A couple of my friends have done Powerman before, so I decided it was about time I tried one too and what better place to start than Italy.  The race was certainly living up to it's reputation with friendly people, amazing scenery and food to die for....in fact, Hannah (my sister - see picture to the right taken before the start of the race) and I couldn't wait for the race to be over so we could sample some more of the local delicacies!  I managed to borrow an old clanger of a bike for Hannah to ride to the course with me.  I am sure she was beginning to question here sanity in agreeing to come with me after a couple of years of little physical activity.  We arrived to find a really professional set-up with inflatable finish shoots, pasta marquee's, retail tents selling all the latest equipment and clothing plus the massage buses (equipped with lots of oil and Italian masseurs....bring on the finish line!).  As I entered the transition, there was a group of very scary, strong-looking European women.....how do they look like that?  As if doing a Duathlon wasn't scary enough knowing that I am not exactly a runner but then neither I am a swimmer and seem to do ok at the odd triathlon.  I quickly tucked all those negative thoughts aside and focused on getting everything ready and a final run warm-up.  We were all called to the starting area and I recognized a number of names from Germany, Belgium and Italy as well as my new friend from the Ukraine, who recently came third in IM New Zealand and won the Almere IM last year.

BANG, we were off.  It's hard to know how to pace a duathlon when you have never really done one before unless you count the 2/30/2km Hong Kong races.  We were starting with a 13.6km run and I figured I would head out as hard as I could without going ballistic....there was a real science to my calculations that day!  As we turned the first corner about 400m from the start, I was still with the lead group of Tamara, Ulrike Schwalbe (GER), Stefania Bonazzi (ITA), Katrin Luxenhofer (GER) and Katrin Aeschlimann (GER) on my shoulder.  Okay, this was good company but how long could I stay there?  After about 1km, I let them get a bit of a lead as I didn't want to blow up and ran together with Katrin Aeschlimann, who I eventually managed to drop after 6km.  I spent the rest of the run in no-man's land, not really knowing how far ahead the lead group was and whether anyone was gaining behind me.  I knew there was the girl from German plus some Italians and someone from Belgium but I tried to stay focused on maintaining my pace and enjoying the race.  It was cool to see Hannah every time I came through transition on the 4lap run and I felt pretty good heading out onto the 60km bike in fifth place.  I knew I was in the last money spot and there were two girls not far behind me going into the bike so I set a reasonably pace on the flat section leading up to the mountains. 

It took a while before the lead men went past me (they started 10min behind us) and I wasn't loosing too much ground, so I knew my biking was on track.  It was good to have the guys coming past as I set off up the first climb, as I could use them to help me with my pacing.  It was another gorgeous day and it was hard not to slow down and admire the beautiful views.  As I neared the top of the first major climb, Mateo who had been my main contact for the race was there cheering encouragement with some other officials.  There was one official on a motorbike who kept coming back past me to tell me when the next climb would start or where I was on a climb and offered to go ahead and see the time difference to the girls ahead.  Some local help.....awesome news and this kept me going as the second climb just kept on going up and up and getting steeper - would this thing ever end?  I was beginning to wonder where my knight in shining amour had got to when he appeared on the side of the road to tell me the next girl was only 2min ahead.  I am not sure why I was so surprised but I hadn't allowed them to pull out the gap any further.  This gave me a renewed sense of confidence that I wasn't out of my depth and could in fact kick some European butt!

I would be lying if I didn't say that last long climb didn't hurt but it felt great to get to the top knowing it was mainly downhill back to transition and I had already done the biggest section of running....how hard could 6.4km be?  As I came into T2, I could see only 3 bikes in transition and I could hear the announcer saying I was in fourth place.  How cool was that....I thought it was a guy I had passed but it must have been one of the girls.  I bounced out of transition only to be pulled back to my bike by a piece of thread attached to my bike seat.  As I looked down, I realized the seam on the shorts of my powersuit had caught and come un-done!  I ripped the piece off which freed me and set off again wanting to ensure I was already out of sight when the next biker came in.  Looking back, how funny would it have been if the whole suit had suddenly come un-seamed and I had been left running out with nothing on but my shoes and timing chip!!!!!   That would certainly have given me way more coverage then even winning the race!  I kept my time per lap pretty consistent again for the second run and held onto my fourth place with lots of time to spare as the next girl was nearly seven minutes behind me going into the second run. 

I must admit, I never thought I would say that I enjoyed a Duathlon but it was really fun and gave me a lot more confidence in my running.  The best news was that it has put me in about 22nd in the world duathlon series rankings, brought in some prize money and a HUGE box a pasta from the race sponsor.  I really liked this distance too as it was long enough to use my endurance but still not a whole day affair and I am sure good practice for my return to IM later this summer.  I found Tamara (see picture of us left after the prize giving) and congratulated her on the win...not a bad start for her first Powerman race and considering her running his meant to be her strength (3:02 marathon in NZ!), she crucified us on the bike going 7minutes faster than any other women!  Ulrike was second, Stefania third and all of us biked within 15seconds of each other despite being separated by the first run, which made me happy as Ulrike is meant to be one of the strong German cyclists.  It was definitely time to find a new pair of shorts before my suit really did burst open and enjoy the luxury of an Italian massage...bring it on boys!

After a quick swim in the Uni pool, Hannah and I spent the afternoon watching the shorter Duathlon race, enjoying the European sun and complimentary pasta at the race site (this is what happens when you live in Italy...see cyclist on the right!).  What a great day and we hadn't even started the post race celebrations.............my friendly official on the bike turned out to be the Assistant Race Director, Filipo and he agreed to give us a lift into town later and show us the best of Parma.  We wondered the streets of the old town, sampled some local vino and Italian snacks before being left to our own devices while he went off to pack for his holiday the next day.  We found this great little restaurant and had the best pizza & pasta I have ever experienced...it's making my mouth water now just thinking about it.  One of the things that made the weekend so special was having my sister there to share it with me - if only she could come to all my races.

The next morning, I managed a quick bike to loosen off the legs ready for the Taiwan race the following weekend and we went for a quick walk in the countryside before beginning the trip back to the UK with a 10kg box of pasta and goodies in tow.  Wow, Mum would be pleased with this haul plus all the fresh salami Hannah had bought at the supermarket!  Thi s would definitely be a race to put on the agenda for next year and has convinced me to do Powerman Malaysia in Sept.

Happy Travels.......

Cheers Claire

For full results & details see www.powerman.org