So here goes a good few months ago I was chatting away to my mate Heather about running , races & generally gossiping when we decided that we would do some events together & I said I would help to get her back into full fitness after 18 months off with dodgy knees & we decided we needed some race goals now obviously I'm a runner & Heather is a mountain biker so we put the two together & come up we would help each other with the weaker discipline & searched the Internet for some races to enter.
So four months on & training has been going great , ( when I say training running has been going great ) mountain biking has had to be fitted in when my races fall around it.
We decided our first event would be the Evil Sheriff off road duathlon in Sherwood Forest which consisted of a 5k run 16k MTb 3.6k run perfect as my hubby Ben was working at the event as an official photographer for www.marathon-photos.com
So we entered & that was that Team Buff uk were in .
Luckily for me the Lovely Sarah from www.Buffwear.co.uk sent me some buff cycling shorts last year which I hadn't had the opportunity to wear until now & I was mighty impressed with the fit & comfort , & I topped them with my long sleeved Buff blue official team kit & my Buff of choice for this race was my Red SueMe buff www.sueme.com which I wore as a hat to run in & it doubled up as a MTb helmet liner when I rode.
Back to the race.
The race started at 9am on Saturday morning and we were there very early to pick up my race number as it had got lost in the post & the round the ankle timing chip.
So now I was ready all I had to do was rack up my mountain bike and have a warm up as it was a bitterly cold morning.
My plan for this race was just to go for it from the start as I knew my biking skills would be my weakest part of the race and for me the run was a bit short, so when the gun went , I was off !!!
The course was a lovely mix of terrain and it had a nice mix of up hills & down hills and very enjoyable , I got to the end of the 5k in about 22 mins which I was pleased with then it was a mad dash to grab my helmet & bike,
Next was 2 x 8k laps on a mountain bike to get a picture of how I felt think mad women possessed and that was how I rode on the first lap and looking back maybe I had gone a little bit to fast, but it had to be done,
The mountain bike course was brilliant fun a mixture of tiny tracks through lovely wooded areas with mud and hills and even a water section to ride through thrown in for good measure.
I think it was on the 2nd lap of the bike course when i realised that my timing chip had come off my ankle grr how happy was I especially as the guy on the bike next to me said the race would charge me £25 pounds if I've lost it !!!!
So as soon as I got to the bike transition timing mat I told the time keepers and very lucky for me someone had found my chip & it was now by my kit at the racking area phew, so a quick transition and reapply of my chip I was back out running if thats what you can call it the first 500 metres were like someone had replaced my legs with jelly a very strange feeling indeed.
If you have done a duathlon or triathlon you will understand what I'm on about.
I really enjoyed the last stage 3.6k run as i managed to catch up with a few chaps who had sped past me earlier in the race, unfortunately for me the run wasn't long enough to catch many of the women in front but I was pleased with how I felt and I will definitely be doing some more off road duathlons as they are great fun.
Heather also did great in this race and it was great to hear that there were no issues with your knees & it will be interesting to see how our bike splits compare , one thing to remember mate is to forget using gels in future as yep they effect you the same way as me and make you sick,
My dad aka Buff daddy ran in the off road 10k and he ran very well indeed & thanks for been mine & Heathers support & bag carrier before your race.
Team Buff uk also had Tony Wallbank competing in the 10k race and he ran brilliant to knock 7 mins off his p.b !! just shows you that Buff kit makes you run fast.
A special thanks to Buff & Sueme for your continued support and its a pleasure to race in your kit.
Next for me is flying out to the Las Vegas marathon & Half in a few days time & then back to competiting in a pair with Heather in an adventure race in December .
I saw this quote this week & though I would add it on my blog as its a good one.
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