Papillion Days Duathlon - Duathlon

Good start to the race. I executed my strategy well. I lined up right in the front right, took off in nearly a dead sprint for the first 100 yards or so to get out of the mass of people. Almost the first half mile is downhill so I really tried to let gravity do the work. Splits were 6:12 and 6:40 (last half mile going up that hill). This was 18 seconds than the first run of last year's race.


Nothing

Very good transition. Practicing the night before hand helped. I decided that I needed to sprint to my bike and out of transition. I also ran well past the timing mat before jumping on the bike to get a good head of steam and to avoid a lot of other athletes who were trying to get on their bikes right past the timing mat. I did however have some trouble getting my shoes into the clips. Just one of those things. Overall, this was 9 seconds faster than my T1 from last year.

Nothing.

Pretty solid bike ride. I made up some much needed time on the stronger runners and/or the athletes who went out too hard on the first run. I pushed pretty hard right from the start and kept doing so throughout the ride. First lap was 14:06. Downed a gel and told myself that I needed to push harder yet (I referred back to my motto from the Papio tri of "This is a race damn it, go"). Second lap was 13:50 so I did just that. Total time was 17 seconds faster than last year. I came into the bike in 5th place I think (not sure it I passed anyone in transition but I don't think I did).


Train more on the bike but what do you do.

Another good transition. Sprinting makes a difference as this was 6 seconds faster than my T2 from last year.

Nothing.

I gave it all I had on the last run but pushing myself hard on the first run and the bike didn't leave me with too much. My legs were pretty wobbly coming out of T2 but I forced myself to run hard down the hill to take advantage of gravity again. My left calf began to cramp up about 1/2 mile into the run so I thought I was in trouble but it went away pretty fast so I was very thankful for that. I figured out at about the 3/4 mile point that I was in 5th place overall. I set my sights on the three racers in front of me thinking I could catch them and finish 2nd overall regardless of who was a relay and who wasn't. I passed a woman before the turn around point (I knew she was a member of a relay team). Then I tried my best to catch the other two. Marshall's teammate (Mr. 5:39 splits, real nice guy), caught me with less than 1/2 a mile to go. At the start of the climb I gave it all I had and I was able to catch one final athlete who was a younger guy who I was pretty sure was part of a relay with about 1/4 mile to go (he was) but I didn't have enough to catch the other guy I was shooting for who ended up being the overall winner. Even though my second run this year was 11 seconds slower than my second run was last year, I do think that this was a good strategy for me as I held back enough, especially during the first run, but I pushed myself hard enough where I did not have much left in the tank when I finished. Splits were 6:44 and 6:43. 7th fastest time for the second run.



Maybe grab a water bottle coming out of transition to carry with on the run especially on hot and humid day like today was to poor on my head.

Walked around, stretched, drank a Myloplex recovery drink, visited with Marshall, his teammate, and some other racers that I've meet over the past few years.


Not being able to train as much on the bike as I would have hoped.
Somewhat wet roads made it so you had to slow down quite a bit going around turns.
Heat and humidity.


Lots of fun. Very rewarding although I do know that this time would have been good for only 11th place last year and not 2nd. Still, a great way to start off my Father's Day.