Orange County International Duathlon - DuathlonStandard

Orange, California United States 90F / 32C Sunny

Total Time = 2h 02m 34s Overall Rank = 68/350? Age Group = 40-44 Age Group Rank = 12/?

I'll just post my report here:

Jay's Race Report from the Orange County Duathlon- Saturday, June 3rd:
I had originally backed out of this race when they yanked the swim from the agenda, but yesterday afternoon around 3pm with the weather being so nice, and the thought of camping by the lake, I changed my mind, and rounded up my wife and daughter and packed the tent, and off we went around 6:30pm. After a dinner stop, we got to the lake around 8 and registered, and set up the tent.
A bit tough sleeping with a group of guys telling tri stories over a few beers a few feet away from us, but fortunately my daughter was able to sleep.
A restless night, and a bit chilly, but I woke up around 5am as cars started arriving. Got my bike to transition and reserved a spot and met up with ST'er Longboarder and his wife and chatted a bit. Sipped Gatorade and downed a Clif Bar. Not my "usual" pre-race meal, but it was all i had on short notice camping out.
The day was going to be a scorcher. Not a cloud in the sky and easily high 70's by race start time at 7am. I pulled a rookie move and forgot to put sunscreen on. Oh well, I'd have to race faster so I could finish before i got sunburnt I figured!
This was my first duathlon, so it was a bit weird starting a race by running (I've never entered a running race either...only triathlons and Muddy Buddy), and with the mass start, I decided I'd start near the back as I figured my 8-min/mile pace was on the slow side compared to most. That turned out to be a correct assumption. Anyway, I cruised comfortably for the first 5K run and nailed down sub-8 minute miles, which is decent for me. Probably finished that first run somewhere around the middle of the field and passed several people along the way after warming up.
Onto the bike. I'm reasonably familiar with the route because it's one of my regular training routes, so I knew what was coming. Lots of hills! I decided, since it was a 40K ride, I'd just hammer the whole ride and not conserve, so i did just that, passing people mostly on the uphills, but not much elsewhere. I had draft marshalls next to me watching riders ahead for quite some time early on in the bike, and wondered if I could draft off THEM (ha, ha), so I was a bit paranoid about getting a penalty, but I am very conscious of avoiding drafting, so no problems there. I downed about 1/2 bottle of Gatorade and 1/2 of water on the ride, and ate a gel at the turnaround on the bike. I hammered back in to T2 and saw 23.5 miles on my computer, so if that was right, the bike was about 1.5 miles short, and my time of 1:15 or so pretty much confirms that. I'm usually a 1:18 40K rider...not fast, but not horribly slow.
Off the bike, I felt great...at first, but after 1/2 mile, I knew it was going to be a tough 5K. Very hot, no shade, and two aid stations with lukewarm water, so I tried to pace myself, and felt slower than the first run. I wasn't really passing many people. I just kept saying to myself how I could do 3 miles in my sleep, and kept chugging along, grabbing two cups of water at the aid stations and dumping most of it on my head and body and drinking a bit. One girl got ahead of me at mile 2, but I never let her get more than 20 yards in front of me, and tried pacing off her. She was my target, and with about 400 yards to go, I emptied the tank and passed her. The announcer, who i later found out I had met before, said "Jay Reale from San Clemente...is that Jay Reale the pro bodyboarder?" I gave the thumbs up as I crossed the line. My head was pounding and I was pretty shelled. Maybe more than I've ever been at a finish line. They gave me a bottle of water, and I immediately dumped it on my head. I had to get in the shade right away and cool off. My wife told me I was pale. After about 2 minutes, I felt back to normal as i guess my core temp. had dropped. I had thought that race would take me around 2:30, but I finished in 2:02 so i guess I was wrong! That was good for 68th overall and probably 11th or 12th in my AG. I was happy with my race.
it was almost as hot as the 70.3 Florida race from two weeks ago, but without the benefit of cold water and ice, I definitely felt the wrath of it more in this race.
Post race i indulged in Gatorade, cookies, fruit, etc. The Boy Scout folks even offered to make me pancakes if I wanted.
Kudos to all the volunteers who were very cheery and appreciative of everyone who supported the race even though they changed the format a few weeks ago, and everyone was optimistic that it would be back next year as a triathlon (I hope).
I didn't stick around for the awards as i didn't want my wife and daughter to have to sit through something they had no interest in, so I was back home before 11am. I have a triathlon here in San Clemente tomorrow, so we'll see how the 42-year-old body handles all the torture. Do I have enough in me for an afternoon surf? We'll see!