Thus marks the temporary end to my rather short endurance sports stint. I’m taking a 3-month break – at least – to recover from the ITB injury, the mystery knee ailment and to recharge a little before diving back into training for Unicon.
Today’s duathlon was a rather decent race save for a little accident which pretty much marred the remainder of the race for me. It consisted of a 3km run, then a 15km cycle and then another 3km run. I don’t think I am up to a longer running distance at this point in time but the ideal unicycling-friendly duathlon would probably be a 5km run / 15km cycle / 5km run mostly because I can last longer and hence cut back on the time difference during the cycle and the final run legs.
My tactic was to start off slower and ease into a moderately fast pace on the first run so I don’t screw up my knee and also to get a headstart on the cycle, keep to a 17km/h pace on the cycle and end off with a regularly-paced run. I clocked 16.5 min on the first run, an hour on the cycle and ended with a 18.5 min run. I took about 10 min longer on the cycle than I’d have hoped for and this I blame on the idiot who crashed into me at about the first third of the cycling leg.
As the slowest object (who’s travelling at about 17km/h) on the flat, empty, 2 lane-wide highway, especially since I’ve been consciously keeping to the left, the last thing I expect really, is to be hit by a cyclist who’s trying to overtake me by squeezing into the 15cm space between me and the curb. But shit happens.
I started cramping on and off thereafter and had to alternate between sprints and slows for the rest of the cycling leg. I’m slightly apologetic for the colorful language I rained on the stunned cyclist who hit me but given there was no apology whatsoever AND the fact that the accident was caused by his stupidity and negligence, he deserves the tirade.
Next year, I’ll be competitive. I think a 25km/h average is within reach. Uphills are actually quite beneficial to unicyclists because while cyclists have to figure out when to switch gears and step up on their pedalling, we’re still rolling along as usual. I’ll post photos in the coming days.
When will you be getting a coker?
Probably won’t. I’m likely to get a geared hub. Won’t want people to petition (online) for a ban on unicycles because the behemoth looks intimidating.