I did my first duathlon race of the year on Sunday. It was the North West Champs at Parbold and I came 1st! I was really pleased as its a very tough, hilly course. I did a course recce the day before with my coach and a few other athletes so I was feeling a bit nervous on the day at having to climb Parbold Hill 3 times on the bike - although I was more worried about the down hill that followed!

I came through on the 1st run in 1st place and somehow managed to stay in the lead for the bike. I was really expecting to be caught on the bike. Hopefully this means that my cycling training is paying off. I then relaxed (if you can do that) going into the 2nd run feeling pretty sure that I wouldn't be caught. I felt quite tired on my 1st run so I was surprised again when I saw the splits as it was quite quick! It was exactly 5k too as I'd measured it on my garmin the day before!!