Jon Rainford reports from the 2008 European Duathlon Championships
ETU European Duathlon Championships held at Serres, Greece on 25th May 2008.
Well after qualifying for my age group (M25-29) at Clumber Park back in March the focus moved away to marathon training for a month or so, when I went back to the speed work I picked up a calf injury causing a DNF at Swindon and a DNS at Milton Keynes with very little run training in the lead up to the race. In fact one long run and 3 brick sessions was the sum total of the running!
Still as I had qualified and paid, I decided to give it my best shot fully prepared for being the ‘eddie the eagle’ of the team. Arriving Wednesday sans bike (Thanks Easyjet!), 24 hours of high blood pressure ensued before the bike turning up on Thursday afternoon. The next couple of days saw 2 nice rides out towards Bulgaria and a gentle run.
Saturday was elite day and after watching a gutsy performance by all the British girls, especially Ester Evans in her first elite race and Michelle Lee who made up nearly 90 seconds on the bike to finish in 7th. The mens race was just as exciting with all the guys putting in top performances and Matt Gunby’s determination seeing him come home with a silver in the U23 mens race. This really helped fire up the racing spirt ready for Sunday.
The field was surprisingly small, with over 50% of the athletes being from GB. I knew most of the guys in my wave were far stronger runners (especially without any speed work in my legs!) but rather than pace it sensibly, I tried to hold on to the pace for as long as possible – this lasted for the first lap before remembering to be sensible and work with my pacing although by this time it was too late and my legs felt like lead bringing me into T1 at 44:35, well back on the field. T1 was a bit of a mare and far longer than it should have been but I wans’t really with it. I was glad to get on the bike and out on the course. 6 ½ laps of a racing circuit saw me making up some time on the field and whilst it would never set the world on fire, 1:14:53 was better than I was hoping for. Back into T2 for what would have been a good transition had my inner sole not got buched up several times leading to another extended faff. The final run was always going to be a war of attrition, the last 1.5k really hurting and a pure mental battle to keep running. I crossed the line exhausted but happy. The time was disappointing but given the build up, 2:26:20 was the best I could have expected and put me 9th in my AG and 68/83 overall. Still some positive experiences and some points to work on before Rimini in September!
