12 km run
42 km cycle
4 km run
Back-to-back and set to music on Dishui Lake.
The run was fine, 3 laps of 4km with one section along the edge of the lake where the wind blew spray on our legs. I felt mostly comfortable, kept a pace at around 5mins/km and finished the first leg in around 1hr5mins.
Then the transition; slipped on the cycle shirt, changed shoes, swapped cap for helmet, put on gloves, pocketed water-bottle and cliff bar and lost about 2 minutes as everybody streamed past me. Good to rest briefly though.
On the bike, built up to a good speed for half a lap and then the cramp took hold. Couldn't stretch (being fixed gear) and ended up stopping for a minute when my left leg stopped working. Repeat for 5 laps.
The worst part was fighting the cramp to get the running shoes back on and then trying to run without doing a cycling motion. Pretty funny. By this time Alex had caught up and we hurtled (or turtled) past a couple of runners who couldn't go on and rejoiced across the line just over 3hrs after starting.
I came 3rd in my group and won a coffee machine. Alex came 2nd of the women and won a Trek 1000 racing bike!
I'm looking forwards to the next one... could've gone a lot faster on the bike without cramp. Wondering how I can train properly. Maybe we should finish the Hangzhou half marathon next weekend and cycle home.