Glen Clova duathlon is a brilliant race, i had raced it last year in its opening yea and finished 8th (http://andrewwoodroffe.blogspot.com.es/2013_09_01_archive.html), it involves a fast first 25km bike ride, followed by a harsh (roughly) 12km run over two munroes and finishes with another roughly 7km bike ride. The distances aren't really important it is the route!
The start of the race sets off in waves on the bike and like last year i was in the final wave to set off. Starting a race fresh on the bike is quite a new experience for me but after the first few minutes it felt great! I had been introduced to John Soutar before the race, a fellow age grouper and someone i thought might be potential to win! It was inevitable that we would be in the same random bike group and from the gun i thought the race would come down to one of us.
On the bike he shot off like a possessed man and i chased after him. But soon after a few risky corners i decided to ride my own race let him go and focus on myself. I didn't want to take any risks and thought i may catch him later. After the turn around on the bike the ride was then into a tough headwind, it didn't help my morale that i could no longer see John but i tried to stay focussed. I wasn't feeling too great and as much as a tried i couldn't stop thinking about how much time he was putting into me.
Getting off the bike was a pretty great feeling as by that point i wasn't really enjoying the bike! Onto the run i set off pretty quick as the first section of the run is about as flat as it gets! It was into Corrie Fee when the run gets seriously steep that i first saw John again, that was a pretty great feeling as i knew i was catching him! For the next part of the race over the two mountains i lead the race. I tried to drop John on all the tough climbs and kept looking behind me to see where he was. I would kick and try and shake him off but knew he wasn't far back. Parts of the run were too steep to run and so we would both walk partly still with distance between us.
Once i was up the second Munroe i asked the marshals how many people had come up, when he told me it was just me i was a bit surprised. We had been the last wave to go off so i didn't expect to be the first up the mountain never mind leading the race! This definitely gave me some adrenaline and i pushed even harder, this could have been my first win and at a local race which i love would have been something!
I was onto the final descent called the Kilbo path which is very steep, rocky and pretty dangerous and still in the lead. But not for long, John was onto my tail and descending like an animal, i had to let him past and as hard as i tried i could not hold onto his crazy descending!
I knew at that point i would finish second, there was no way i could catch him again but i was happy with that and pushed on to finish the race in 2:23 almost 20 minutes quicker than last year and second in such an incredible home race felt brilliant!
Although this was probably the most low key race of the season it was close to my favourite. Racing neck in neck all day with John was fantastic and he really pushed me and i him. It was a great atmosphere and even though such a brutal race i loved the pain.
To finish the season with two podiums was a brilliant feeling and i was definitely to have some time off, a few beers and a trip to France i promised myself!
Thanks to John for a fantastic race, and congrats on the win, bring on next year ;)
