Photos by Frogfish Photography, [edit: Flickr gallery has now been taken down].

A new experience for me on Saturday – my first duathlon. Fearless was a 5km off-road run, 18km lap of the Llandegla red MTB route, and another 5km run. Mud and sweat were both involved, along with pain and snow, but mercifully no tears.

Entering seemed like a good idea when I did it at Christmas; I was at the peak of my training and didn’t own a house. Things spiralled downhill on the fitness front from mid-January, with me spending most nights doing DIY until very late and eating the least healthy diet known to man. As a result, my specific training for Fearless consisted of one jaunt to Sherwood Pines the week before. I rolled up on Sunday morning nervous but excited.

The excitement soon gave way to even more nerves as I was surrounded by a lot of people who were evidently taking it very, very seriously. Nevertheless I registered and set my stuff up in transition whilst trying to look like I knew what I was doing (everyone re-arranges their kit fifteen times, right?). My entry number was 53, so given my lack of training I arbitrarily decided that if I could finish 53rd or above, I’d be happy.

The mass start got under way on time, and everyone spread out over the first climb up a fire road. After a short steeper section we headed downhill and went properly off-road. While the fire road was mediocre, I seemed to get on much better on the uneven rooty stuff in the forest. A quick jump over a ditch led to more fire road, and the transition area after what seemed like a mercifully short run. My time, not that I knew it at that moment, was about 18 mins for the first run, which is quicker than I’d normally do 5km.

T1 went smoothly and I set off up the switchbacks at the start of the red run. The climb up to the top of the forest is always a bit of a bitch, but I managed to reel in a fair few people who were obviously struggling with the unrelenting gradient. Snow began to fall as we cleared the trees, and the next hour or so passed in a haze of holding on for dear life. I was riding Becs’ hardtail Giant with undamped, elastomer-sprung Suntour forks, so while I kept up with everyone else on their posh full-sus beasts, I had to work much harder over the same ground.

T2 came around just as the threat of throwing up approached – I probably pushed myself too hard on the final climb from the fire road towards the transition. The time for the bike ride was 1hr 11m – again, much faster than I’d normally do. T2 itself was a bit slow, due to the need to lace up my running shoes, but I soon got underway. This was the bit that worried me most, and sure enough we set off straight into a climb. I ended up walking for a bit and then foolishly started running just as we hit the final big climb off-road through the trees. While it felt vertical, it was probably actually only “very steep”. This was by far the low point for me, especially since we then did a lap of the reservoir to pick up the first run route. Although the threat of stopping to walk was pretty great, I managed to keep up a slow jog. The field was pretty spread out by now, and I was on my own for the repeat of the rest of the first route. Down through the trees and out onto the fire road; I thought about trying to catch the two people in front of me in a desperate last-minute bid for glory, but decided that finishing in one piece would suffice. The entry paperwork said I’d “cross the line, arms aloft in muddy glory” or something similar, but I think my actual finish was a bit more low-key.

Provisional results pegged me at 50th out of 100, which later dropped to 52nd after final confirmation. So, I made my target of 53rd or above by the skin of my teeth. Five minutes quicker would have seen my placed 35th, so there’s some potential for a much better result with more training. Obviously that suggests I’ll be doing another one! Despite the pain at the time I really enjoyed it. Indeed, recovering in the transition area immediately after finishing I was considering what other options there were (thanks to the bloke who pointed out several, including the Evil Sheriff at Sherwood Pines later in the year).

Photos by Frogfish Photography [edit: Flickr gallery has now been taken down].

For those who have spotted the watermark and would hoist me by my own petard, yes I have contacted them about buying them, and yes I have notified them that they’re on the blog. See, I’m not a complete monster!  :)