of people on the final run. A sprint to the end and the race was over! 

BUCS duathlon was my final race of a long season of racing this year, so although it was not my strongest race performance, I was very happy with the result and had a great time out on the course. I have noticed a huge improvement in both my running and cycling this year and I know that this has been a result of Tim’s coaching and following his training plans – thanks Tim! 

I’m now enjoying a mini off-season break before the races start again in 2022.

Jenny Carter