Booker T Duathlon - Duathlon

I was still in visual contact of the race leader. I was surprised at how well I ran and how well I managed the pace. I was breathing deep and slow throughout and surprised myself with how I ran.

Nothing

Opted not to leave shoes on the bike. There was only about 15 yards of grass to cover before mounting. On the bike there was a steep down, a steep up, then speed bumps....I needed to have my shoes on right away so I could bunnyhop the speed bumps.
Pretty sure the splits are wrong. My first run was faster and T1 was slower than listed.


If left pedal had been forward I could have stepped on it and swung over. But I didn't think ahead.

I came off the bike in 2nd place. This was my first race on my zipp wheels. The 808 FC front wheel had a mind of it's own in the wind. It wasn't scary, but got my attention. But I'm not likely to race in wind like this again. And if I were I can always use my HED 60 instead.

This was my first time on my TT bike this year and since changing the stem and wheels. That's OK, I didn't plan to make this race that important, but I was definitely limited a lot on the bike because I was not in shape for this position. Hamstrings and Glutes burned and severely limited my power output.

Dismounting in my shoes is something I haven't practiced! I had a moment of fear as I realized that I was jumping off a moving bike with shoes on and clipped in! But it went OK.
My fingers were so cold they wouldn't work. I literally could not get my helmet unbuckled and had to ask for help from a race worker! I also had trouble getting my shoes off/on due to the numb fingers. Overall lost about 10 seconds.

Wear gloves on the bike!!!!

I realized as I was running in 2nd place OA and thinking of catching the leader, that in duathlon that person has already proven to be a better runner, so how can I expect to catch him?
Then, I noticed I was closing the gap and thought about the fact that running AFTER the bike is so different it's almost a 2nd sport.
Ultimately I did not catch him, and 3rd place came around me to ultimately win. This time the legs felt very different. At first, strides were too short. A STEEP downhill early on became precarious with my legs fatigued...but from that point on they weren't a factor. I actually succeeded in regaining some of my first-run form (in terms of stride)

Nothing.

Walked it off.


My biking was poor. The new lower position may be too aggressive, or I just need mileage to adapt. We will see. But I'm in great shape and noticed that I wasn't challenged aerobically on the bike, just muscularly...which I take as a good sign.


Race was small. organization so so. Friendly group of people and participants.

So many screwed up splits that I can't trust any times except perhaps the finish times. Probably due in part from people discarding clothing in transition. Clothing had race number....race number had transponder..

But other problems existed too. My first run and T1 times are wrong. But the total of the 2 seems right.