Barossa Duathlon.

One of the goals I set for myself this year was to take part in a triathlon. Now this hasn't happened yet, but there is still time. However on October 16th. I competed in the Barossa Duathlon which was part of the Master's Games here in South Australia.

One of the main differences between the Chubby Hubby and I is that he is very cautious whilst I will have a go at anything and think of the consequences later.

The Chubby Hubby usually gets support from our Dear Friends John and Lil. Lil is very much like Daryl and tends to be more hesitant while John reluctantly joins me in my latest pursuit and hopes the Hell everything will work out. And so it was that I coerced John into doing the duathlon with me.

 

The duathlon involved a 5km. run, followed by a 20km.bike ride and finished with another 2.5km. run.
Both John and I are runners, although he prefers the shorter distance sprints. And we often go out for long bike rides on the weekends as a group. So on paper it all looked easy peasy and I couldn't see that it would be difficult.

 

The first 5km. run was a breeze and although I am more used to the much  slower pace of an ultra marathon I managed to keep up with the pack and came second in my age group in this leg at 27:40

I was a bit nervous about the transition which is where you have to go from running straight into the 20km. cycle leg.

 

Coming into transition.

The first 500 metres of the cycle leg was tough until my legs adjusted to the different muscle groups being used. But once the quads were warmed up it was manageable and I really enjoyed the challenge.There were a few gentle hills but with strong head winds they were hard work at times especially on my little hybrid bike.

I completed the cycle leg in 1:02:39, first in my age group.

 

Absolutely nothing could have prepared me for how my legs felt in the last leg however. Getting off the bike after a 20 km. cycle and going back into a run was hard. My legs felt like jelly and it was a weird feeling trying to get the legs to do what you wanted them to. I had very little awareness re how my legs were moving, however I again came first in my age group in14:32

My final overall time was 1:44:50, 2nd in my age group. And guess what, it was dear friend John who beat me.

Crossing the finish line on legs that felt like jelly.

John and I happily sitting in the gutter after finishing, and both of us very happy and pleased with ourselves.

Cheers and thank you for visiting,
Karen.