The Scottsdale Thanksgiving Adult Duathlon - Duathlon

i was trying to run 8:30s, but i started out a little fast and got to the 1/2 mile mark at 3:40. i tried to slow a little, but i was feeling good and got to the 1 1/2 mile turnaround at 11:30. during the next mile i tried to ease further, but started to pass an awful lot of people. i was worried i may be burning myself out, but i hit the 2 1/2 mile mark at 19:30, which meant i had slowed a little so i felt better. i was also feeling better at this point than in any previous run i'd done and i knew i was going to be way under my goal of 27.00 for the first run. my spirits got another huge boost when i was just finishing and heard a "go Andy" from Susan. i wasnt expecting here to be there, so it was really nice.

in retrospect, i might have been able to push harder. but, i didnt know what kind of shape i was going to be in, so i'm very happy with the first run.

not sure if they timed the transitions, but i thought i was pretty fast (for me). i changed shoes quickly and got on my helmet and sunglasses without problem. i also had surprisingly little trouble getting my shoes clipped in to the pedals.

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i really enjoyed the bike (again). since it was such a short ride, i was not sure how hard i'd be able to push, so i went with just a gut feeling of wether i could sustain it for 12 miles. it turned out to be around 22-23 mph, slowed by heavy traffic (600+ entrants on a 3 mile loop), tight turns, and the fact that we had to stop (with one foot down) once each lap for our lap counter. my goal was 20 mph average, which i just barely made.

again, i think i could have gone harder, but i was unsure of how i'd feel on the last run. (during soma, i started getting really sick after t2, and didnt want a repeat of that -- especially since i was doing this race just to get rid of the bad feeling i got after soma).

again i felt i was fairly quick (for me). i did waste about 5 seconds, though, helping the guy next to me look for his swim goggles. i could also hear Susan cheering from just outside the barrier -- its amazing how much something like that can help. as i started to run out of the transition area, i glanced at my stopwatch and saw 59:59 and i knew i could now easily make my overall goal of 1:15:00 -- even if i walked.

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my legs felt a little heavy fo the first few hundred yards, but i started feeling pretty good about 2 minutes in. there was also a lot of exchanged encouragement with the runners going the opposite direction. this made me feel pretty good, too. i felt great when i could see the turnaround point. the waterstation there had a volunteer who would run along with you as he handed you a cup of water -- very nice. i finished by dodging many people that were crowding the finish area (they were mostly there for the tri, and didnt notice much the du finish lane). i then received a nice hug from Susan who was waiting for me at the finish. happy thanksgiving to me!

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had a banana, a doughnut and some powerade.


lack of training. i did hardly any for this race.


very good race for what it was supposed to be -- a fun, friendly, family-type race on thanksgiving morning. really a great way to start the holiday.