GearWest Duathlon

5/21/06

Run 5K, Bike 16.5 Miles, Run 4K

My first race of the year and I was excited to get the season started.  Weather was pretty good, cool but sunny.  I was excited for the race as it was my first race in quite awhile.  I was also pumped to be racing with my powertap built into a rear wheel with an aero cover.  Not only did I get the cool disk wheel look, I got to see what kind of power I put out during the race.  Turns out, next time you need to run an electric light or two, I’m your man! 

One nice feature of this race is its proximity to my house.  Depending on the route, I can get there in between 12 and 15 miles.  Given that, what better way to warm up than to ride to the start?  The only worry I had was that this would require me to ride my race wheels.  I wasn’t too worried about the back, as I am now using a clincher training wheel with a wheel cover.  The front was my concern, a Hed3 with a Veloflex tubular glued on.  Never one to let a little fear stand in my way, I left in plenty of time for a nice warmup ride to the race.  About 5 miles later, my fears come true as I roll over some little bump and then hear a pronounced “psssss” coming from the front tire.  My wife was less than thrilled to be loading up the boys for a drive I could easily have taken myself.  She nonetheless comes to get me and kindly drops me off at the race site.  While it was a little tight on the time from, I still had plenty of time for setting up and getting ready.  After listening to AC/DC’s “Shake a Leg” I was off to get the racing season going. 

Run 1 (5K)

As this wave included all men under 40 who were not elites, it didn’t start slowly.  I lined up a tad bit back and spent the first kilometer working my way through some of the crowd.  I knew I was going pretty hard but I didn’t know how hard as I was not wearing a heart rate monitor.  After about 1K the race heads onto the grounds of a middle school and all the subsequent running in this leg consists of grass and trails around the school grounds.  Nothing too hard but it was not easy either.  I see a marker for 1 Mile, I pass in 5:57, which was a tad quick.  I ease off a bit and spend the next few miles getting reacquainted with the feelings of racing.  It was good to be back at it.  The next two miles were relatively uneventful as I kept up a good pace.  With about 1 mile to go I started to look forward to the bike ride.  I was pleased with my time. 

Total Time 20:37  (89th overall)

T1

In I ran, shoes off, helmet on and away I went.  Nothing of note, as transitions should be.

Time 0:50

Bike (16.5 miles)

The course goes over many of the roads I train on and I knew the terrain pretty well.  I like the route and the weather was pretty decent although I had to wear arm warmers.  Given that it is May in Minnesota, I certainly wasn’t complaining.  I took a few minutes to get my shoes on while rolling down the road and then proceeded to ramp it up.  I felt pretty good, not outstanding but decent.  Considering that I have been training reasonably hard in the days leading up to the race, it was not surprising that I was not feeling super perky.  While I wasn’t firing at 100%, I concentrated on riding really hard.  This was my first race with a power measuring device and I planned to use the data from the race to refine my threshold power – how many watts a person can hold over an hour.  So off I went charging through much of the field.  It was great to be riding and racing, although I would have hoped for a little bit more snap.  At one point about 12 miles into the ride I found mind my wandering and my effort lagging.  After a bit of a pep talk I got back at it and finished the ride pretty strong.  I did realize that for rides this short, I can’t drink Gatorade.  I had only brought 1 bottle with me and selecting anything but water was a mistake.  As I near the transition area, I notice there are not that many bikes around, cool.

Time 43:45 (24th overall at 23.3 mph)

T2

I did a rolling dismount, without falling, always a good start to the transition process.  I ran to my spot, ditched the bike, removed my helmet and my arm warmers, put on my shoes and was off.  I was reasonably happy how quickly I transitioned, though I noticed a guy who came in at the same time a bit up the road as I got onto the running course.  I should work more on transitions as it is silly to give away time in transition.

Time 0:54

Run 2 (4K)

Ouch is the best word to describe the second run in a duathlon, especially one that is less than 3 miles.  There is no holding back and the legs really never come around.  As could be expected given my no holds barred bike pace, I didn’t feel great after starting to run.  In fact, I felt downright slow.  This feeling got more pronounced as a guy went right by me within a few hundred yards of T2 going up a hill.  I hung tough and stayed pretty close for the rest of the run.  The soft surface and twists and turns of this course were really painful.  I held it together for a while but at some point I couldn’t slow my breathing down and I felt like my pace was slowing tremendously.  I had seen a few guys run by me and a few more would go by in the closing mile.  I kept it going as best I could and was really happy to be done.  All in all, not a great run but a decent one considering that I rode hard and likely took the first run out too fast.  Pacing makes all the difference.

Time 18:50 (63rd)

Overall time 1:24:54 for 46th overall and 14 out of 43 in my age group. 

Race Notes

It was good to get the season started.  I looked at the results and was surprised by how fast duathletes run.  Overall a good experience and when I compared my time to that of the winner, I was closer to the winning time than I have been in many years worth of races.  This is especially encouraging because I typically don’t perform as well in races early in the year.  My power numbers were solid (average watts was 265 and the norm power was 277).  If you are interested in seeing more details, the power file from this race is available for download at www.digititri.com/bikePower.shtml

If you are in the Twin Cities in May, check out the race, it is a hard course for its distances and rewards a strong athlete.  Until next time, see you out there!