Spring DUathlon

Since I'm not a very good runner someone suggested that I try racing a duathlon. Marla Emde does a good job putting on the Spring Thaw Duathlon series. My first race was the usual 2.2 mile run followed by a 11 mile bike and then another 2.2 mile run. This distance usually favors a strong runner and athelete that likes to go AT for the whole hour of racing. My first outing was on April 13th with 1:12 about 3 minutes faster than last year. I was 93/176 overall place so almost mid pack as a finisher. Not bad for a fast jogger!

Of course this type of racing style doesn't suit me or my strength so why do it? The answer is we need to train our weaknesses to get better and stronger of course faster!

So I was excited for the second race of the series when the distance increaed to a 3.3 mile run, 22 mile bike and 3.3 mile run where the bike is longer and allows me to catch some of the faster runners or so I thought! I started the run on pace going sub 9min and felt strong. My mistake of not bringing water on the short run caused me to drain my aero bottle in the first few miles. Of course the day was one of the hotest all week so I was pretty thirsty starting my second run. Needless to say it was a tough race with many of the athletes getting cramps or dehydration. Overall it was fun and challenging.

On a side note I was finally able to test my new bike fit during a decent race distance and found it very comfortable and fast. My May 13th race split 2:14 or 56/111 overall place.

The cool news is they give out an award for combined time for both races and I placed 10th overall Open Male behind some stellar local athletes. So kudos to racing my weakness and at least being consistent!

The cool news I was able to debut my new racing outfit courtesy of Team ZootGU and felt like I was a special pro athlete - aka Haley Cooper but with much slower legs! haha