I've wanted to do a multisport event since I was 17 or 18. The decathlon was just too many events, and they wouldn't let those of us under 18 hurl sharp objects like javelins or blunt heavy objects like hammers.
I've also wanted to do a triathlon for a long time. I always cycled and I could easily enough run. Not an Ironman: a marathon itself is hard enough; a marathon being the third and final leg of an Ironman is far too much. No, I wanted a nice, sprint triathlon (500m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run). I never signed up for the one in Edinburgh because it was held on New Year's Day. I discovered last year that I can't swim... or, at least, I can't swim more than 25m without running out of breath. And there's no convenient place for me to practise.
That leaves a duathlon, a run-bike-run. This past Saturday, 29 April 2006, I ran in my first duathlon. It was a sprint-distance race of 6km run, 18km bike, 3km run (sprint being a relative term). It was a "cross duathlon", meaning "cross country" running and "cyclo-cross" biking, a type of mountainbiking.
Well, since last Wednesday, it's been raining of and on here in Vienna. For (at least) 24 hours before the race, it hadn't stopped raining. That made for extremely muddy conditions. The mud was a great equalizer on the bikes, though.
The first run was four laps of 1.5km (metric mile). I was quite surprised that I finished the four laps in under half-an-hour (just under four miles). For me, that's an excellent time. It was around an average of 7:30 per lap.
Then came the cycle. Again, it was four laps, this time of 4.44km each. I lost my sight because my glasses started fogging up. When I pulled my glasses off, mud got into my eye. The part that was supposed to be dry, hardpack ended up being muddy. The parts that were supposed to be a little bit grassy and a 4-inch wide dirt track were bogs. I managed to fall on the wooden bridge. This was after it was announced before the race that the wooden bridge would be slippery. It wasn't the sharp turn onto the bridge that caused my slip. I was about halfway across it when I fell. The asphalt part was a bit over a kilometer, going upstream against the Danube. In other words, into a headwind. I don't think I've ever had to sustain such a pace for 18km on my bike before. I was exhausted by the end of the leg.
That left one more running part, another two laps. My legs felt like lead. I actually had to stop shortly after starting to stretch my claves. They had started tightening up a lot on the bike ride. I'm guessing potassium depletion. Also, I hadn't worn cycling shoes which keep your feet in the proper position (which is claimed to be a good thing over longer distances, but I'm not sure I buy into that idea yet). My average lap time was closer to nine minutes.
There was a guy there, I suppose a volunteer from one of the sponsers (local electricity supplier) who cheered everybody on for every lap of the run. As each runner passed him, he would say "bravo" with a smile. That was a random act of kindess, I think. Most of the other volunteers were, understandably, miserable after standing in the rain for two hours with the arms pointing the direction of the course.
My overall time was 1:42:52. In the weeks before the race, I though 1:30:00 would be a good time. A very fast, but realistic goal. If the mud didn't slow me (and everybody else) down to 8 kmh, it might have been possible. As it is, I'm pleased that I finished the thing at all, and with a respectable time (in my humble opinion), for someone who doesn't train specifically for this kind of thing. I was in place 45 out of 55 contestants, men and women, not counting those who didn't finish (I saw a guy being carried off in a stretcher on the aforementioned wooden bridge). In my sex/age group (Male 30-40), I was 14 out of 17. To be honest, I was expecting to be last. Since I left high school, I've lost the need and desire to compete and beat everybody. I am pleased, though, that I didn't come in last.
Luckily, May 1st is a holiday here, so I had two days of recovery.
Results can be found at:
http://82.165.26.197/_pentek-timing.com/results/show_results_db.php?veranstnr=10035&racenr=1
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