Varsity Duathlon at Dorney Lake, 11 Feb 2023

Duathlon is really my focus at the moment, with swimming taking a bit of a back seat over the last couple of months. Having done BUCs and performed quite well, and with World Champs in Ibiza coming closer, I was feeling excited to see what I could do at Varsity, in a relaxed environment with a bunch of my friends.

The morning was pretty hectic because we arrived around 45 minutes before the start of the race and, as anyone who has competed in a multi-sports event knows, this is pushing it in terms of the amount of time you have to collect race numbers, set up transition, get warm and go to the loo 5 times. I did manage to get everything done in time, and though my warm-up wasn’t quite as long as I would have liked, I got to the start feeling pretty composed and excited to race.

My plan going into the race was start fast and get faster, and I (more or less) managed to execute something like this. As usual, the first 5k started off pretty fast. Once the pace had settled, I found myself running in a little pack and enjoyed the benefit of the momentum of running in a group. I was in 4th at this point (4th female, that is), and told myself to stay calm, but not take my foot off the gas too much. The pace levelled off to almost bang on 4 min/km (the target pace Tim and I had discussed beforehand) and I felt pretty good. Trying not to think about the rest of the race, I reminded myself to stay present and focus on my breathing. All this self-talk must have slowed me down because by kilometre number 3 I had been passed by 2 other speedy girls from OUTriC. “Focus”, I thought and upped the pace to stay with them. We came into transition just a couple of seconds apart.

I knew my bike was strong so I wasn’t too worried, plus I had just spend the previous week practicing flying mounts (cheers David P for teaching me!) so I got in and out of transition quickly. Too quickly it seems! The line I thought was the mount line, by which a marshal was standing waving a flag, was confusingly not the mount line. A few people around me made the same mistake and we were yelled out to dismount, run back and remount at the ‘actual’ mount line. Feeling frustrated, I did as I was told, but I lost my lead on one of the girls that I had been battling it out with on the run. No worries, I soon had caught her up on the bike and, fuelled by frustration about the transition fiasco, settled into quite a strong bike. The course was 4 loops and it was a lot of fun, with one side being very exposed and the other being sheltered and more technical. I got my head down on the exposed section and then used the shelter of the trees as an opportunity to drink some electrolytes and take on a gel. Feeling pretty solid but no longer sure which place I was in, I picked targets in the distance and picked them off one by one. A Tab (Cambridge) girl and I had a bit of a back and forth, which definitely made me keep my foot on the gas more than I might have as I was hurting quite a bit by this point.

I got into T2, managing not to miss the mount line this time (which was, again, poorly marked), and slipped on my trainers. I still wasn’t sure which position I was in, but my goal had now become to beat the CUTriC girl behind me. I came out of T2 before her and started on the run. My legs felt like lead and I didn’t feel like I was moving fast at all. Thankfully my good friend, Tina, was spectating and shouted at me to focus on my cadence, which was a great bit of advice because with smaller steps I was able to move faster and with less pain. Another stroke of luck was another OUTriC friend passing me on the run, I ran a few paces behind him, but he was keeping the pace hot and I was grateful for the extra focus having someone to chase gave me. It turns out, despite my worries about a slow second run, this one was actually faster than the first, with a pace of 3:53/km.

I crossed the finish line with a big smile! Despite the mishap in T1 and the pain in my legs I actually felt really good and was pleased with the race. My smile grew when I found out that I had placed 3rd! This was my first podium with OUTriC and I was so happy to be able to represent such a great club. The vibes post-race were awesome and though my legs felt tired, my heart was incredibly full.

I’m looking forward to another duathlon at Dorney soon, and then the focus moves to the A race in Ibiza in late-April. I’m really pleased with how much I have progressed since my first duathlon last year, particularly in my confidence in running. It really shows what consistency and good guidance can achieve!

Emilia Miller