Blue Lake Olympic Duathlon - DuathlonOther

good run, took a touch of electrolites at aid station turnaround

cadence was 82-84, need to focus on trying to keep cadence closer to 85 which will help speed

rain earlier in week left a pretty muddy transition area so decided to run in bike shoes - the front tire was flat at the start

just run in socks and do the proper transition into shoes

- first CO2 cartrdige dead, 2nd okay, had to take valve extender off back tire to use on front, was not prepared thoroughly but was able to still have a good ride, another good learning experience - tires need to be replaced!
overall rank would have been 6 based on actual ride time w/out flat
played with position on saddle during ride - when on front edge of saddle, felt like had a lot of power and was pushing behind me on the pedals, but it made the quads burn, on back of saddle felt easier on the legs but not sure if got enough speed - big ring for whole ride, back of left knee had a touch of cramping on way back but was able to work it out
got on bike at exact same time as a good female racer, and passed her around mile 20 on the ride, that felt really good and a good mental boost

do a more thorough top-down check on wheels before race, CO2 tanks, valve extenders on both tubes, etc. Because of the delay really pushed hard on the bike so it left my quads burning for the 2nd run

again, should have not run in bike shoes

the run was painful! lost first gel around mile 2, took gel at turnaround just before mile 3, should have either held off on gel or had 2nd for later in run, the "just quit" voice in my head was screaming on mile 4 & 5 but was able to fight through it, had enough to sprint into the chute at the end, dowsed myself with water which felt really good. Tops of quads above the knees felt pretty sore

try to come up with a way to shut that bad vibe voice the hell up sooner, hold tighter to those gels (lost one in T2 last year also), try to dial in tighter on cadence which started slipping around 81-82 in later half of run

free muscle milk nasty protein shake, water, electrolytes
stretchiing later, had a beer at post-race tent which was the best beer ever tasted.


flat tire - duh!
not focus on higher cadence on runs
that negative voice in my head on the 2nd run was screaming and hard to fight off but managed to do it.


Without the flat, I would have placed 8th overall and 2nd in age division
But even with the flat I was still able to place 3rd, and still faster than my non-flat tire overall time 2 years ago, I felt the flat changing went quick despite problems so I still think this was good race - now it's off to get some new tires.