Duathlon debut.. Armadale City Duathlon

This was my duathlon debut and perhaps the only in Western Australia! haha I've always wanted to be a triathlete tapi tak sampai2 lagi hajat because of my swimming. I am really determined to do it one day Insya Allah. This is however not my first duathlon experience, I've joined the Malakoff Duathlon challenge a few years ago and on my trusty Proton T-Bolt.. haha time-time jahiliah.

 I registered for this event about a month ago and i did try to get others to join. However,as usual i guess people are too intimidated to join such event but as usual as well, not having others will not stop me from doing what I want to do. I was happy that Yan Wei was willing to join me and thats why all this pictures are possible. Ada photographer haha hmm.. mmg wajib la nak gambar kalau masuk events like this.
I started off early from home because we were on public transport; mana ada kereta? so we took the train from city to Kelmscott station and cycled for about 1km to the event centre in Champions Lake. Its a special recreational area created for Tri events and I guess a big number of those who participated might have had their trials here. As for me it was my first time here!

 I registered for the long course, which i did not reckon was long because it only consisted of 5km run then bike for 21k then 2.5km run again. Macam senang je.. hahaha but i forgot that people to treat this event seriously hence the competition and speed of all the participants! Usually beginners would go for the short course to enjoy themselves. When i parked my bike at the transition.. makk aii.. tengok all the TTs memang best and of course, the Aussie athletes as they are using this tournament as part of their qualification.

 We started off at 850am and the weather was just terrific. And when we were flagged off literally everybody sprinted.. maakk aai.. and i had to follow their rhythm as tak nak lah jadi last time start hahaha After the 1st 1km memang i was exasperated for breath and i close my eyes while running to get back my rhythm. Alhamdulillah dapat and i managed to the the 5km comfortably after the initial "kejutan" for my body!

 The transition to cycling was not too bad but i did not speed up that well in the initial stages, cam semput pulak hahaha and to see the TTs leaving you macam ferrari at maybe 50km/h ke.. the sound that they produce and they were really fast! We were to complete the big loop four times and honestly i did not push myself. Retrospectively I should, but i thought it was best not to push myself so much as i want to complete the race rather than getting injured tak pasal2.

 I followed all the tips that i read in the literature in order not to get jelly legs or cramps transiting from bike to run again. I've not done a proper Brick training in the run up for this event so i was careful because i did remember the feeling of such in my earlier Duathlon days 3 years ago!

 Alhamdulillah the final run was good and managed to finish it without any cramps! I was not too sure of the time i did then as i felt my biking leg was appauling but when the official results came out, not too bad! The bike time could have been better but I'm very happy for my running pace.

5km run    - 24 min 35s
21km bike - 42 min 37s
2.5km run  - 12min 46 s

Total: 1 hr 23 min 26s

I'm looking forward for future events and Insya-Allah, it can only be better! The opportunity to do this year will perhaps be my lifetime experience for me to tell my children :)