Nick has just completed the race of his life; he came 3rd in the London duathlon. This is a major race with the Elites racing separately to the age groupers. This is Nick’s excellent race report, we hope you enjoy it.
London Duathlon Podium
Nick Shasha – London Duathlon Elite race
“OK, let’s not beat around the bush. I’ll come straight to the point. THIS WAS THE BEST RESULT OF MY DUATHLON CAREER TO DATE. I was so happy crossing the line that I checked about 3 times to ensure a podium spot was safe and then walked through it savouring every last breath before collapsing to the ground and stomping it in joy (no moles were harmed..probably).
What is the moral of this story? If at first you don’t make the podium (2005:18th), try again (2007:11th), try again (2008:6th), try again (2009:4th) and TRY AGAIN (2010:3RD).
Nick secures 3rd and enjoys the moment
Having just done the most physically demanding duathlon of my career the week before I was determined to take the week in between easy and did only enough training to keep my legs moving. The elite field was around 14 strong and included 3 Kiwis yet to travel home from the Worlds in Edinburgh including Andrew Milne who did the U23 Elite race, last year’s number 2 (Julien Lhomme), Carl Ferri (ranked 3rd nationally) and various other big names from the world of both duathlon and triathlon.
Out onto the first run and Julien led the field for the first kilometre or so and then I decided to take this lead and push it out as hard as possible to whittle down the field as much as possible before coming into T1. I felt fantastic up until about 7k and even put in 2 or 3 surges and had to back off to re-group at one stage (no point coming into T1 by yourself in a draft legal duathlon…doh!). This early pace worked and by the time T1 arrived our field had gone from 14 to 4! A podium spot seemed up for grabs.. if only I could hold on for the 22k bike.
1st run complete, time for the bike
The bike was a strategic duel for me. This was definitely my weakest link against the supreme bike talent of Julien and Carl so I sat back and tried to focus on hanging on. Andy Milne made a decisive solo attack about half way through the 2nd lap and hung onto this to take the victory. Leaving T2 after a so-so transition I had chronic cramp in my lower legs but thankfully this subsided and I managed to move into 3rd before the first kilometre came. It was then simply a matter of hanging on until the end.
I wasn’t sure which was greater at the end, the feeling of exhaustion or elation. Not a bad combination!
Race wise, I had a caffeine gel just before T1 and one more at the start of the 2nd bike lap all swept away with almost a whole bottle of TORQ energy drink. My new Lake triathlon shoes also performed fantastically and were especially easy to get into and out of!
Many thanks to all our sponsors who have made everything this year possible:
Bikes: Quintana Roo http://www.quintanarootri.com/
Wheels: Fast Forward http://www.ffwdwheels.com/
Power: Saris http://www.saris.com/
Cycle shoes: Lake http://www.lakecycling.co.uk/
Delicious, natural and healthy nutrition: https://www.torqfitness.co.uk/
Until next time and with very big smiles!”
Nick
