There were 30-40 athletes who opted for the duathlon option. We started with the 2nd wave (although my chip was still timed to my original wave, the third). Myself and one other guy paced together for the first ~2mi and then a third guy joined us. Pace was very comfortable and I technically won the segment as I crossed the mat before the other two. Either I was feeling good, or the course was a tad short, b/c the effort/pace ratio seemed a bit off.

Nothing. Maybe go slower??!?!

Raced w/ road shoes, so I put shoes on in transition and ran w/ bike.

AVG HR 152

Learn how to jump on bike.

I intended to follow Mike Ricci's 1/2IM pacing - http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=...

Spectator told me there were 4 ppl out ahead of me when I got on the bike. This pretty much told me that there would be a decent number of ppl passing me and not a lot of passing for me.

It took me a while to get my HR to Z1 to start. Partially b/c the bulk of the first 5mi was uphill and doing a 5K run instead of swim had my HR running a bit higher. After 10mi I upped the effort to low/mid z2. I crossed the 20mi mark at almost exactly 1hr or 20mph. From there I upped the effort to high z2. Felt strong till about mile 40...then the fatigue started to set in. I told myself to keep it together until mile 45 and if I felt good I would give one solid push at that point before cruising in. When I got to mile 45 I pushed for a while but I could tell my legs were feeling it so I kept it z2 as much as possible...the back 1/2 of the loops being uphill forced a lot of HR spikes into z3 though.

I only passed one person, a woman at mile 4, on the whole bike and I was probably passed by 15-20 others. I was so-so as far as "racing my race". On a cpl of occassions I found myself trying to pace off of others and that would cause my HR to rise a bit.

Nutrition:
5x Gu
2.5 x Gu2o
3 e-caps
TOTAL 500 + 375 = 875 calories

Not race as hard.

Took my time as I wanted to get my HR down as much as possible before heading out on the run.

Nothing.

Started off feeling not too bad. Again following the Ricci plan. First three miles were to be z1, then up to z2 through mile 10 and then give it your all (or whatever you have left) for the final 5k.

With all the fatigue in the legs on the bike, I was actually looking forward to the run. It started off pretty good for the first 6mi or so....mostly low 8s, and possibly even a cpl high 7s. Mile 3 was in the 9s as it was a decent uphill...and I was really feeling it on the uphills. I actually had to slow down in the first 3mi to get my HR down. I typically have problems keep HR up b/c my legs/muscles fatigue to the point where I can't move hard enough to keep the HR up. Unfortunately, pace slowly started to fade to high 8s, to low 9s and even had a low 10. HR dropped. I was just hanging on and couldn't wait to soak my legs in the cold waters of Lake Anna. Got passed by a ton of ppl, including the top female. Second female passed me ust after mile 12 and was really nice and actually helped me pace it home.

Nutrition:
I ran with my own 20oz of Gu2o. Took Gu at mile 4 and then another around mile 8. Took water from every aid station...took a sip and then dumped the rest over my head.

TOTAL: 125 + 200 = 325 (also had some soda and chex mix from the course)

In hindsight, looks like I was too light with nutrition. bonk!

Now the 54 degree water was great!


(1) Too hard on the bike...may get hr zones retested
(2) Nutrition. Including gu right before the race, I had 1400+ calories, or 275 calories/hr based on 5.08hrs. If I subtract on the 200 pre-race, it drops to 236 calories/hr. Calories were way too low on the run even if I count my last bike Gu (consume at mile 54) twd the run...looks like I bonked!
(3) Need to do more hill running.
(4) Raced the week before and wasn't tapered. This was planned as this was a B race.


Looked like a nice swim course had the water been warmer. Bike was alright...kinda crappy roads on the last 1/2 of each loop. Not that I needed one, but not enough port-o-potties on the bike course. Didn't like the run course as it was either up or downhill. Aid stations approx every mile. Had tiny cups (~6oz w/ ~4oz of liquid in each)...kinda annoying.

Event was delayed 18min b/c paramedics were late. They ran out of any of the real food (which was just hamburgers and hot dogs), which is pretty pathetic.

Location was great...ample bathrooms....even showers and plently of parking.