European Qualifier Duathlons - Oulton Park Standard

 This was it ! A week apart in October - two chances to qualify at Standard Distance for the European Championships to be held in Bilbao ,Spain in June of next year. 

My best opportunity I felt beforehand was the Oulton Park event, where a shorter run each time and standard bike on super smooth tarmac would suit me better on paper. The Cowman was a complete unknown, with a mix of terrains, and the bike course on open roads would make it a lottery. Time would tell.. 

3rd October - Oulton Park Duathlon

Bugger ! It was also National Champs which meant that it had double prestige and everyone looked so bloomin quick as they were warming up in the car park. It had been cloudy and there had been some rain, so me and Scrappy spent most of the warm up keeping dry. Eventually we had to move and get ourselves sorted - not a bad event to get to, and the logistics worked well on the day.

Run 38.15 (8.6k)

We lined up across the start line on the race circuit and we had the width of the circuit to use as we set off. Very quickly despite a quick first mile I could see the leaders stretching off into the distance.  I set myself a strong pace but was slow up both short climbs on the course as knee pain kicked in. 6.39/7.17/7.00/7.13/7.33 for a 7.07 mile average - and in good nick for the bike after a 1.24 transition.

Bike 1.02.09 

Bike leg stacked up well on the day. With Scrappy no
t too far behind , and Andy Mosley from the Wheelers a lap ahead, this made me honest. Everyone was fast, and it was an effort to concentrate on position as it was also windy. I had a head to head with Andy for multiple laps, and had no problem counting the laps which got to 9 in total. The only difference on each lap was how disciplined I was on the climbs and on some occasions - not very. 

Run (4.3k) 18.43

After a 1.17 transition I was out again on the track and really feeling this single last lap. It seemed to go on forever, and this time I was really slow up the climbs. Losing places I took earlier in the lap. In fact, little did I know, but I lost qualification places in the last mile or so - there was just nothing I could do about it !  Overall, a little slower than the first effort, but on the rivet halfway round that last lap. 71st on the day, and 14th in 45-49, but, in the 50-54 age group, 7th, last qualifying place agonisingly close at 44 seconds - aarrgh!