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Duathlete and vegan food supplier Lisa Gawthorne has scooped eighth place in her age group representing Britain at the Duathlon European Championships in Romania.
It was a significant improvement on the last time she competed in the event, in 2017, where she finished 16th in her age group.
‘Really strong’
The route was on the picturesque city of Târgu Mure?, and the weather was warm.
“I felt really strong so I went off extremely fast from the start, Gawthorne told Great Vegan Athletes.
“This wasn’t my best move as I pulled my calf, which wasn’t great running and biking with for the rest of the race, but you learn something at every one of these races.”
Isolated
Despite this, Gawthorne cycled the 20 km section in 37:47, despite being isolated from groups and not being able to benefit from legal drafting.
“The final run leg was more about hanging in there than putting forward any specific race tactics, but I wasmore glad to see the finish line than normal.
“I’ve not run since, as I am rehabbing the leg, so I can come back to the running scene later this year.”
Vegan Romania
Eating vegan was relatively easy, despite meat being traditional in a lot of local recipes. “I was able to eat various vegetable, rice and pasta dishes all of which are useful in the days leading up to a big race for the energy,” the athlete said.
“The fruit out there was also exceptional. It’s snacks that tend to catch you out, and that was the case there, so I was glad to have packed almond milk, vegan protein bars, corn, and rice cakes.”
The race came after Lisa had run for her country over 10k, and the switch between multisports and running seems to be helping.
Multisports
“I would definitely say that cross-training across the two disciplines has made me a better runner. I got my 5k PB last year (18.39) and my 10k this year in April (38.53) and these times have fallen right in the middle of my standard duathlon training plans.
“It gives the body a rest. I used to run every day, but I feel this offers variety, and also a better type of active rest, before you exercise again either running or on the bike.”
Lisa turned veggie at age six, and vegan at age 21, heavily influenced by finding out about factory farming. She is now a director of Bravura foods, a supplier of vegan confectionary.
