The rescheduled Wrentham Halloween Duathlon...the only thing scary was my performance. Boo.

Having gone through taper madness the week prior I had to deal with my last duathlon of the season getting rescheduled due to MA's "snowtober". So...one more week of trying to train, but not overtrain and stay sharp for the race. I had originally planned to run a local 5k on Saturday and since the dua got bumped, I'd race it the next day but thought that since I seemed to be getting a cold and wanting to do well on the Sunday, I decided to not run the 5k and focus all my energies (what there were of them) on the Dua.

I was support staff for J and her parents as they all ran the 5k on Saturday. While I was happy to do it, when I saw the times getting posted I couldn't help but think that I should've run the 5k myself. But no, no, no, the dua is the priority. It made more sense to save all my energy for Sunday's race (really, now I'm trying to be sensical?). THAT's the one I want to do well at. J posted a PR on the course, took 3rd in her age group and her mom won her age group for the 2nd year in a row. Great job by the two of them. Ok, support over, time to get get geared up for the Duathon.

I would love to say that race prep is this easy thing but that would be a straight up lie. I take over a room with gear layout so I can see it all. I hem and haw about what I should wear to the event, what I should wear for the event and what back up clothes/gear should be taken. Then there's what fuel to pack, how much and which water bottles should go (yes, I have specific water bottles to use based on event). I have done equipment layouts for "go to war missions" in my Army career that took less time and effort than it takes me to pack a transition bag! Then there's the bike. Oh, the bike. This will be the first event that I get to race my new 2011 Cervelo P2. If you don't think that bike looks sexy, you and I have no need to be friends. Cyclists and multisport racers always have a bike that is their prized possession. That P2 my friends is mine. Yes, I know they make P3's and P4's but to be honest those are variations on a theme. A theme set by the P2. So after lovingy wiping the P2 (named Natasha by the way) and double checking all the measurements were correct and fit was good, I was all set for the Duathlon.

Race morning went fine. Up at the right time, standard breakfast of cereal, juice and protein drink of some kind and headed out. Trying to be relaxed, I took my time and arrived at the setup area only an hour before the start. Now you may think that's normal but not for me dear redears. I normally show up to an event so early that I help the organizers SET UP. Yup, I'm THAT guy. I'm trying to get be better, I really am.

I LOVE duathlons, there is such a simplicity to setting up the transition area; bike, helmet, cycling shoes, water bottle and maybe a gel...thats it. Now I would be me if I didn't go back no less than 5 or 6 times to make sure the bike was set up right or my cycling shoes were in just the right location for easy donning. Now because I just got my P2, I have yet to buy the "wing" thats needed in order to mount anything behind the Carvelo's distinctive seat post so I decided to run the bike "skinny", 1 water bottle, no spare tubes or repair equipment. I must admit, as you can see in the picture, the bike looked pretty pimp. It was cold for race start, not as cold as the last time I did the event, but cold enough. I was wearing a tri top (Polar, of course) with a long sleeved under armour hot gear shirt, tri shorts and my Saucony Hattori's. I thought to use the Hattori's becuase it was a 3 and 2 mile run, the shoes weigh next to nothing (i.e. faster foot turnover) and the'yre like slippers so they'd be perfect to get on and off for a duathon. I knew what I'd run last time for the course so I knew I needed all the help I could get to run a faster time for the first leg. Now let me stop right here and say that while I knew what times I wanted to run, I had no plan for said want. So...when the gun went off, I decided to move to the front of the pack. I thought we were running fast but I was afraid to look down at my Polar RCX5G5. Why? Well, if I was running too fast, I was afraid I'd decide to slow down too much. If I felt like I was running fast and glance down to see I was actually running slower, it would take the wind out of me. Looking over my HR data post race, it seems I turned the first mile in 6mins. Granted I was hoping to run fast but thats a little fast for still having a lot of racing left on the day. So...even without looking at my watch during the race, I thought the pace was fast. Rather than trying to catch anyone, I just focused on hanging with the lead group. No mile markers on the course made pacing a little more difficult too. I was more gassed than I thought I'd be nearing the end of the first leg. I completely forgot that the end of each leg (both runs and the bike) finished a 1/2 mile climb INTO the transition/finish. Yay! And by yay I mean it sucked! I came in off the first 3mi run leg at 19:29, knocking a full minute off the run the last time I did the event .

T1 went relatively smoothly. I was cold and my fingers did not want to cooperate with me at all but I got out of T1 in 1:21, was on the bike and on my way. The bike course is billed as "rolling". When I, and the 3 guys around me, all on tri bikes, spend alot of time up and out of the saddle rocking our bikes....that's not rolling, thats HILLY my friends. I will say, that with even the hills my P2 rode like butter. Unfortunately I hit a pothole right out of the start. I thought for sure I'd flat (the idea of the sexy "skinny" bike now being a terrible one) but luckily I did not. Nor did I when I hit another pothole around mile 8. Ugh. I made it through the bike course flat free and headed into transition. The end ride into the transisiton area was over grass. GRASS?! Are you kidding me. I'm riding a razor blade of a bike thats edgy on pavement and in order to get into transition I have to ride on grass! It was like riding through sand...slow and difficult to keep the bike moving and upright. Into T2 at 35:07 which put me at an 18.7mph pace. NOTHING exciting about that pace at all. Even though the pace wasnt fast, I guess it was fast enough to freeze my hands and feet because neither of them wanted to work in transition. AND...those great slipper Saucony Hattori's that I thought would be so easy to get on in T2...were not. Cold hands, and cold sweaty feet made those Hattori's feel two sizes too small. I couldn't get those shoes on for the life of me. That led to a T2 of 1:19. That is flat ridiculous for a bike to run transition! Angry and cold, I was off on the run.

The 3rd leg was 2 miles and to be honest it took almost a full mile just for me to warm up and settle into a pace. Once again, I didn't focus on my watch for time or pace and just ran as hard as I could. That 1/2 mile climb into the finish sucked even more this go round. I ended up crossing the line in 1:11:19, knocking a minute off my time on the coure, coming in 22nd overall and 4th in my AG by...wait for it...30 seconds. Crappy T2 kept me off the podium. If you don't think I'm gonna stew about that one until I can race that course again, then you don't know me very well. I dod accomplish my goal going into the race of bettering my time but not going into it with a solid race plan and poor execution kept me from being even faster. It was a good performance, not great and I have plenty of lessons learned going into the offseason.

I just did it at the "Just Du It" Duathlon

Even though the Boston Marathon is over, I still have yet to raise the required amount of money needed for the charity I ran for. As of today I'm over $1,000 short of my required goal. I was lucky enough to get an extension so I could really use your help. I appreciate any and all contributions. NO AMOUNT IS TOO SMALL. If you are so inclined/motivated to donate, please click the donate button at the top right of my blog and thank you in advance.

I have to admit that I wasn't really planning to run a race this past weekend. I'd been out of the gym/off the road for 5 days and was just gonna be a lump but I got peer pressured into registering for the race (funny story actually because I registered for the wrong race! My friend wanted to do the one on Memorial Day weekend and I thought she meant the one on May 21st. I refuse to have a "DNS" so I dragged my butt out of bed to get to the race). Of course I ended up being the first racer there. So after being the test case for check-in and packet pick up I headed out to the transition area to set up. I have to admit that a duathlon transition spot looks so much smaller compared to a triathlon one. It looked like I was missing something (ya, another sport!). 

After set up I had time to chill out and make the prerequisite numerous bathroom stops required from a morning filled with water and coffee. A little warm up run and it was off to the start line. 

On the starting line I looked around to see a local that always places in the top 3 of any race he enters (ugh) and then I glance over to see a guy wearing a skinsuit of the Great Britain National Team (are you f’ing kidding me?!). So….I quickly made the assessment to just go out and enjoy my first real “race” since the Boston Marathon. I was really surprised how good I felt off the starting line. We quickly turned into the lead pack of 4 runners and pulled away from the rest of the field. I knew we were running fast but didn’t want to look down at the pace for fear it would freak me out and I’d slow down, so I just focused on hanging with the lead group. 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd pulled away but I kept them in sight. Heading into T1 off the 3 mile run my time was 18:24 and I was 4^th overall. For whatever reason T1 was a killer. I took way longer than I wanted. I don’t know if it was because I couldn’t seem to catch my breath or I was amazed that I was 4^th overall but I fumbled with getting out of my running shoes, helmet on, grabbing fuel and a quick sip of water before hopping on the bike. That time wasted let 3 people get by me coming out of transition. 

The bike course was billed as rolling hills and a downhill toward the end. It certainly didn’t feel that way to me. I shot a GU and got some more water in me. It took me a good couple miles to get my breathing under control and settle in. By then I did notice that I need to change the stem on the tri bike. I felt way to jammed up and need to stretch out a little more (a 10mm longer stem should be just the ticket). I was also concerened that the bike course wasn't marked very well and there were a couple of times I had that sinking feeling I missed a turn. While on the bike 2 other people passed me. Now if you know me at all, you know that makes me VERY angry…cycling is MY sport and nobody is supposed to pass me. So I got angry and pedaled harder. The course was hilly and on a couple of occasions I got out of the saddle to muscle through (and yes, I know that negates all aero goodness of my sweet tri bike but I did say I was angry…). Headed into T2 off the 11 mile bike my time was 35:18 and I was in 7^th overall. 

2^nd transition went a little more smoothly but still fumbled with trying to get a drink of water and get out. Unfortunately 1 guy beat me out of transition so I left out for the last 2 mile leg in 9^th place overall. My legs felt like lead coming off the bike and I needed at least a quarter of a mile to get them settled and back on pace. I could see 7^th and 8^th place in front of me and tried to close the gap but since the final leg was only 2 miles I couldn’t catch them. I came into the finish with a 2 mile time of 14:03, finished 9^th overall and took 2^nd in my age group with a final time of 1:10:25. I have to say, I was actually proud of myself. I just did the event “to do it” and didn’t put any real pressure on myself to place. Like I said earlier, I contemplated not doing the event at all. I was very happy to get a top 10 finish and the age group placing was icing on the cake. Not a bad day. Not to mention, wearing my Polar gear and doing so well I really felt like a Pro! Big props go out to J for being my support team. It was great to have her there to chat with and keep me calm during the morning and yell out splits and words of encouragement at the transitions and at the finish! Now to register for that Duathlon this upcoming weekend….

The "Old Fashioned 10 Miler". The only thing "old fashioned" was the pain.

Of course I must remind you that I'm running the Boston Marathon this year on a charity number so I need to raise money in order to participate. If you are so inclined/motivated please click the donate button at the top right of my blog to donate to my cause and thank you in advance. Now onto the bloggy.

I have been struggling with not starting too fast and working hard to keep a steady pace while racing. If anything my posts, tweets, and Facebook status have showed you is I'm the "go as hard as you can" guy. Problem is you can get away with that for a 5k but once you stretch out to 10ks and beyond the idea of this mythical notion of "pace" becomes more and more important. The first 10k of my season, appropriately enough on New Years' Day (what better way to start the year I thought) I went out to turn the 1st mile in around 6 minutes and spent the race of the race trying to "settle" down. That effort led me to slowing down and being caught by very people I blew past at the start.

So being the good student, I decided to pick a long race a week in advance no less, as opposed to a couple days before which is my norm, and seeing if I could start "slow" and run a steady paced event. The race of the day was the "Old Fashioned 10 Miler" held in Foxborough MA. Luckily for me, one of my coworkers was running the race too and was hoping to run an 8-8:15min pace. How better to start well and then run negatives throughout I thought than to start with her? So, a light mile run to the start. Ya, I had no idea it was that far from the registration area but it was a great reason to get warmed up and tune the HR. We pushed our way along still iced over 3 foot snow banks to finally make our way to the front of the pack for the start. There we a lot of people racing today. A lot? Over 500 ran the event.

So while chatting about a run strategy with my coworker, the gun went off and the race was on. The course billed itself as "2 flat miles, 6 rolling miles and 2 flat miles". It may have been billed that way but couldn't be further from the truth. We were running uphill before even hitting the first mile marker. A quick glance down showed my HR at about 145 and we ran the first mile in 7:51. That's the slowest 1st mile I've run in a race in a long, very long time but I felt great! Pushing toward mile 2 my coworker said she was going too fast and was gonna lay of the gas. Goodbyes exchanged, we parted ways. I settled into a comfortable pace and the next thing I realize I hit mile 3 in 20 minutes. Guess I was feeling feel pretty good. Now it was all about keeping this comfortable pace and staying warm. Oh ya, did I forget to mention it was wicked cold?! We're talking 17degrees kiddies and with an equally wicked wind, the temp dipped down to the low teens. Brr, just brr.

This was a race of firsts all around. This race also had me wearing the most clothing I've ever worn for a race too. Nike head sock, Nike running gloves, under armor cold gear shirt, long sleeve t shirt, my new Polar running singlet and, and, and my new polar running jacket. Yes, it was cold kiddies. At one point I thought of taking off my jacket, rolling it up and running with it in my hand but then I'd hit a strip of shadowed road or a good gust would hit me and I thought better.

So while alternating opening and closing my jacket in rider to regulate heat I noticed a funny thing....I was actually ticking off miles at a steady 7:30 pace. Miles 4, 5, 6 ticked away and then toward the end of mile 7 was "the hill". Everest it was not but it was a climb nonetheless. So much so, you could almost hear my fellow runners' collective "pop" when they hit it. So if they hill is slowing them down then it's time to pump my arms and pass them. Which, I did like a champ however once I hit the top of the hill my hurt felt like it was gonna explode. A quick glance down to my Polar FT7 heart rate monitor showed my heart rate hit a dizzyingly high 236bpm. Less dizzy than black spot seeing which made me realize I need to adjust HR zones based on a massive max HR.

I have never been so happy to see a mile marker, even it it was only mile 8, even having 2 more to go.Mile 8 was tough however. I tried very hard to maintain my pace while getting my heart to settle down. Then there was mile 9. There is a certain happiness that comes from knowing you're closing in on the finish and it's only 7 to 7:30 minutes away. I wasn't familiar with the course so I gingerly started to get faster for fear theee was some dumb hill around the corner or I might gas out. After a few minutes I heard heard a local runner say there was about half a mile left so I tried to pick it up. I finished strong, crossing the line in 1:16:00 and flashed my new Polar togs with pride. I finished 138th overall out of 512, 118th male and 30th in my age group. Oh ya, this race seemed to be a training race for everybody in the Boston Athletic Association or ANYBODY who's racing Boston
So, first 10 miler in the bag (my first so it was a PR) with a decent result. Now I wonder if I can find another before the Army 10 Miler in October :)