TriSports.com Desert Classic Road Duathlon - DuathlonStandard


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Phoenix, Arizona
United States
Chasing 3 Race Productions
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 10m 49s
Overall Rank = 17/95
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 4/15
Pre-race routine:

Up at 5am, loaded the gear, bowl of oats, cup of coffee and a bottle of skratch to sip on. Had to stop by two people's homes to let their cats out/in and got to the race site at 7:30, 15 mins before transition closed.
Event warmup:

Went for a short run of about a mile. Definitely was not long enough as it took me a mile into the first run to really see my legs come alive. Lesson learned, longer warm up for the next race that starts with 5k speed.
Run
  • 25m 21s
  • 3.5 miles
  • 07m 14s  min/mile
Comments:

Since this was my very first DU I wasn't sure how hard to really push it on the first run. At the start I was sitting around 3rd and then when we reached the trail I had a couple people go around me. Partially a product of not warming up fully but also my reluctance to really hammer the run. Looking back I could have hit the run a bit harder and probably posted closer to a top 3 or 4 run split.
What would you do differently?:

Warm up better, run faster.
Transition 1
  • 00m 47s
Comments:

One investment coming this year will be tri shoes. Shoes on the ground, had to dial them down and then mount at the line. I suppose tri shoes and a flying mount (with practice) could save me another 10 seconds or so but otherwise transition was smooth and fast.
Bike
  • 1h 15m 59s
  • 0 miles
  • 0.00 mile/hr
Comments:

Few things struck me about this bike, especially after.
1. It's time to tri bike shop because I'm giving up free speed.
2. I'm just now really getting back on the bike so I didn't expect anything grand in terms of pace.
3. I really misjudge (not in my favor) the time of a gap on the bike.

My goal here was to push it a little bit for the first lap, get a feel for how I was doing and then try and push it harder the second lap. I came out of transition in a pretty sweet spot but within a couple miles I could hear the wooosh of a couple discs flying past me. This would happen a few more times and all I could think about was my lack of a dedicated bike and lack of time on the bike. Regardless, I decided to just try and hang on and give up as little time as possible.

two thirds through the bike a few more people passed me that I knew were in my age group. As I was heading towards the last turn around I saw them going by the other direction and way over calculated the size of lead they had on me. I figured they had a couple minutes and that would make it tough to reel them in on the final run...so I started to hammer as hard as I could to limit the bleeding. By the time I rolled into transition they were just leaving on the run so my calculations were way off, they had at most a 30 second lead on me. Stupid
What would you do differently?:

Not panic at the end of the bike and save a bit more energy/legs for the final run. I really believe it cost me a couple minutes bringing the run home.
Transition 2
  • 00m 35s
Comments:

Almost forgot to take my feet out of my shoes prior to dismounting! Unstrapped, hopped off, ran in, slid the NB 1600s with their xtenez laces on and hit the road.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing at all, fast as I had in me.
Run
  • 28m 3s
  • 3.5 miles
  • 08m 01s  min/mile
Comments:

Running up the road freaking hurt and my heart rate was through the roof. All attributable to how hard I was hammering the bike coming in. Again, stupid. Anyway, I made the left turn on the road to a couple friends shouting "go run em down BT" and I was on the hunt. I could see the last 4 people that passed me on the bike just up the road and turning onto the trail. That's where I set my sights first. Another half mile up the trail I passed one of them and was reeling two of the other three in rapidly. Within another half mile I was around both of them and starting to put time on my friend just up ahead. Didn't take much longer to go around him and then I could see three more people bobbing up and down in the desert ahead. I told myself I was catching all three of them as well.

Made the halfway turn and starting descending ever so slightly and picked up the pace. The first guy in front of me was doing the same thing and I wasn't making too much time on him. However, we were making time on the two other people in front of us. Up through the last rise before the descent into the finish and we got those two and I was hot on the feet guy in front of me. Dang if I could actually reel him in though. I got as close as maybe 10 feet coming into the finish chute but ran out of real estate. I was popped but what a blast.
What would you do differently?:

Better bike pacing so I could put a bit more effort into the run.
Post race
What limited your ability to perform faster:

Bike strength. Rookie woes.

Event comments:

Apparently this is a new event company this year and being a first for me, I cannot compare it to before. However, it was a blast, seemed well organized and left me with a big smile on my face. Definitely will be back for this one next year.




Last updated: 2013-03-01 12:00 AM
Running
00:25:21 | 03.5 miles | 07m 14s  min/mile
Age Group: 7/15
Overall: 0/95
Performance:
Course: 3.5 mile mostly trail run. Run started out on the park road, climbed the first 1/4 mile or so and then you headed off onto the trails. Trail continued to climb gradually through roughly the first half and then it began to fall off. Number of rollers as you crossed numerous washes and one steep but short hill just before run in. Apparently the run course is a bit different from years past as there was a bigger, longer hill at the end.
Keeping cool Good Drinking
T1
Time: 00:47
Overall:
Run with bike?
Jump on bike?
Getting up to speed and into shoes:
Biking
01:15:59 | 00 miles | 0.00 mile/hr
Age Group: 5/15
Overall: 0/95
Performance:
Wind:
Course: No more riding through the park. Out onto McDowell Mtn Road, climb towards Fountain hills, turn around, drop towards Rio Verde, turn around and repeat a total of two laps. Pretty hilly/rolling through the course.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 00:35
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:28:03 | 03.5 miles | 08m 01s  min/mile
Age Group: 4/15
Overall: 0/95
Performance: Good
Course: Same run as the first but this time we ran out of transition, south to the road, then back up to pass where we started. Turns out this made the final run leg more a 4 mile run (4.02 on my watch and most other people's).
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4