The answer was ‘No’ and ‘Yes’. Last duathlon we had wind and rain. This time there weren’t any torrential downpours, it was just windy. Very Windy. On the Richter Scale of Windiness (as devised by Thadeus Richter, the earthquake guy’s stepbrother) it was just between ‘Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas anymore’ and ‘Tracey visiting Darwin on Christmas Eve’. (Well, not really but you know I gotta make it interesting.)
So, it was windy. How did that effect my performance in this event which was comprised of an initial 8km run followed by a 35km bike ride and then an encore 4km run? The answer is that it made running and riding in some directions easy, say North, and quite difficult, for instance, South. And how did I handle this encumberance? Poorly. My my, did my legs ache as I rode the second half of the third lap and all of the fourth and final lap of the cycle stage. It is very sad when you’re riding your heart out against the wind and then someone passes you as if they had wind assistance not wind resistance!
Anywho - I did have fun. Believe it or Not. It’s a blast just finishing. Especially if they haven’t packed up and gone and all that is left is rolling tumble weeds and the whistling sounds from ‘ The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ soundtrack.
Pictures.
The Start: I’m at the back. That’s where I stay.
Running: Only several kilometres to go.
Transition: On to the bike and into the wind.
Transition: Back from the ride and onto the run.
Transition: Put on the running shoes.
Finish: Puff, puff, puff - collapse.
