Reston Triathlon (Duathlon) - Duathlon

This was in place of the swim. Started in the first wave of people. Felt good going out but was alarmed when I saw sub 6 on my Garmin at mile 1 and then sub 6 again for mile 2. I felt fine and was running with people I knew I could run with but thought we might be going out to hard. I was right - this was two hard.

Since this was my first duathlon, I figured I would just go with the flow.

Back off the pace 15-20 seconds per mile.

T1 estimate - setup events forgot to turn the T1 mats on. I came out on the bike with the people I came in on the run with so I figured that I had an ok transition.



Nothing.

I love this course - winding, rolling and fast.

Came out of tranisition and immediately dropped my chain. Only took 5-10 seconds to get it back on but still a guy in my AG ahead of me did a flying mount and the guy behind me did a flying mount and all of sudden I was 50-100 feet behind both of them.

Took a mile or two but I caught back up to them and the three of us plus Scott Baldwin (KQ at LP) started an all out race - for the next 20 or so miles it was a constant surge to take the lead and then watch one of them pass me back. We were careful not to draft and had a race official with us for a chunk of the ride.

Some random guy jumped on my wheel and when I told him he was drafting he said who cares and that the 4 of us were close to drafting. I told him that we were keeping at least 3 bike lengths between us and he said he did not care about the rules. Just then a marshall pulled up and gave him a penalty for drafting off of me. It really was perfect timing.

Besides the annoying drafting guy I had a great race and really enjoyed the course - yes it was wet from the hurricane and yes there were leaves and sticks on the course but it was still a fast course.

Pulled up to get off the bike and watched Dave, Scott and Kevin all do flying dismounts and go right by me as I unclipped and got off my bike. I need to learn how to do a flying dismount.

Nothing - really happy with this ride - a dramatic improvement over past races.

6th fastest T2 time overall - I was happy with it.

Nothing.

Came out of T2 with the same group I went in with and the race was on. I was told coming out of T2 that I was 7 OA - quickly moved up 5th and then it was a matter of how much long I hold on for as I knew that I had 5-10 runners who were trying to chase me down. Scott, who KQ at LP this year, jumped in front of me a 1/2 or so in and I just kept on his feet. For the next 2 miles it was just the two of us. He would surge and I would match it. Before the turn around he surged uphill and I could not stick with him and had to drop back. At the turn around I saw 3-4 guys who looked like they were coming hard and fast. Kevin Kunkel (did Kona last year) came up to me around the 3.5 mile mark and he and I ran together for a while but I was really hurting by this time and he was slowly pulling away. Kept plugging away and tried to maintain my form.

Got to the last hill, saw my hr was 190 uphill and sure enough got sick 2x within 200 meters of the finish. Luckily no one was close to passing me but unfortunately a volunteer saw me and announced to everyone "WE HAVE A PUKER!" Everyone on the out course and all the volunteers looked at me - great, thanks for that buddy.

Still no one behind me so I was able to cruise in.

Nothing.

Walked around and talked with everyone. The reston triathlon is in my opinion the best, most well run tri I have done. This was the 25th anniversary and they do a great job. They made the decision to close the swim (The right decision) due to the hurricane immediately, alwasy have the course well marked with plenty of volunteers, the course is really pretty, the food is wonderful and the swag is the best - this year - tshirts, transition bags, sock guy socks, etc plus a cold towel and cold water bottle is handed to you as you cross the finish line.

They do a great job with this race.


Not having the swim hurt me - I would have been 3rd-5th OA with the swim.

My swim is there, my bike is starting to get there but my run is not good enough to compete with the top guys at this point. I need to be running a 37 to 39 10K at the end of a race to have a shot at holding off the big boys. Hopefully a good winter of run focused training gets me there.


A very well run challenging but fast race.