Spring Sprint Duathlon - DuathlonStandard

Just tried to keep it manageable. Watch was showing 5:30s and figured that was fast enough. Heart rate felt elevated. Eased up in last stretch, hoping to keep things in check for start of bike.

Be in better shape so I could run faster.

Left shoes on pedals. Had a good spot in transition, so it was really fast. Kicked off shoes while putting on helmet. Grabbed bike and ran out.

Everything went pretty well here. Maybe rubber band my shoe to the rear skewer? All-in-all, I can't complain. It was a sub-30-second transition. Great rack location helped!

Bike felt tough from the start. Usually in duathlons, my heart rate is elevated from the first run. Today was no exception. Checked HR as soon as I got into shoes and it was 166. I need to be below 160 or I'll blow up before too long. Couple that with some unexpected wind conditions - and the fact that my legs were dead from long ride the day before - and it was mostly a miserable ride. I passed a couple of people early and then got passed by two riders late on the second loop.

If I were really trying to peak for this race, I probably wouldn't do a 100-mile ride the day before (or run a marathon two weeks prior). This was just a planned quick, fun, hard training race since it's right here in town. No expectations and I promised myself I wouldn't get too worked up about any of the results. It was just a good chance to work on some stuff. That being said, I guess I should have raced the full triathlon, but a 400m swim? Why bother? I like doing the duathlon at these sprint events since you start in the first wave and don't have to deal with the wetsuit, wave start, etc. Besides, swimming is not my strong suit. I'm much more competitive in the run/bike/run events.

Another quick transition. Dismount went very well (no lost shoes). Run to timing mat was a bit farther, so transition time was a bit longer than T1. Still 45 seconds is not bad. Just rack the bike, take off helmet, put on run hat, slip on Newtons (no socks). I'll take it. First perfectly executed dismount in a while (and right in front of a bunch of friends there to cheer...yes!). I usually stop too suddenly and almost take out someone in front, or struggle to get one foot out, or get caught up on a rear water bottle swinging a leg over, or lose a shoe and have to go pick it up...awkward. Today, everything went very well :) Only thing was that we had to run in with bike while T1 athletes were swarming all around the place. Had to dodge em a bit, but didn't really lose any time.

This one went well. Maybe just move a bit faster.

Knew this was going to be a tough run. Just coming back from the marathon and with a long ride the day before, the idea was just to hang on. Of course, coming off the bike, there were a couple of people in sight, so there's no real holding back. I had passed someone in transition before we even got to the run and then I caught the first runner within the first half mile. There was one more runner in sight and a course Marshall told me there were 3 more, way up ahead. I was in 5th and it looked like there would only be one more spot to be gained. I caught up to the 4th place runner at just about the 1 Mile sign. He picked up his pace to stay with me and turned and asked what age group I was in. I said "40" and he said "me too." Great. We had a race and I was already feeling pretty cooked. I tried to shake him right there, but he was hanging tough. I had come up on him pretty quickly, but he sat in right behind me for quite a while and then made a break with a mile to go. I tried to cover the move, but just didn't have anything to go with him. He put some more time into me and I just tried to stay close. He had opened up about 30 yards with a 1/2 mile to go and never looked back. There was too much of a gap to ever make it a sprint finish. When I turned the last corner he was crossing the finish.

Try to cover the move a bit better. Still, he put 19 seconds into me in the last mile and I ran it faster than 6:19. I don't think I had a sub-6 in me at that point.

Walk around. Eat fruit, bagels and muffins. Chat with people. Hang out for awards.


No taper (13 days post-marathon, 101 mile ride the day before).


This is a good beginner race. The odd windy conditions made for a different bike course than the one we normally train on, but I wasn't really in condition to expect a great result. Still, I can't complain with a podium finish and 5th place overall, considering the limited recovery. This was just a fun race to use as practice and I ended up with an extra medal.