Tri Vauban...checked!

Last sunday I was in Besancon (France) for what was supposed to be my first Sprint tri. Unfortunately, due to the draught that's affecting the country at the moment, the authorisation to swim in the river was withdrawn at the last minute for sanitary reasons. The triathlon had to be turned into a duathlon. We did 5K run/20K bike/2.5K run. In all fairness it was probably a good thing for me as I believe that I am a much better runner than a swimmer but I was still very disappointed.

There were 22 girls competing in total and I finished in 18th position. It took me 1h28 mins to do the whole thing (vs 1h08 for the winner). I was quite satisfied with my performance. I don't think I could have done much better with the running. However I think that I have lost minutes during transitions. I have noticed that I did not have a proper technique for running with my bike. Other contestants managed to run while pushing their bike with one hand on the saddle whereas I was running holding the handle bars with my two hands which was not efficient and slowed me down. Then during the second transition, I had to take my breath for a few seconds before starting the final 2.5K. Finally I had decided to cycle with my trainers and I believe that it was a mistake that costed me a few minutes on my bike chrono. Using my clipping shoes would have allowed me to use more of my leg power. But I have learnt the lesson for next time.