I must be getting older, it's the first time in a race that I've been shocked by the initial pace set out by all the eager juniors! "Young fellas getting carried away" - that's what I told myself anyway, maybe I'm just slowing down as a result of the middle distance training. Duathlons are tough events, tougher than triathlons perhaps, I ran sensibly and came into transition on the tail of the leading group of five athletes.
I settled into a good rhythm during the early stages of the 20km bike ride, Marc Flavin & Paul Carroll were riding very well and by the turn around point it was the three of us together making our way back towards transition.
I set out a fast pace on the final 3.5km run. The Quintana Roo PRsix set up is extremely comfortable and I was surprised by the smooth transition from biking to running, sometimes it takes a while for my legs to feel comfortable again after a tough effort on the bike but this is something we have worked on in Base2Race during a recent bike fit.
I crossed the line in a new course record, happy with my effort, excited for the season ahead. Thanks to Naas Tri club for hosting the event!
This week I will be travelling to Spain to take part in Challenge Salou, there are 55 professional men on the startlist with 1000 competitors altogether. It has been a great winter of hard work in the Wicklow mountains, excited to get stuck into the race now.