Desert Sprint Duathlon - DuathlonStandard

As soon as we started, I knew I was in trouble. I couldn't hang with the lead pack and I felt horrible. Very thirsty. Almost asked for water at the first aid station, but it was in the first 200m haha. Tried to get a cup of water as we passed by on the way back, but we were running too fast and the exchange didn't work out. I knew I didn't have any fluids on the bike (Mon ended up with my only bottle), so I was concerned.

Drink more before the start (and maybe the night before the race).

I left my shoes clipped on the bike, so I got out of transition quickly (2nd), but lost some time as I struggled getting up to speed and up the hill. Got passed at the bike mount.

Do a better job of mounting the bike. Take a little bit of time at the to be sure to get one foot on a shoe before pushing off. The mount is right at the base of a hill so you need to get control quickly as there's no coasting.

Got passed right at the mount (by someone that took the time to put on shoes in transition). He got up to speed and took off. There were two ahead of me. I got passed again within a couple of miles and then again about halfway through the ride. I was in 5th coming down the home stretch when I was passed again. I was kind of blocking the lane and he said something and shook his head. He was moving pretty fast and wasn't in our age group. I wondered if he was in the triathlon since he should have passed me earlier than that if he started the du with me. Made me question how many of the others that passed me were in the tri.

Hopefully, not be sick. I don't think I quite had it - not much juice.

Cruised into the dismount with one leg swung over and the volunteers were yelling at me to slow down. It was kind of funny. I slowed to a stop well before the line and tip toed down off the bike to be sure not to lose a shoe.

Dismount went pretty well.

Grabbed water at the first aid station, right out of transition. I heard the announcer say that the leader was on the back side of the lake and I thought I could see him more than a mile away. He was definitely out of reach. There were two guys in sight. I caught one runner just after getting up on the path around the lake at the first mile and I could see the guy that just passed me on the bike ahead, but he was pulling away. I looked back and I saw a group of guys running the other way behind the fence. It looked like they were closing in. I knew the course was short from last year, so I just tried to keep pushing forward. I wasn't considering quitting or anything, but I was a bit discouraged because the (triathlete) was pulling away. With about a mile to go, I heard the announcer call in the winner. I could only see I thought "it's a triathlon, anything can happen. He could start walking or something." Haha - it's only a sprint. And I figured there were another 3 or 4 people ahead of me. I heard some more commotion over at the finish and made the turn off of the road onto the beach and took a look back. There was no one in sight. As I approached the finish, the announcer say, "here comes 2nd place. Not sure if it's a triatlete or a duathlete, but either way, he'll be second!" I turned around my race belt and he called me in. There were a lot of cheers and people yelling "Go Tri Club" since I was wearing the kit. I was a bit confused as I surely expected there to be more people ahead of me. Turns out the fastest runner in the group had come off the bike in second and made a wrong turn, taking 3rd and 4th place with him. The overall winner was a stage race cyclist that put about 6 minutes on the field in the 14 miles (and had a sub-6 3-miler off the bike).

Felt good about the effort, but I would have liked to be faster. Was running in a fog and felt dehydrated all race.

Not much. Walked over to transition just in time to see Monica head out on the run. Went to my rack and tidied up. Grabbed my camera and headed towards the finish to catch Monica coming down the home stretch.


Fighting off a cold that came on earlier in the week.


This is a good race. Not very crowded. First year that they've separated the sprint/du from the international. Not very competitive.