Beginners and Beyond

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Litchfield Hills Duathlon Recap (Read 68 times)


delicate flower

    Yesterday was first and only multi-sport event for the year.  It went very well.  My goal was to just beat last year's time of 2:43.  Since this is the only multi-sport event I've done each of the last two years, "improving" is the only goal I set for myself.  This is a triathlon/duathlon/aquabike event.  The duathlon had a small field.  Only 27 people.  I was hoping for more.  The triathlon had about 300.  This race is very hilly, from start to finish.  DW did the triathlon and has done a bunch of them, but this was her first Olympic distance.

     

    Warm up:  1 mile of jogging around.  I figured it was a three hour race and didn't need to get all crazy with a warm up.

     

    Run 1 (4.5K):  7:15 pace.  I lined up on the front row.  My legs felt really good right out of the gate.  The first half mile is a gravel road up to the street.  I found myself near the front of the field very early on and stayed there for this run.  I ran a comfortably hard effort.   Pace splits were 7:22, 7:21, 7:03.  I am very happy to have hit those paces given the hilly course.  That steep kicker at mile 1.5 was painful.  When I entered transition, I was already 90 seconds up on last year's time.  Transition 1 was smooth and uneventful.

     

     

     

    Bike (25 miles):  17.0 mph.  I haven't done a lot of riding this year.  One "benefit" of knee surgery last spring is that I biked a lot of miles during rehab, so I was strong on the bike.  This year though I've focused on running, and most of my bike miles were from tagging along with DW on her half ironman training rides.  As such, my bike was slower this year.  It didn't help that I was fighting GI issues the second half of the ride.  Not sure what was up with that but I eased up on the bike because of it.  I seriously considered pulling off the road and hitting the woods.  I didn't though.  I felt ok if I sat up and didn't pedal, so I did that on the downhills.  No doubt that cost me time.  The last three miles of the bike are a painful climb, and if you look at the profile below, it is as bad as it looks.  I was happy to be done with it, and all things considered, I was ok with the 17.0 avg speed.  When I hopped off the bike to enter transition and my legs didn't hurt, I knew I left time on the bike course.  I was three minutes slower than last year.  My transition was once again smooth and uneventful.

     

     

     

    Run 2 (10K):  8:06 pace.  This is what made my race.  My stomach settled down as soon as I got off the bike.  Yay!  The first mile of the 10K run is on a technical trail in the woods, then up the same dirt road the race started on.  My legs were tired and this wasn't fun.  Once I got to the road and through mile 1, my legs started to wake up in a big way.  Sure the course started to go downhill, but that didn't matter.  I felt good.  Even the hardest mile (mile four) was well ahead of last year's pace (8:59).  I was very surprised I was running so well and even managed to pass some people.  Feeling so strong on the run just reinforced my belief that I left too much time on the bike course.  When I crossed the finish line, I was feeling good and could have kept running.  Pace splits were 8:44, 7:41, 7:44, 8:40, 8:17, 7:43, 7:18.

     

     

    Official time was 2:39:07, which is almost a five minute improvement on last year.  I'll take it!

    5th OA in the duathlon.  I thought I was 4th but a female snuck in there...I was 4th male.  I was almost 3rd male but missed it by 16 minutes.  lol

     

    I was mid-conversation with a few people when I heard my name announced during the award ceremonies.  I walked up to the table and said "I heard my name called!"  Low and behold, I was the master's winner.  Heh.  Sure it was a small field, but all I can do is show up and race.  And I don't feel too guilty about the award in a small field because I feel I had a strong race.  I won a saddle bag for my bike plus this hat!  Score.

     

     

     

    MtnBikerChk did awesome in her first Olympic tri!  And holy cow did she blow the doors off me on the bike.  She beat my bike by 7 minutes.  18.5 mph.  Ouch.  Yeah, she'll be reminding me of that for the foreseeable future.

    <3

    happylily


      They knew you'd win Masters and had your name stitched on the hat before the race? Super cool!  Well done, Baboon. That was quite hardcore!

      PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013

              Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013

      18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010

      happylily


        Oh and congrats to MBC! What a great cyclist she is!

        PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013

                Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013

        18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010


        on my way to badass

          Outstanding! Thanks for the RR. That is a great improvement!

          Still waiting for the perfect race picture. 5K PR-33:52 , 10K PR 1:11:16, First HM 2:42:28

          Docket_Rocket


            Great job and improvement!  Congrats on the Masters' Award.

            Damaris

             

            As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

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              Nicely done Babs, way to bring home the hardware!

              So how did MBC place? And when is she going to teach you how to swim?

              Sorry about the GI issues. Is it weird that you had problems with it on the bike, but not on the run? I'da thought it'd be the other way around.

              Dave


              delicate flower

                Nicely done Babs, way to bring home the hardware!

                So how did MBC place? And when is she going to teach you how to swim?

                Sorry about the GI issues. Is it weird that you had problems with it on the bike, but not on the run? I'da thought it'd be the other way around.

                 

                MBC finished 185/273 OA...middle third, which is right where she wanted to be and she continues to move up.  5/10 in her AG.  She was 106 OA on the bike and 12th female. 

                <3

                hog4life


                  Nice!

                  PADRunner


                    Cool. Great job & report!

                    MtnBikerChk


                    running is bad for you

                       

                      MBC finished 185/273 OA...middle third, which is right where she wanted to be and she continues to move up.  5/10 in her AG.  She was 106 OA on the bike and 12th female. 

                       

                      I hadn't done that math yet - 12th outta how many?  Big grin

                      scottydawg


                      Barking Mad To Run

                        Congrats on killing your last year's time!

                         

                        What the heck is an aquabike?  You had to bike through water?  That sounds tough!

                        "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt

                        Julia1971


                          "Sure it was a small field, but all I can do is show up and race." - Yep, you got up and showed up.  Make no apologies for that.  Smile  Very great result.  And congrats to DW on her fantastic finish, too!

                            Congrats Baboon and MBC!

                             

                            The poo monster didn't get a hat that says "FAST", and that's important.  Tough-looking elevation, great job finishing strong on the 2nd run, Boon.

                            LRB


                              I WANT THAT HAT!

                               

                              Nice job on bringing it home!  Are there mental demons at any point during a duathlon?


                              delicate flower

                                Thank you for the comments! 

                                 

                                Scotty, aquabike is swim plus bike.  No run.  Duathlon is run, bike, run.  No swim.  Aquabike always has the smallest field.

                                 

                                Julia, thanks for popping in here!

                                 

                                LRB, it is a cool hat.  It has the name of the event on the back, and "Division Winner" on the side.    No real mental demons in this race.  Having done this race before, I was familiar with the hills and knew what to expect.  Battling the intestinal pain was the only mental battle.  I think feeling so good on run 2 helped.  I was expecting a slow painful run and to finish on fumes, but my legs responded and I ran strong.  Having to hold back on the bike left me with lots of energy for the run.    I'm sure I left time on the course, but this race was for fun and even finishing five minutes faster wouldn't have mattered in the standings.

                                <3

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