Xterra Hammerman Duathlon 2016

This was my second try at this event (2015 race report) and I came in much better prepared. I have completed a few more runs though not as many as I wanted to get in and a lot more mountain bike racing so I feel I have at least a little speed.

The Race

To be perfectly honest we almost missed the start as the air horn sounded then we all realised that was our signal to go.

off we go!

I came off the first run into the transition in the lead group, once again I need to work on my transitions but made it through just fine. I set off on the bike chasing a work colleague (Sam) and passed him pretty early on.

onto the bike leg

Aside from being passed by Will, Jason, James and Andy I didn't really see anyone on the course.  I was thinking I was in 3rd or 4th position but didn't really know, I pushed the pace as hard I could go though this is difficult to do when there is nobody around you. 

Whilst on the bike I had two lapses of concentration and almost ended over the bars on both occasions. The first one on Bolling Alley (sugar lumps I think) I was so far off the back of the bike trying to get the rear wheel back on the ground the tyre buzzed my thigh.  I honestly don't know how I managed to ride it out. 

onto the run leg

My run went pretty well, although I did forget my legs don't work that well after riding a bike and tripped on a root, last year I got away with it, this year I hit the deck.  About halfway around the run I could see Andy(doing the triathlon so not technically racing him) ahead of me and tried to catch him up.  Then my legs started cramping I managed to continue but had to reduce my pace.  The next thing I see is Simon (who I was racing) just ahead of Andy.  By this point on the run course we are about to enter the really steep uphill section, this didn't help my legs at all.
I continued on now having lost sight of Andy and Simon.  I passed James on the trail who had finished his race and he said Simon was just ahead I pushed on as hard as I could finally catching sight of Simon just before the last hill.  Unfortunately for me he was a little far ahead and he managed to maintain a 17second lead over the finish line to take the victory leaving me with second place.  On crossing the finish line my legs both cramped up and I ended up on the floor.  I don't think I have worked that hard for something for a long time. 

Trophy

The comparison to 2015

Although the bike courses were a little different I was significantly faster this year.  

 

The thanks

Thanks to the organisers for another great event and thank for the awesome support Amanda and Fi your cheering makes all the difference.

Xterra Hammerman 2015

The Xterra Hammerman is an offroad triathlon or duathlon which takes place at Kincaid park.  2015 was the 15th anniversary of the event and my first attempt at the event. I competed in the Duathlon where we complete a short run, then bike then run again.

Although I used to run a lot when I was younger (17+ years ago) I have not really run for a number of years consistently aside from a short stretch whilst I was living in Bogota.

I went into the event with an all out approach and what I would describe as very little training, not just the running side but the biking too.  Although I have been on my bike a lot this year, I have not been mountain biking or racing and my performance at this event highlighted that.

Training plan.... errrmmmm I decided to do the event on the 20th June and the event was on the 18th July.
I managed to get in 7 runs before the event which took my pace on the local flat course from 8:50min/mile to 7:50min/mile
I also managed to get out mountain biking a few times to remind myself how my bike felt.

How did it go???
The course is pretty hilly and for the first run I managed a 7:57min/mile pace. which I was happy with. The run is clearly faster than the swim as most people were still in the water when I started out on the bike. My transition time was a little slow but for a first event I was happy with my speed.
The bike went surprisingly well, I didn't really see that many people on the bike course, I was passed by 5 or 6 people and passed 3 or 4 people but mostly I rode on my own.  I did look into some splits later on that someone had posted to Strava and I was definitely stronger than some of the people I was racing against (who posted to Strava) towards the end of my ride but not enough to catch them.  I am currently lacking in speed which I knew was going to be the case coming into the event.
The second run was a tough one, I have not biked then gone straight into running ever before and my legs didn't really want to work for the first mile of the course, not helped by the fact that it is uphill at this point too. I ran the second run with a pace of 8:52min/mile, not actually that far off what I was expecting.



Full results can be found here

I finished in 4th place in the Duathlon a whopping 6min 26seconds down on the guy ahead of me.
Am I happy with that?  Absolutely, with some training I really see I could make some improvements.
Win outright?  I don't think so, but a top 20 in the Triathlon I sure hope so, now to try some swimming as well.

Thanks to all the crew for putting on such a fun event, see you all in 2016.

Not sure who took the photo but thankyou