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Durand Road Race (Cat 5/Citizens Race) April 19, 2008 I returned to road racing last year at this race and while it might be a bit of a stretch to say that I enjoyed the experience, I was pretty sure I would return to this event. And sure enough, this past Saturday I did just that. Being mid April in northern Wisconsin, weather always seems to play a role in this race. Last year it was the wind. This year the weather was damp and chilly, though without a lot of wind. The weather forecast heading into the race had been questionable and I was proud of the fact that I got myself going for a race that would likely be cold, wet and quite painful. Luckily enough, the weather was not too bad. And I'll give away a bit of the story now and say it wasn't as painful as it could have been. Pre-race I got to the race with some time to spare but not a lot. After the usual debate about what to wear, knicker shorts versus normal shorts, long sleeves versus arm warmers, etc I got myself going. I didn't have a lot of time for a warm up ride but it was enough as I rolled around and lined myself up with the others from my race. While waiting, I bumped into a couple of guys from my bike team. I am a new member of the Birchwood Racing team and I didn't really know anyone too well. One of the guys had attended a clinic I taught last winter and it was nice to chat with him and another guy from the team. We decided to take it easy early and help each other out however we could. Race This course is a 13.5 mile rectangle. There are hills, some of them steep particularly on the back side of the course. The race ends on an uphill. As we rolled along the start of the rectangle, I felt pretty good and was happily holding my place near the front of the race but not in front. All was good. I was waiting for the race to split apart and/or someone to throw down a huge attack. As we climbed the main hills on the first lap, on the backside of the rectangle, I was still waiting for a huge increase in the effort. It was not that the race was consistently easy, it was not. We would surely work the uphills, as can be seen in the 500 and above wattage levels that I hit on some of the hills. It was the period after the hills that was strange to me, no one would keep the work going. We would punch it up the hills and then largely slow down again. Not that I minded too much as this was working out great for me. I was in the pack and feeling good. As the race went on, I gained confidence. At the start of our second lap the pace seemed to slow a bit. This race had a few juniors in it and one of them, who looked like he knew what he was doing, hit the front and upped the pace a bit. He led for a good bit on the front half of the rectangle and I hung out and waited for something to happen. I kept waiting on the front side of the course. At that point I chatted with one of my teammates and we agreed that the first of the 2 bigger hills on the backside of the course would be decisive. People seemed to be getting antsy and it is the steeper of the two biggest hills on the course. In short, it was prime ground for the attack that would blow the race apart. All stayed calm heading into the first of the two big hills and the effort started as I expected. Everyone was up out of the saddle and working. I was too. A few guys worked pretty hard and started to separate themselves from the rest of the lead pack. I was close behind and jumped over the top to make sure I was with the lead group as we went down. Much to my surprise the guys who had worked so hard on the hill seemed to slow down. More waiting around. Okay, I thought, it'll be the second hill which was coming up quickly. Same story as we work hard up the hill and then largely slow again. It was at this point that my whole thought process started to shift. As I had trouble holding the pack at this race last year, I was completely focused on hanging with the group. Once I got over the last of the steep hills with the main pack, and feeling pretty good to boot, I knew I had a chance to do well at this race. My mind shifted from survival to winning. It was a lot of fun as I started to plot my race winning strategy. As the race finishes uphill, the sprint was going to be a high power affair. I was pretty confident that I did not have what it took to do that well if whole leading group came in together. That was not likely to be my best case scenario. With about 5 miles to go, I determined that I was personally going to do what I could to hit the finish with less than the 15 or so guys than were then present. With about 4 miles to go, my first opportunity presented itself. I was thinking an attack was warranted and I was hanging around waiting for someone to do something. All of a sudden, the pack started to drift towards the left side of the road leaving a wide open space straight in front of me. It was as if the cycling gods had parted the waters for me, just then. Well, I thought to myself, this is the time to see if anyone wants to join me in reducing the size of the lead pack. I punch it and immediately open a decent gap. I was hoping to open a gap, look around and see a few riders working their way up to me so we could proceed to the finish together to fight it out for the win. So after I am confident the attack has been strong and long enough, I look around. What do I see? Nothing but a big gap and the pack. No one chased. I was a bit baffled, as not everyone in this group had a good sprint. Oh well, I think to myself, too far to go by myself. I sit up and wait for the pack to catch me. I rejoined the pack and stayed up front waiting for someone else to do something. I kept waiting. And waiting. And waiting. No one was doing anything but hanging around. There is a right hand turn with about half a mile to go before the finish. Immediately after the turn is a bit of a false flat before the hill kicks up to the finish line. In short, if you could get a gap before the corner with some juice, it would be possible to punch it all the way to the finish. It would be hard solo, I thought but possible with 2 to 3 riders. So, about a mile out, with a half mile to the corner, I am getting anxious and think it's time to go again. I was about to work myself to the front for an attack when I see a guy launch himself. PERFECT! I immediately jump out of the pack thinking to myself, this guy works with me and one of us is winning this race. I hit the guy's wheel pretty fast. I was about to slot in behind him but I realize that he isn't looking too fresh. So I yell at him, "jump on and let's go!" I move ahead of him so he can catch my draft and get a breather. I continue on for a couple of seconds and look back to check progress. I am hoping I see the dude right behind me and a gap to the pack. What do I see? No dude and a relatively small gap to the pack with the guy I had pegged as the strongest rider leading and pulling it all back together. DARN! Or something like that, which would likely be one of 7 words you used not to be able to say on television is what I think to myself. Now, I have a choice, try to hold this pretty small gap by myself or sit up and wait again. I didn't really want to blow myself up only to get dropped into the finish so I frustratingly wait. I planned to move to the back to stay out of the sprint as the last thing I needed was for the craziness of a Cat 5 sprint crash to mess up my season. I drift to the rear of our group and am basically resigned to a lower place finish in this group. But ahead of me, the road looks pretty open and I still have some energy. I jump and work as hard as I can to bring myself towards the front. I move through about half the group and end up not knowing if I was 4th or 5th. I was pleased, no matter. Post Race Review
Here is a photo of me after the race. The funny thing is that for all the joy I took from that max wattage, I didn't know exactly where in the race it had occurred. I figured it had to be the sprint or when I had tried to separate myself from the pack heading into the final corner. I knew that attack was strong but how strong, I was not sure at the time. Post race analysis shows that it was indeed the attack that produced the max wattage value. I didn't hold 1,000 watts for too long but nonetheless it was a pretty good attack. With some help, I think I could have won the race. Oh well, there is always next time. In the end, I was happy with the effort. I rode strong, rode pretty smart and had fun being a player in the race. I'll be there next year looking to have some more fun. For anyone who is interested, my power file from this race is available here. This file is a PowerTap file, in .csv format so that it can be opened in most power analysis software programs. Drop me a line if you have trouble with it. There is nothing too noteworthy in the data from this road race, it looks pretty typical. There are periods of high watts and lots of noddling around in the pack. One thing that is interesting is that I had pegged my threshold watts, those that I could hold in a steady state effort for an hour at 260 watts. The norm power from this race, which lasted 1:20, was well in excess of that value. Clearly the variable nature of the ride influenced this norm power value but it might be time to move that threshold value a tad higher. I'll have to smack myself around a bit to double check. The fun never stops! See you out there. |
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January 23 Upcoming Dig It Triathlon and Multisport lecture for the Lakes Area Multisport club on Racing Selection and Season Planning. if you're in Brainerd area on Thursday, January 26, make sure to come. Email Jason for full details. January 16 The cyclocross racing spectacular contined with Coach Jason in Louisville, KY for the UCI Masters Cyclocross Championships.
It was a great weekend of racing, though some tough conditions and competition had Jason ready to go home and train even harder for next year. Check out the mud on the bike.
Jason post race with his finisher medal (muddy of course), and a lot of the course still on his bike. January 9 Coach Jason's been doing some cyclocross this fall and "winter." He was in Madison, WI this past weekend for the USA Cycling National Cyclocross Championships. It was a fun and hard weekend, just like cross is suppose to be.
Above is the Dig It kit with pinned number. Always exciting to be putting on a National Championships number.
Above an upward look at one of the uphills on the course, in much better shape than when Jason got to experience it.
Here is the bike on the verge of taking the start. Not the dirt and grime and that's after being pressure washed a few times. January 1 Dig It Triathlon and Multisport wishes you a Happy New Year. If this the year for athletic improvement, we're here to help. December 15 Dig It Triathlon and Multisport's Threshold Thursdays (TT) has begun. It's a free, Facebook based workout group dedicated to training bike threshold. Coach Jason analyzes his first TT session in the article below..
December 12 The 2012 racing season is beckoning. Dig It Triathlon and Multisport and the Buffalo Triathlon are teaming up for a 5 week Introduction to Triathlon Course. Details on the race site at www.tribuff.com/active_training.htm Coach Jason in action at the Badger Cross in Madison, WI yesterday. With only 4 weeks until cyclocross nationals, it was great chance to check out the course on a day with crazy nice weather (for Wisconsin in mid December). December 8 The Dig It Triathlon Facebook page is now live at www.facebook/DigItTri We have a new training group, Threshold Thursdays, starting up. A free workout is presented each week for all who join. November 21 At Ironman Arizona, Andy has a great race, knocking over 40 minutes from his PR and getting oh so close to a Kona slot in the toughest of AGs. Coach Jason has a great time at the MN State Cyclocross as well. November 8 Dig It's Jill rocks the NYC Marathon. Wow, what a month for Jill as she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and then came home and ran a great marathon. Major props! Coach Jason had some fun at the VeloCX in MN as well this past weekend. October 31 Despite a lack of updates on our part, it's been a busy October for Dig It Triathlon and its athletes. Dan had a solid run at the Marine Corp Marathon with a PR, Kathy rocked the Toyota Cup Tri in Dallas, Coach Jason was in Colorado for a coaching conference. Last and certainly not least, Jill and Cliff put their endurance training to a real test and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. Now that's how you celebrate a special event! To Learn more about Jason's confernece
October 16 Coach Jason in action at the Cross at the Y in Hudson, Wisconsin
today. A fun event. Here Jason gets ready for some cross fun. October 2 It was great to hear that Dan broke through with his first multisport overall win today at the Half Full Tri in Maryland. Way to go Dan, can't help but love the podiums with Dig It on the top step!
Dig It family also in action at the Twin Cities Marathon, doing our annual 5K time clock volunteer duties.
September 25 The Dig It crew was in action at the Duathlon World Championships in Gijon, Spain today. Rob, Greg and Richard flew their national colors (USA, UK, and USA respectively) for strong races amidst serious competition. Nice work, gentlemen!
Above Rob rocks the run. Below Greg on the bike.
September 18 Coach Jason's cyclocross skills clinic was a big success as we got our CX groves going, and it even rained. Nothing says cross like cool temps and rain. September 11 In Madison, Eric had a strong debut Ironman with a well balanced swim, bike and run. Way to go Eric!
September 10 As the multisport season wraps down, Rob and Tony showed great running fitness. September 4 Tony rocked the St. Croix Sprint Tri today, putting a great and fast end on an IM focused year. August 28 Today was an Ironman kind of day and Dig It's Lindsey was rockin' it in Canada while Keith kicked it hard for a great IM in Kentucky. Way to go crew. August 28 Dig It's Eric showed his fitness is there for Ironman Wisconsin with a 2nd AG placing at the Lakes Country Triathlon in northern MN one day after racing the Tri 111 event. Wow is all we can say. August 27 The inaugural Tri 111 in the United States was in Minnesota and Dig It was there with a strong showing. Andy went top 10 overall and Betsy and Eric were showing their fitness off as well. Nice job gang! August 27 Coach Jason was in action at the Big Ring Flyers TT near Hudson, Wisconsin. It was a great day and Jason had fun while doing his best and getting soundly beaten. Nice way to end the TT season nonetheless.
August 22 It must be a USA Triathlon themed week as Coach Jason's article on bike training into goal races came out in the USA Triathlon Coaches Newsletter and Dig It's Kathy and Dan rocked USAT Age Group Nationals with outstanding performances. Dan earned a berth on the World's team, always a tough ticket and a particularly challenging one this year. Way to go Kathy and Dan. August 9 Coach Jason taught a transitions skills clinic in Buffalo, MN tonight. It was a fun and useful evening. August 8 Always fun to wrap up a weekend when athletes reach new highs of performance as Kathy scoring another strong race and an AG win in PA and Andy notched up another win in MN, toping his own course record along the way. July 17 At the ever competitive Heart of the Lakes Triathlon in Minnesota, Cliff and Jill swelter to AG wins. Nice work! July 9/10 Across the world, literally, and Dig It athletes are having fun and getting it done.
Above Greg wins his division at a local duathlon in the UK.
Kathy scores an AG podium at the Lifetime Minneapolis Triathlon. Dan wins his AG with a 4th overall at the DITR in Maryland. In Colorado, Lindsey had fun racing the the Boulder Peak Triathlon even while living at sea level. July 2 The month might be on its second day but Dig It athletes are already rockin' as Jill scores an AG win at the Minneman Triathlon. June 27 Dig It's Betsy and Tony had great races at Ironman Couer 'd Alene. Dig It couldn't be prouder of these two as they braved a rough winter here in MN for some great training that carried over to successful races. June 21 The Nature Valley Grand Prix was a great time with bike racing fun run amuck. Jason's got a report about it and a TT.
Jason was in action too, as you can see at the Tuesday Night TT.
June 13 Ho hum, another summer weekend, another batch of strong performances from Dig It athletes. Eric, Josh and Tony show their fitness with great races at the Liberty Triathlon, Kathy earns another AG placing at Trinona with her 2nd in the 40-44 AG and Lindsey gets 2nd overall woman and 1st in her AG in Wisconsin. Well actually, weekends like this are never boring! Keep it up Dig It crew. June 7 Tri season is here and Dig It clients came out swinging. Kathy had a great race in Minnesota at the Buffalo Triathlon, taking minutes off her PRs from last year and Jennifer had a great return to multisport racing in Utah with a strong performance. June 6-8 Coach Jason in Colorado for coaching meetings with a bit of riding thrown in when possible.
Above Jason poses for a pic in Ward, Colorado a great ride up and out of Boulder. Note interesting decorations in Ward. May 22 GearWest Duathlon a big success as we had some great performances. May 21 Coach Jason's clinic at the Land Between the Lakes Triathlon was a success as Jason talked about race execution and various other topics in Albert Lea MN. Also of note, Dig It clients Rob and Richard officially in for Duathlon Worlds in September. They'll be rocking the Team USA kit in Spain, awesome work dudes! May 15 Duathlon season in full swin for Dig It crew and the great performances keep coming. In Minnesota, Cliff and Jill won their age groups with Jill 5th overall woman at the Lake Elmo Duathlon and Rob scored his first ever overall podium in Florida while winning his age group too. Nice job gang! April 30/May 1 Wow, what a weekend! In one of the best weekends of action for the Dig It gang ever, and we're not ones for exaggeration, this weekend will go down as a great one.
Dig It's Dan pictured below gets ready for his swim.
Coach Jason was in action to at the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico.
Coach Jason above in Dig It kit during day 3 of this stage race, his first. The article below covers the details.
April 18 On a day for the ages in Boston, Dig It's Jill ran a great Boston Marathon today. Nice work Jill! April 17 The first of Dig It's bike skills clinics was a big success. We fun and improved bike awareness and riding skills.
Above Jason and Eric pose with some of the orange cone course visible in the background. April 2/3 Dig It's duathlon racing gang in full swing as Richard shows off the Dig It shorts in Florida and Greg kicks to a great race in the UK.
March 14 Let the racing begin! Dig It's Dan has a great debut duathlon with a 5th place overall and an AG win in Maryland and the MN crew threw down some good runs at the local 10 miler. All in the name of St. Patrick's day. Weekends like this make us proud! February 4 One of the age old questions regards doing versus teaching. In
triathlon, the particulars relate to coaches and their athletic accomplishments.
Coach Jason writes about it in his article, "Athletic Success and
Coaching, Is there a Connection? January 30 The great performances are starting already as Betsy and Richard rocked the Miami Half Marathon today. It was a great way to start the season and we're expecting great things from these and all the Dig It athletes. November 29 Coach Jason had a roller coaster cyclocross season with some
high highs, such as highest placing ever in a bike race and an category
upgrade, and some low lights. A good way to think about it was these two
images. As the cliche goes, it was the best of times, it was the worst
of times...
November 22 Tony had an impressive race at Ironman Arizona after battling a nasty bug in the last 2 weeks into the race, Tony used his fitness to a PR time, nice work Tony! October 15 Coach Jason’s thinking about 2011. It’s a time of the year when athletes look back on their racing and make plans for the following year. Jason’s got some thoughts on racing goals and the article, “Is Longer Better?” goes into more details. October 10 The multisport season is winding down and the Dig It crew is showing the world how to end a season. After raising her game all fall, Kathy goes to the US Open Championships in Dallas and scores an impressive 2nd place in her AG and top 25 among all the women and she’s only been doing this a year. Watch out 2011!
October 3 On a glorious fall day, Jill rocked the Twin Cities Marathon and Cliff did the same to the 10 miler. Another fall weekend, another great batch of Dig It performances. While it is routine, it never gets old! September 12 Ironman Wisconsin this year was a great day for Dig It’s athletes with great weather and inspired performances from Andy, Betsy, Sean and Alex. With determination and joy they swam a long way, rode a long way and ran a long way. Great performances all around. Way to go guys, Coach Jason enjoyed being there and hanging with you as you rocked it! September 3 The setting for this year’s Duathlon World Championships couldn’t have been better as the event was in Edinburgh, Scotland. Dig It’s Jill and Cliff made the trip and were in action. Jill had a great race and Clifford did his best as he caught a flu bug the day before but hung tough and finished. You don’t go all that way to DNS. Impressive display on both accounts September 1 Apologies for the lack of updates, we're working on a few look Dig It site with expanded features and educational content. A short recap of the summer's accomplishments among the Dig It gang includes more PRs than I can recall, numerous world championhip qualifications in duathlon, at the Olympic and half IM distance. Athletes got on the podium for the first time, won races, moved up to the elite field and no matter their place in the field just had a lot of fun using their fitness to the fullest. The fall's racing looks great as well, watch out Duathlon World Championships, Ironman Wisconsin, and races throughout the country, the Dig It crew is coming and ready to rock and have fun along the way! April 24 Duathlon Nationals weekend was a success for the Dig It gang. April 17, 18 and 19 A great start to the racing season for Dig It athletes across the country. Tony gets it done in the Big Easy at the Ironman 70.3 New Orleans, Debi grabs 5th overall woman and first master at a sprint tri in Virginia, the Minnesota gang throws down some great runs at the Trail Mix and last and certainly not least, Jill sets a PR at the Boston Marathon. Wow, this weekend would make many coaches proud for a given year and it's 3 days in April, awesome!
Coach Jason also raced, in green Nature Valley team kit, at the Durand Road Race, photo courtesy of www.skinnyski.com
April 13 Dig It now serves as an official coach/dealer for Quarq power meters. Contact Coach Jason for pricing details.
Here is the first order on Coach Jason's bike.
March 27 Dig It's Lindsey has a great day in Oceanside at the California 70.3 to grab her first ever world championshis slot. Way to go, Lindsey! March 27 Coach Jason leads clinic for GearWest tri club on duathlon performance along with Kevin O'Connor. March 13-14 Coach Jason was in Texas for a USA Cycling Coaching clinic on teaching bike riding skills. It was great, watch here for an upcoming clinic on bike handling.
Above Jason poses with camp participants outside in the sun, yeah Texas! December 3, 2010 Coach Jason reflects on training in the off season.
November 22, 2009 Dig It's Dan made his Ironman debut in Tempe at Ironman Arizona. He might have been new at the Ironman distance but Dan was fast and had a great performance. Nice job Dan! October 3 and 4 Minnesota cyclocross season is underway and rolling. Michael and Coach Jason got their seasons going with some fun and hard racing this weekend.
Michael in action at the Hudson CX. Photo courtesy of skinnyski.com.
Jason at the Planet Bike Orono CX race. Photo courtesy of Seth Iverson Photo.
September 26, 2009 It was a wet and tough day for everyone at the ITU World Short Course Duathlon Championships. Dig It athletes were out to play and did what they could on a challenging course in the midst of a downpour.
Debi is among this group of fast ladies before the skys opened again.
Here Justin Hurd closes in on the transition after a speedy first run. September 13 Wow, what a day for the Dig It gang. Debi was 12th overall, and 3rd woman, at a sprint tri in Virginia. Maria set a new half marathon PR in Chicago, and Forrest set a 5K PR by over a minute in Kentucky. Oh and then there was Ironman Wisconsin which was the scene of outstanding performances by Andrea, Lindsey and Henry. A successful debut and 2 PRs made it quite the day in Madison. Jason was there to cheer and take it all in.
Here Coach Jason hangs with Andrea after the race.
May 31, 2009 Dig It's friend Justin Hurd captures the US National Long Course Duathlon Championship today in California at the World's Toughest. National Champ baby, that's a good thing to call one's self!
Photo courtesy of Auburn Events October 11, 2008 Justin Hurd, who Coach Jason advises, shows shows his strength at IM Hawaii. On a challenging day, for the big island no less, Justin did great in his first attempt at the World Championships as a pro. September 28, 2008 Jason in racing mode at the ITU World Duathlon Championships in Italy. It was a fun day of action.
Here the bike awaiting its trusted rider.
September 27, 2008 Jason serves as Assistant Coach with the elite athletes of Team USA at the ITU World Duathlon Championships in Rimini, Italy. It was a fun day filled with great competition for Team USA.
Here is the women's team poses for photos immediately after their finish.
October 6 Coach Jason wins the inaugural Kickin' Leaves Duathlon in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The new race had a small field but a great course. Hope everyone can make it there next year.
Jason poses with bike and trophy at home after the race.
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