Brandywine Valley Duathlon - Duathlon

Found JohnnyKay at the starting line. We ran near each other for the first half mile or so but then he started to pull away and I settled in. My goal was 7min/mi so I was slightly off that pace.

nothing really...given the point in my training, I was right where I expected to be.

I had a pretty good spot close to the bike in/out. No real issues, but I still don't do the "jump on bike" mounting approach. someday....(maybe).

nothing.

Having ridden the course the day before, I felt pretty comfortable with the how I should race the course...(e.g. which downhills you needed speed to carry the following uphills). I pushed a hard, but steady effort, knowing that miles 10 and 11 were all uphill. I did alright on this 2mi climb but nothing great. Fitness isn't there where I could have really pushed it. Still came out with a solid bike and prob passed a dozen or so ppl (many of whom passed me back on the 2nd run).

The consensus from multiple sources was the course was long than the advertised 13.2...likely around 13.5, which puts my avg in the low 19s.

Run a faster first run to ease up on some of the congestion I had on a couple of the early decents.

Ran down the wrong row...oops. Wasn't all that bad as the default bike rack (ok the metal bar) is lower than my saddle to it requires me to tilt my bike to rack. Luckily there were no bikes really close, so I racked my bike from the oppose side of where my shoes were and then ducked under the bar.

Run down the correct row.

My pre-race goal was about 30s slower for the second run. Not sure how balanced run times are suppose to be for du's but self-fulfilling or not, I pretty much ran 30s slower.

I came out of T2 with two other guys...1 guy was way faster and was gone and I ran with the other for about a half mile before he started to pull away. After that they started going by me one at a time...prob most of the guys who beat me on the first run who I subsequently passed on the bike. The last about 1/2mi was fun...one guy passes me and gets about 10-15ft ahead. Second guy passes me but we hold even...we catch first guy with <.25mi to go....we run together for a bit and then I go. They both hold on but the guy I was running with is slipping a bit. We turn the final corner and I hear someone in the crowd yell, "we got a race here". Then the first guy makes a break with maybe .1 to go and opens up 10ft or so...he drops the other guy and I am holding on....I keep pushing and pass him with less than 100yds and manage to hold him off. Reminds me of bike racing. Turns out neither were in my AG, but fun nonetheless.

Run harder.

Nothing smart w/ regards to a working out...packed up bike and bag. Grabbed some food and sat in the cold with JohnnyKay. Chatted about the race a bit, looked at the results and stayed for part of the awards ceremony.


The race had too many runs and to few transitions:P

Seriously though, although I maintained a decent base over the winter, having not been on any training plan and having run 10K only a handful of times since the marathon, I wasn't anywhere near peak sprint distance shape.


The good
- well organized, nice venue
- giving away Yankz like they were going out of style

Could be better
- Food was ok, but nothing great
- 6 porto-potties for 325 racers, plus volunteers, plus guests