Edinburgh Duathlon

I did my first duathlon (run 5k, bike 25k, run 5k) a week after my first marathon and managed to run my second 5k at a faster pace than my first.

Last week a marathoner, this week a duathlete.

Why Edinburgh Duathlon

A job well done to online advertising. I saw the Edinburgh Duathlon advertised on my Facebook feed. I only started cycling last year when I got a bike during lockdown. This seemed like a good local opportunity to try out cycling racing in addition to running.

I posted a message about it on a running Teams channel at work and ended up doing the duathlon with my friends/colleagues Billy and Stratos.

The duathlon was originally scheduled for April, but because of Covid, it got delayed to October. One week of my marathon. So no, I didn't originally sign up to race a duathlon right after a marathon.

An early start

The race started at 8am. I set my alarm for 5:10am. It was still dark when we got to Gosford House in East Lothian where the race was held.

(The Edinburgh Duathlon wasn't really held in Edinburgh.)

Gosford House, in the daylight.

Setting up our bikes

A new race experience for me: having to set up my bike.

While you run, you leave your bike and helmet in a transition area that you go to after your first run and after you finish the cycle.

Set-up our bikes selfie.

It became clear just how small my bike was when I saw that mine was the only one in the vicinity with tires that didn't touch the ground when hanging by the saddle. 

Tiny athlete, tiny bike.

Ankle chip timing

I'm used to having a timing chip on the back of my race number or on a strip I weave through my shoe laces. For this race, you had to pick up a pretty bulky chip you wrap around your ankle and return at the end.

Timing chip keeping my ankle warm.

I ended up quite liking the extra warmth the band gave my left ankle.

Long toilet queues happen in duathlons, too

The organizers of the duathlon severely underestimated how many porta-potties would accommodate 800 competitors. It was a long queue, and we were still standing in it when it was getting close to start time.

With time ticking, I asked Stratos to take a pre-race photo of me. So my pre-race photo is me waiting for the toilet. Good times. 

Ready to race...and pee.

A rainy duathlon

While I had a warm, sunny first marathon in Manchester the week before, my first duathlon was rainy. Luckily, it wasn't that cold, but I did wonder what's best to wear to a duathlon.

Waiting for the start.

I get hot while running; I don't while cycling. I also had to wear 2 race numbers: one on my front, one on my back. I'm quite picky about which items of my athletic wardrobe I'm willing to subject to being stabbed by safety pins.

I opted for my Manchester Marathon tanktop and my running raincoat. Not wanting to pin the latter, I pinned my second race number to my backpack.

My number on my backpack.

My raincoat was soaked through even before the race started. Wanting to avoid the rain, all the competitors stood under trees rather than right at the start line. 

Duathletes avoiding the rain before the start.

5k run 1

I had one goal with this race: not to injure myself. My legs had not completely recovered from Manchester Marathon, and I was worried about the strain a duathlon would put on them further.

Because of that, I took a very chill approach to this race. I treated it more like a training run. Just did whatever felt comfortable, not pushing myself any further.

That said, I was surprised at the pace of my first 5k: 10:46/mile. Compared to what I was doing in marathon training, that was pretty reasonable, especially on a trail course that was super muddy in the rain.

I originally wore road shoes in the morning before I realized the course was actually a trail and brought my trail shoes as well. Thank goodness I did. I might not have achieved a slip-free run otherwise. 

The run course was 2 laps around the Gosford estate. It had a pretty pond bit that I deemed the one place on the race pretty and easy enough to snap a photo.

My only mid-race photo.

25k cycle

With run 1 done, I ran to the transition area to pick up my bike. I wasn't the last person picking up my bike, but the vast majority had already been collected.

Pretty views

The first part of the cycle was right along the coast, giving me some beautiful views despite the rain and clouds. 

A lonely cycle

After the pretty views, it dawned on me that I'd be cycling for a long time. On my own. No other cyclists were around me. (Because they were pretty much all ahead of me...)

Even though I value exercising on my own, this was a weird, isolated feeling for a race. I felt quite lonely!

I also felt quite bored and wished I was listening to music. 

Taking it easy

Like the run, I was not going to push myself on the cycle. Two things helped with that:

1. It was not a hilly course. It was all on open roads, none of which were very hilly. My 3.5 mile commute to work is more strenuous than the entirety of this 25k/16 mile course.
2. I purposely kept my front gears on the inner ring, meaning I had the least amount of friction for easy cycling and not putting too much strain on my already very tight quads. 

This second point also meant I cycled slower, but I did this mainly because I had trouble with my gears earlier in the week. 

I could shift from less friction to more, but not the reverse. I didn't want to end up not being able to shift my gears back mid-race. 

Farms and fancy houses

My summary of East Lothian based on cycling through lots of it is that it's an area with lots of farms and fancy houses.

I passed a few farms advertising pumpkin picking or patches, and I had to restrain myself from not going off-course to go after pumpkins.

I also passed the entrance to Archerfield House, another fancy house only 10k away from the majestic-looking Gosford House where the race started.

5k run 2

After what seemed an eternity, I made it to the transition area again. There were lots of people picking up their bikes leaving the event just as I was starting my last leg.

My quads felt expectedly tight as I started to run. Despite this, I somehow ran the last 5k faster than my first. My pace was 10:16/mile. I'm not sure how my body did this. I wasn't consciously running faster. If anything, I was doing the opposite!

This was definitely my proudest achievement of the race. A week after my marathon, after an initial 5k run and 25k cycle, I was an absolute beast that last 5k.

I didn't feel tired. I was in high spirits. I felt like I could run further. Like how I ran continuously the whole of Manchester Marathon, I'm just in awe of what I can do.

The finish

My high spirits are best captured by the pic and video Stratos took of my finishing.

A happy finisher.

Look how bubbly and animated I am!

You got your finishing time by going over to this van where you typed in your race number, and this printed out a receipt with all your times. This experience was a first for me

A finishing receipt.

My total time was 2:46:12. The breakdown was:

• Run 1: 33:00
• Cycle: 1:36:34
• Run 2: 33:47

(My second run was faster pace, but it ended up being 3.29 miles according to Strava, whereas the first was 3.09 miles. Hence the seemingly slower time.)

Billy did an amazing job finishing 55 minutes before me, Stratos also smashed it finishing a half hour before. The benefit of being the slowest is you get to have your friends cheer you on when you finish.

Arranged by both height and finishing time.

My high spirits were also well captured by the fact that I was able to take a jumping pic AFTER the race.

A post-race jump.

Back of the pack

I only saw 2 people finish behind me, so I think I might have finished the race 3rd to last. I'm actually kind of impressed with that. 

I will never finish near the top, and I'm always in the middle of the pack, so being so close to last feels like a novelty! 

Being so close to last was also symbolic of the most important goal of this race: going slow enough not to injure myself. Can confirm my body felt okay after.

I may have been just a bit muddy, though.

No injuries, but covered in mud.

Hot drinks, pastries and cake

We all played a part in contributing to the post-race food and drink celebrations.

Billy brought his portable cooker to boil some water and make us teas and coffees.

Stratos made savory pastries with zucchini and feta in them.

The savory.

I made a pumpkin pie cake because it's fall, y'all.

The sweet.

My tummy was very satisfied.

Duathlon reflections: shifting my cycling mindset

I didn't train for the event. My focus was on marathon training the past 4 months. If I ever want to try a duathlon again, I'd like to give cycling training a go. 

Training won't just involve going out on a few cycles, though. It will involve a mindset refocus. I think this stems from my different motivations for running versus cycling.

Cycling is very practical for me. It gets me from A to B. I started it to avoid taking public transport during the pandemic.

Running can get me places, too, but I primarily run because of how it makes me feel. I started it to combat depression.

Running is tied to survival for me. I have drive when I run. I have goals when I run. I feel competitive when I run. 

I don't have those same things when I cycle. It still feels too functional to me. 

So in future, I'm going to have to learn how to channel that running energy into my cycling. Once again, sports proving to be much more of a mental exercise than a physical one. 

Next race

Women's 10k

I'm running my first 10k race since my 2019 10k's. Excited to be reunited with my favorite distance.