The Castle Triathlon crew and Triathlon Ireland did try and get us a swim by delaying the start by over 2 hours in the end but that pesky fog just didn't want to clear and to be honest we had to start at some point as the delay to the Gauntlet was just delaying all the other races.
When Brian announced it was going to be a duathlon you could hear many groans and felt the disappointment of the athletes, that disappointed was shared by the organisors as well as I know they really wanted us to have a triathlon.
There is a lake there somewhere
The new format meant a 7km run, the 93km bike and then a 14km run to end, all in all not too bad, though the thought of a bike ride of that length after a hard run didn't feel me with much confidence. Instead of 2 swim waves, we were set off in 4 sub waves of each swim wave. This meant around 50-70 starters at each wave, a really good number to avoid overcrowding of the run and transition. I was due to start in the 2nd swim wave so had plenty of time to chat to friends and just chill. Eventually the time came and in all honesty not knowing who was in my AG or when they started it was just going to be a straight TT for the distance.
Run 1: This started well, we had had a huge downpour the previous evening and I thought the course might be a bit dodgy in places, and with using normal road shoes I thought it might be an interesting run to say the least. The conditions were actually quite good and it wasn't long before I got into a good decent run effort with me building the pace throughout the run, a decent (for me) 7km in 28 mins and I flew through transition and out onto the bike.
Bike: Knowing the course is a bit of a tough one, with grippy rough roads and a couple of challenging climbs I decided to do the first part at a hard effort and then ease off on the more rolling return to Lough Cutra. I was expecting my legs to feel the run effort but surprisingly I was happy rolling along at way over target power so it took a big effort to reign in my enthusiasm so that I didn't overdo the bike.
Some of the stunning scenery
There felt like very little wind going out towards the midway point and I was happy overtaking athletes from the earlier waves and the speed felt good. I eventually passed another athlete from my AG, his number being one less than mine, but it had taken nearly 45km to do so. I just thought about how much faster he must have ran, or did he start in the wave before me, it was a bit of an unknown really. I felt great on the hills this year and with the lack of a headwind like last year I got to Corkscrew Hill feeling good and I felt great going up it. After reaching the top it is a fair few miles downhill and I used this time to recover and just try and keep the speed up. As we were now heading in a different direction I could feel the wind had got up, and it was now a bit of a cross headwind, that's why it felt good before.
Lough Bunny on the Route
Once to roads flattened off the wind was more noticeable and the earlier effort did start telling, though with the wind trying to slow things down it did mean keeping up the power to maintain the speed, and with the rolling roads some of the hills did slow you down a fair whack. Things were still going well and I felt much better than I have previously in a half ironman, a bit of a surprise given the run beforehand, but I was happy. After about 70km I did start experiencing some left leg weakness, and I think it is linked with the glute issue I have had previously. Although it wasn't pleasant it didn't hinder me too much and it did make me ease off a touch which in hindsight was probably a good thing.
2nd Run: After another swift transition it was out onto the run, legs felt rubbish and boy was it hot. It was now I realised that I should have taken on more fluid during the bike and I just felt so hot and dehydrated. After about 1 km my legs had settled down and I felt like I was running OK but it wasn't until about 2km in when I got to the 1st water station that some water and coke made me feel half decent. The running seemed to go well for the remainder of the lap but I walked the water stations to make sure I got fluid and coke in. 1st lap done and feeling even more ropey now, legs just don't want to push on, it wasn't long before the guy in my AG passed me on the run, at least I know he was obviously a faster runner now. With the last couple of kms to run I just tried to put in a good strong effort and get to the end.
Kilmacduagh Monastry just off the Route
I felt the 2nd run was rubbish, I just didn't seem to flow and I struggled a little in the heat. I don't know the reasons why the 2nd run felt terrible, my drop off in pace was only slightly worse than those finishing quicker than me. Perhaps that is just the nature of a duathlon, bike power was similar to last year and I felt so much better at the end of the bike compared to last year so although I might have overbiked at some points in the main I feel the bike wasn't overly hard. I do think I should have taken on more nutrition however, 2 bottles of energy drink for that sort of distance is pushing it a tad, but then again I am a bit of a novice at half ironman. That combined with the heat probably done it in for me.
Overall really happy though, really surprised to end up in 10th place overall and 2nd in the 45-49 AG, certainly wasn't expecting that when it was changed to a duathlon.
1st Run 28:09
Bike 2:30:59
2nd Run 1:06:59
Total Time 4:07:52
Big thanks to Castle Triathlon for another great event, and also to Secret Training for providing the fuel to get me round.
Onwards to the Cholmondeley Castle in 2 weeks time, hopefully with the swim this time.
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