Dorney Duathlon, 5 Mar 2023

Since my previous duathlon had been at the same location and only 3 weeks prior, I was not nervous about this race at all and just wanted to improve on a few aspects of my Varsity race, with the bigger A goal of Ibiza in mind. Following Varsity, I concluded that I could probably push a bit harder on the bike, and so made this and T1, which I had messed up, the focus going into the race. I succeeded in neither of these goals, but more on that later!

In typical Dorney fashion, it was raining and seriously windy when we arrived. The weather had taken a turn over the course of the previous week, and so I had added a base layer to my race outfit that morning (hopefully this won’t be required in Ibiza!). The chilliness made it quite difficult to warm up and as the race organisers called all athletes to the start line about 10 minutes before beginning, I was pretty much stone cold by the actual start of the race. As we stood around waiting, huddled together for warmth in the over-crowded start pen, it became apparent that there were many different events taking place that morning – 3 types of duathlons: super-sprint, sprint (my race), standard, and then various running races, ranging from 5k to half marathon. All these different events made the start somewhat hectic as people tried to figure out what distances those around them were running, so that someone trying to run a flat-out 5k wasn’t starting behind a steady half marathoner. To avoid this, I made my way as close to the front as possible, backing myself to head out on the run with some of the faster runners on the course. As we started and I settled into a good rhythm, I had no idea what position I was in, not being able to tell who was taking part in my event, and so just told myself to run my own race and not bother thinking about anyone else. I ran a very confident 5k and even managed a PB of 19:43. This was a big confidence boost for my aspirations of an actual all-out 5k, and I’m pretty sure if I ran one now, I could get in around the 19-minute mark. Even though I felt I was being conservative, in hindsight, I probably ran this a bit too hard, given the conditions – we had a strong headwind on the way out and though it wasn’t too bad on the run, I should’ve thought about saving something in the tank to face the wind on the bike.

As it was, I entered T1 feeling pleased, and still relatively relaxed. I had practiced my transitions the day before and feeling confident with a flying mount, attempted one now. But the mount line at Dorney is uphill, and I pulled away at the last minute, didn’t have enough momentum to mount properly and so snapped the elastics that held my shoes in place without actually managing to successfully mount! I tried just putting my foot on the pedal and pushing off, but my shoes were now facing the ground and the half a stroke that I had before they rebounded up to me wasn’t enough to get me over the hill. Frustrated, I swung off the bike, ran up the hill and mounted at the crest. This palaver wasted loads of time and energy and totally broke me out of the flow I had found during the run.

The bike leg felt like a continuation of the same chaotic energy. Strong headwinds on the outstretch made me feel like I was more or less stationary, and I began to lament my run as I watched the numbers on the power meter drop with each lap: 220, 210, 200…170W – urgh! I didn’t really have much to give and just willed the bike leg to be over as quickly as possible. On a positive note, I felt that my handling skills have been improving lots, and I took almost every corner on my TT bars, which I would have been too scared to do some months ago.

Finally, I got to the 4th lap of the bike and gratefully dismounted at T2. I’ve been doing a dynamic transition in T2 since my first race over a year ago, so am more confident with swinging off the bike than I am with mounting it and this passed off without a hitch.

I was onto the 2nd run. I was pretty much out of beans, having not taken a gel on the bike (who knows why? I decided that faffing with it would only slow me down, but this was probably a mistake), and had gotten quite cold on the bike despite my base layer. I think it was the temperature that affected me, but my left knee started feeling very weak during this run and I had to slow down slightly and increase my cadence just to keep going. However, it didn’t feel serious, so I took the experience as a test of mental agility and focused on repeating a mantra that had popped into my head – “just keep rolling” I told myself. It worked.

I crossed the finish line. Not quite as happy with my performance as I had been at Varsity, but content that I had been able to push through in such tough conditions. My happiness increased when Seb, the friend that I had raced with, told me he had had a great race, and then further still when the organiser pushed a plaque saying 2nd female into my hand! I was pretty surprised at this to be honest and heartily congratulated the 3rd female who was crossing the line around this time. I looked around for 1st place so I could shake her hand too but couldn’t find her. Seeing the results later that day, I’m not surprised, as she finished a full 8 minutes ahead of me! She was probably already having a coffee in the café by the time I made my way across the line! Gosh, there really are some great athletes out there…

Overall, a challenging but enjoyable experience. I feel I am getting better with every race in some way or other, and this experience was mostly a question of mental endurance which I will certainly need in events to come. As always, I’m looking forward to putting my head down and getting in some solid training before the next one. Onwards and upwards.

Emilia Miller