This year Mark did The Dual 10km with me on the beautiful Motutapu and we also decided to camp overnight with a couple of friends.
Honestly, considering how competitive Mark is I should have known that walking with him would be a little…ummmm…painful! Also, he thinks he is being really motivating and all he does is piss me off.
This is the third year in a row that I have done this event and for some reason this time around I felt really nervous about doing it. Last year I had been doing some walking events and also Shake Up’s via MMNZ and I was definitely fitter than when I first did it in 2012.
2012 - 2:51:55
2013 - 2:37:19 (-0:14:36)
2014 - 2:31:14 (-0:06:05)
Improvement 2012 vs. 2014 - 0:20:41
So shaving 20:41 minutes off my time vs. the first time I did the event is pretty good. Still next year I will be aiming to try and do the event in much less time as I know that I will be fitter and hopefully I can add stairs and functional training back into my workout program.
For me The Dual is really a mental challenge as well as physical. I know every inch of the course and sometimes forget how hard the last 3-4km’s can be. I want to be able to do it faster and not dread each hill as it comes around. Definitely the first climb is much easier than the first time that I did it when I thought “what the hell have I gotten myself into”.
So the plan for 2015 is to train smarter for this event. Also, with the camping side of things we are definitely not camping the night before and we need more padding to sleep on and more blankets. Also, the food options were really disappointing so we will definitely be better prepared food-wise next year. It was still amazing to stay overnight as we felt relaxed and in no way rushed to try and get on the next ferry. We were able to swim, listen to music and just soak in the atmosphere. Overall, while it is a hard event it is also extremely rewarding and very beautiful. 
