When I woke up at 5:30 am on Sunday morning I had a nagging suspicion that I was supposed to get up for something. I was about to turn over and go back to sleep when I remembered: it was race day. Last month when I started cycling again, I thought it might be fun to sign up for a duathlon as a way to combine both my love of running and cycling. I have never done this type of race before since I’ve never practised both sports at the same time. The format for a duathlon is run-bike-run, meaning you start with a run, then transition to the bike, then transition back to running again. With there still no in-person races I registered for the Lakeside Virtual International Distance Duathlon. I would be completing a 10 km run followed by a 40 km bike and finishing with a 5km run.
As I lay in bed I listened for raindrops on the roof. Not hearing any, I relaxed and rested until 5:55 am, and then slowly extricated myself from under the covers. I was stiff and sore from the 3 hours of weeding the day before and I wasn’t sure how well my joints were going to comply with the physical exertion that lay ahead of me. But I was going to have fun.
Flynnie and Mali (our cats) were
waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs and headbutted any part of my body
they could make contact with. I spent a few minutes cuddling with them and then
fed them their breakfast. Cilla was still fast asleep in her bedroom and
probably wouldn’t wake up until I came back. I put some coffee on and dressed,
liberally lathering myself with sunscreen while waiting for the coffee to brew.
Yesterday I forgot to put on sunscreen and I paid for it dearly with a bright
red burn on my back of which I could still feel the heat radiating from.
10 Km Run
I left just after 6:30 am with the plan of running an out and back route along the Taylor Creek Trail and then the Lower Don Trail. It was a gorgeous morning-- hot, but without the suffocating humidity we’d been dealing with for the past week. It was forecasting 40 percent chance of rain, but so far there were no rain clouds in the sky.
When I descended into the valley a
strong scent of skunk permeated my senses. There’s been a really strong,
intense smell here all week—to the point it’s made me gag. I’m not sure what’s
causing the skunks to be so smelly now. Perhaps there are some kits living
nearby who are extra zealous about using their weapon.
There was hardly a soul about, which
was a nice change from the usual crowdedness, and I enjoyed the solitude while
I could. My first 5 kilometres were at a good pace of 5:23 per/km, but I
realized I might not be able to sustain this and do well on the other 2 legs. With
this being my first duathlon, I wasn’t sure how fast to pace my first run. My
legs were fresh and I was feeling pretty strong, but with there still being a bike
and run coming up, I didn’t want to burn myself out. I slowed my pace to a more conservative speed,
hoping to leave something in the tank for the other 2 events.
As I headed into the Lower Don
Trail there was a lovely scent of lilacs, clover and wild flowers. A baby bunny
was hopping about on the side of the trail and we kept each other company until
he disappeared into the brush. I turned around at kilometre 5 and headed back
to Taylor Creek. There were a few more people about now and unfortunately the foul-smelling
musk of skunk was still radiating the area.
I completed my 10 km run in the time of 55:24 with an average pace of 5:32/km.
Transition 1
I entered Transition 1 (my backyard) to grab my bike and change into my cycling shoes and helmet. Since we weren’t counting our transition times, I didn’t rush to get ready. I used the washroom, drank some water and ate a gel. Cilla and Trish were both just getting up and I kissed them goodbye as I headed out for my ride.
40
Km Ride
At the end of my driveway I saddled
up and headed toward Woodbine Ave where I travelled south to Lakeshore Blvd. Bike
lanes were installed in 2017 along Woodbine Ave which largely pissed off
drivers to the point where the city threatened to remove them (unfortunately the
bike lanes, not the cars). As a cyclist it’s a bit demoralizing when the cars
don’t want you on the roads and the pedestrians don’t want you on the trails.
You don’t ever feel wanted anywhere.
I was wearing tri-shorts for the
first time— I wasn’t able to test them out ahead of time because they only
arrived Friday. I was worried I would find them uncomfortable on the bike as
there is less padding than regular cycling shorts. Because you don’t want to
change between legs, tri-shorts are more versatile and allow for easier running
with less chaffing and less fluid retention in the pad so that you can run in
them without feeling like you have a huge diaper on. But how would they feel
while I was on the bike? As it turns out they were very comfortable for both
riding and running.
A small section of Woodbine is
downhill and I got to fly. I pedalled hard, then tucked myself in, lowering my upper
body and relaxing my arms. I quickly came to Lakeshore Blvd where I merged onto
the eastbound lane. On the weekends the eastbound lanes are closed to vehicular
traffic and open for cyclists and pedestrians to use while being able to maintain
physical distance due to Covid-19. The road was flat and with 2 free lanes I
could break loose, not worrying about dodging cars or pedestrians. I felt free.
When I got to the Canadian Tire on
the corner, I turned left to connect with the Martin Goodman Trail. Unfortunately
this trail is very popular and there was a lot of congestion. I spent a great
deal of energy dodging runners, walkers and cyclists and wasn’t able to
maintain the same speeds I could before as I had to slow down to be safe.
I cycled past Cherry beach and
even at this early hour people were already there, staking claim on their small
bit of estate in the sand, and readying themselves for a full day of beach-fun.
It was going to get hot in the afternoon, so it was a perfect way to spend the afternoon.
As I crossed the old lift bridge I
could just see on the left the new bridge that was being built and it looked
pretty impressive. Once off the bridge the path narrowed, so I decided to ride
on the road until I crossed the second lift bridge. The path continued along Queens
Quay and the section between Bay Street and Yo-Yo Ma Lane which was previously
missing was finished construction in 2015. When I cycled here years before I
used to have to fight my way through traffic until the path picked up again. The path is so busy though that it almost
makes me want to ride on the road again…almost.
When doing a virtual race, I think
it’s safe to say that the term “racing” is very loosely defined. Perhaps you
can call it a time trial, but that’s about as much of a race as it gets. But to
keep things interesting I like to pretend other people running or cycling are
my competitors and I try to pick them off one-by-one, and when someone passes me,
I give chase and try to catch them. Of course, I’m the only one aware that it’s
a race.
After reaching Coronation Park I turned around and retraced my path to Lakeshore Blvd. Instead of going east to Woodbine Ave, I went the opposite direction and travelled west to where the Don Valley trail connects with Lakeshore. It wasn’t as busy as the Martin Goodman trail, but the path was in much rougher shape. There were a lot of tree roots and potholes to navigate over which vibrated from your fingertips up to your skull, rattling your brain. There are also some blind corners that you have to slow down for fear of colliding with someone coming the other way.
As much I love to run, the bike feels like home. Perhaps this has something to do with being the 3rd generation in my family that has taken up the road bike. My uncle Peter Clarke and granddad Eric Clarke were both avid cyclists and belonged to a cycling club in England. My grandad was known as “Crasher Clarke.” In fact, I didn’t even know they were cyclists until a few years after I started riding. Cycling is in my blood.
I arrived home feeling elated.
I completed my 40 km ride in 1:31:37 with an average pace of 26.3 km/h.
Transition 2
As I entered T2 (again, my backyard) Cilla was there and eager to act as my crew support. She grabbed everything I needed by the back door and brought it out to me and took pictures while I was getting ready for my run.
I was pretty thirsty and drank the rest of my water that I had with me on my ride and ate another gel. As I was leaving, I grabbed my hand-held water bottle to take with me on my run as I was still thirsty.
When I started running my legs groaned
and creaked in protestation. They felt heavy and uncoordinated and for all the
effort I was putting in, it felt like I was going nowhere. Nothing brings dead-legs in duathlon than the
dreaded second run. Eventually the stiffness subsided, but the heaviness never
really left.
The only way to improve the run
after cycling is to do brick training—which I didn’t do. A brick workout is a training session that
involves two or more exercises back-to-back, with the aim of muscle adaptation.
Brick work teaches the muscles to adapt to the challenge of running, then
biking, then running again in a way that no other session can. But having just
got back on the bike about a month ago, I was really just focusing on gaining
strength and speed. 5 days a week I would get up early to go for a bike ride
before Cilla started her school and then I would go for a run at lunchtime. On
Sundays I focused on my long runs. I also started doing ab work 5 times a week,
for 10 minute sessions
The run seemed to go by quick. I had
on some up-beat tunes to keep me motivated throughout and surprisingly, I was
able to average almost the same pace in the 2nd run as the first.
I completed my 5km run with the
time of 27:47 and an average pace of 5:33/km.
When I crossed the imaginary finish
line at the end Cilla was there waiting to put my medal around my neck. As she
did, she said very proudly, “You are the champion, Mama.”
In total the duathlon took me
2:54:48.
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