Chilly Cheeks Duathlon #3 - Duathlon

I pushed hard on the bike which is something I've never been really good at. Since this was the first time out for the race wheels, I didn't think to move my speed sensor from my normal wheels, so all I had to go on was my heart rate which ended up working pretty well. I battled w/ Eric Greene throughout this ride but he left me for dead on the run. About a mile and a half from the transition, Katie caught me on the bike and at first I was a little pissed at myself for allowing it, but the truth is she's a damn good cyclist.

From a race strategy standpoint, I probably shouldn't have pushed so hard on the bike, but I feel like I gained a valuable mental edge from it. I now know that I need to give my bike training some attention. What would I do differently? Train more

ehhh - kind of a crappy transition. I just wasn't prepared for it.

Mentally rehearse my transition before I get to it. Usually, I'll walk through the TA and picture what I'll do during the race, but I didn't do that this time.

As soon as I got off the bike I knew my run was going to be pretty tough. First, my legs were absolutely toast and we started off w/ a nice uphill. My legs weren't turning over and my HR spiked up over 180, so I decided to walk until I got everything under control. Of course while I was walking, Katie and some of the other familiar faces passed me again. This time I handled it much better and just focused on MY race for the moment. I re-started my shuffle/run just before the top of the hill. I suspected Katie would be running at roughly my usual pace and it was easy to see her since she was wearing a pink shirt, so I decided to keep her in sight as we turned onto the muddy trail. From there until the water station, I kept my pace consistent. My legs were still worked over from the bike and I didn't want to blow up in the middle of the race. After the aid station, we turned onto pavement and my legs felt much better, so I slowly started reeling in each person in front of me. I finally caught Katie just before we turned onto the concrete trail to the finish (Big thanks to her for pulling me along even if she didn't realize it) and pushed until the finish.

Train more. I did the best I could with the fitness I have, so no complaints about my performance here.

Walked and chatted w/ everyone.


My training. Unfortunately this is always the case. I'm just not consistent enough.


The Chilly Cheeks is a no frills kind of race, but it's got great character. No matter what, you know you'll be going to a race and the atmosphere feels like you're racing a bunch of friends. Maybe that's because there's so many BTers that show up :)