Sweet Caroline

Parts of the cycle course - Mr B on an uphill

Caroline on a down-hill

Mr B finishesCaroline wins Gold!
Smiles for competitors and supporters!
Caroline's proud son!

We have now returned from a lovely weekend in Newcastle where Mr B competed in a challenging duathlon as did a few of our Canberra masters athletes, including Caroline. It was a great course for spectators and there were several laps where we could cheer everyone on loudly (the "toasties" would have loved it)! The distances were standard - 10km run, 40km cycle, 5km run which will be the same as in Italy, the difference being that the Rimini cycle course is flat whereas the Newcastle one was very very hilly - good training! We drove around the cycle course the evening before when the wind was so strong that the organisers could not set up the course markers and instead had to return to do this at 3.30am on the Sunday! During the Sat evening it also rained heavily and we were very relieved when the wind dropped and the rain stopped in time for ideal conditions for the morning of the event. Although Mr B did not gain a medal he still managed a good time considering the cycle course and he did have some serious competition. The winner of his age group beat him by 30minutes!

While Mr B rested in the afternoon I went on a short run of my own as I definitely felt the need for exercise after being inspired by those duathletes. We stayed at Adamstown Heights which gives some indication that hills surrounded us but I was directed to a disused railway line and found a great place to run - a steady gentle incline was involved and the weather was brilliant. Back to work tomorrow - why do weekends always go so fast even when an extra day is involved?

Distance: 14.3km

Time taken: 1:22:54

Average pace per km: 5:47

Calories burned: 820

Oh and yes, Elvis did sing the title of this blog! He just wasn't alone in doing so.