Desert Classic Duathlon - DuathlonStandard

Started out near back of group to avoid being trampled. Ran at my own pace (slow) and let most of the pack run off in the distance. HR was pretty high- about 175- but I felt good and tried to just go with it and hope I didn't blow up. Got a little muddy on the dirt service road. Felt like running with weights tied to my shoes for a while because of the clumps of mud sticking to me. Hills weren't too bad- just a gradual climb. Later on we started to get into some short descents/climbs typical of a trail run.
Felt pretty good the whole run despite my high HR.

Get some more experience with hills. I was pretty much on target with my time and not too much slower than my flat canal runs I'm used too. Only been running consistently for about three months so I was happy.

Felt like it went well. Yankz type laces would shave off a little time which would have helped me place a little higher as I would find out later.

Practice a little more and get new laces.

I was looking forward to the bike because this is where I can pass some of the people that left me on the trail. Felt really good coming off the run.
Hills weren't too bad - just a gradual climb in the beginning out of the park where I started passing some people.
The climb once we got back in the park seemed to go on a long time. Not steep but long. Passed quite a few on that section only to be passed by a few on the downhill.
HR was in the 170's the whole time which had me concerned but I still felt good. I did a race here in 2001 and went too hard and paid for it on the second run.
Saw a lot of people with flats and mechanical problems so I was relieved to finish with no issues. Found out on this web site that Elliot- the first BTer I've met- was one of them.


Some more hill training. Be nicer to my wife so I can get a bike from this century with decent wheels to buy a little speed.

Felt pretty good coming off the bike with just a little of that normal heavy leg feeling. Did well for the first half mile then reality slapped me along side the head as we started to get to some pretty short steep climbs. I can still see the first one that looked almost vertical- joked with one guy I passed about someone's sick sense of humor to put that one there. My legs were starting to feel the effort and I had to force myself to keep running and not walk. I passed a few guys that had passed me on the bike so that was motivation to keep going. Kept looking at the GPS to see how many miles I had left. The last mile was pretty tough and it took a lot to not stop and walk. Couldn't catch my breath. Shortly before the end I saw a guy with a little gray in his hair that I thought may be in my age group but had no age group marking. I tried to catch him at the end but he held me off by 2 seconds- he was in my age group- dang. The yankz laces would have helped me place at least one higher.
My wife said I looked like I was going to die- not too far from the truth. My youngest son had a look of concern on his face. My oldest son wanted to know when we were going home.


Not much. I beat my overall goal time by 5 minutes and ran about 10 seconds faster per mile on the second run than the first run so I paced it really well. I was happy with my time/effort.

Gasped for air for five minutes. Convinced my younger son Dad was going to live and my older son that we would get home eventually. Walked/hobbled around.


Lack of running prior to training for this race. This race was my motivation to run consistently. I just started three months ago so I can't complain too much.
I should also start to follow some sort of plan to get some consistency in my training.


Nice race and well organized. Just the right level of difficulty for me. Would do it again.