Wicklow 200 - The aftermath

Well, it's a bit of an anti climax really. I was tired today, but not sore or anything like that. I had expected to feel some tightness in my back or my legs, but no, I was alright.

It was a long day yesterday. It didn't start out too well with Greg sleeping in after his alarm went off. We got to UCD and on to the road by about 8:30 though so it didn't delay us too long. The first bit was fine, chilly but dry. We met some other groups on the road and said hi to them. I noticed that my HRM wasn't working properly and stopped to fix it, then TT'd my way back to the lads, nice to go fast, even if it was a little early.

I don't remember much of the order of how things went, but we climbed Sally Gap, Glenmalure, Slieve na Mann and Djouce over the day. The uphills were a struggle for Waggers who just didn't have it in his legs to push on the hills in any way. I found the descents the worst because I wasn't entirely comfortable on the tri bike at such speeds without knowing the roads.

Overall it took us about 8 hours of riding and 10 hours in total to get around. I reckon we could have done it about an hour and a half quicker if Waggers wasn't so weak on the hills and had actually done some training for it. The funny thing is that he was the one that talked me into doing it :)

I really enjoyed the day in a weird way, the uphills were long and hard, and the weather stayed dry all day long. The marshalls and the volunteers were brilliant and even in the wind at the top of Slieve na Mann were in great spirits. That was the longest I had ever ridden and now that I know I can do it, it's another step on the road to putting that back to back with a 3.9km swim and a marathon.

I have no other races or anything planned for the summer, I might try and get an entry into some longish race at some stage, or else do some long days on my own. But for now it'll be back to football next weekend with a challenge match on Friday evening in preparation for the Championship.

Phoenix Park Duathlon

I raced in the second Phoenix Park duathlon organised by Belpark last night. Beautiful weather, a light breeze on the final straight and a good crowd. I entered on the night as the pre entries were closed when I finally got around to trying to enter on line. I got there early, straight from work, because I wasn't sure how many people would try and enter on the night. Because of that I had plenty of time to warm up and get ready before the race.

It started off well with a mass start before stringing out onto the bike path around the 15 acres. I felt good running along and managed to pass a few people in the second half of the run. I was expecting around 12 minutes for the first run but got in in 9. Then it was on to the bike. I was a little nervous about that especially as it was straight into the Kyber pass downhill. I braked too early for the turn at the bottom but got around it alright and powered up the hill. I managed to catch some people and got some clear road for two tightish hairpins that had my heart in my mouth when I realised I had to lean more than I thought. I caught a group on the final drag of the lap and felt good. Met Peter starting his first lap when I was starting my second and within a few seconds he was blasting past me. Following him were 4 others quite close and not worrying about any draft busting marchalls. I caught them all again on the uphill but once again it seemed that their chain gang was working well and they all passed me on the drag to the end of the lap.

On the third lap, I decided to go hell for leather. Blasting down the Kyber pass and up the hill after it, I had finally dropped the chain gang. Passed some back markers on the last drag before taking my feet out of my shoes waaay too early. Got some more power back on and had a good second transition. I was right behind 2 others going into the forest and got some good encouragement from some runners that were out.

I was slowly losing ground on the 2 in front of me when I heard heavy breathing and gasping coming from behind. That kept me going and pushing and I caught up with one in front of me at around half way. On the last corner I was passed by someone and kept on his shoulder for a little bit. I tried to up the pace and pass out one more but he had a better kick and I let him be, just holding my position so that I wasn't passed in the last straight.

I finished in 40 minutes and 19 seconds beating my pre race estimate of 45 minutes. First run was around 9 minutes, just under 7 minutes per lap and 10 minutes for the last leg of the run. The race gave me more confidence on the PlanetX Stealth and it felt nice and responsive under me. I reckon with some real training I could get some nice fast times out of her.

Peter, Yvonne, Clare and Gerry all did the race as well. I think they were happy enough with it, even if Peter was empty after the bike.