First Duathlon of the Year

Yeah, I know, I haven't posted in forever. Not like you don't have better stuff to do anyway.

Karl, Jennifer, and myself made the trek to Rock Cut State Park on Saturday. The first duathlon of the year was called "The Peanut Butter Duathlon." Freaky. I much preferred the old name, "Law Day." Anyway, we get there and it's raining sideways and about 46 degrees. Very nice.


I no rikie the weather...


Our plan was to warm up on the trainers, but I putzed around and got bascially no warm up whatsoever. We listened to a somewhat drawn out pre-race meeting. The jest of it was that the run course was basically all mud....ankle deep in some spots (see below, that's not hair on my legs....) Again, nice.


Kid watching me puke while timing chip is removed

The run course was in the opposite direction from previous years. I had no preference, as it seemed to be no less/more difficult. My plan was to stay with Karl and use the first run as a warm up. We came in around 13:30 or so, and I didn't feel too terribly bad. Jennifer came in around 17 minutes and had a quick transition onto the bike. Karl was out and flying about 10 seconds ahead of me....unfortunately, that was the last time I'd see him until the finish.

The bike leg was supposed to be my strong point. I haven't been running much, so I wasn't expecting anything extraordinary. I tried starting out easy, hoping to build up a nice pace after the first lap. Unfortunately, I never really seemed to get warmed up. My legs felt heavy, and my hamstrings were tight. I traded spots back and forth with a guy on a Kestrel tri bike. My average ended up being 19.5 mph, it was one of my worst bike legs ever. Hopefully I can pick it up for Beloit in a few weeks.

My second transition was really slow. I couldn't get my fingers to work right. (did I mention it was cold?) I lumbered out onto the run course with two other guys. I quickly fell off their pace and found myself running alone. The mud was pretty nasty in spots. The first run had really churned up the mud, making it slow going. I was passed by one guy with about a 1/4 mile to go. I wasn't too surprised, he looked like a 20 year old cross country runner. I came in about 15:30 or so for the last run. I was actually pretty surprised with that time. I believe I've done one brick workout this Spring.....so I figured I'd just fall over in transition and call it a day - so actually being able to run was a shocker. I ended up 5th out of 19 in my age group. A bit of a disappointment since I scored 2nd last year.
Results: Run 1 - 13:50 Bike - 43:08 Run 2 - 15:29 Finish - 1:14:27

Jennifer had a great race....although she didn't think so. She thought her runs were too slow to be competitive. Karl and I checked the posted results...and they had her WINNING her division!!!! We were a little suspect because they listed only one person in her division...her. We found out later there were five other women. She finished in 1:30 and some change. Jennifer did have the fastest AG bike time at 16.6 mph. Considering she hasn't been training a whole lot, I think this was a fantastic result!!!! I can't wait to see how she does when she actually starts training....
Results: Run 1 - 17:23 Bike - 50:42 Run 2 - 19:58 Finish - 1:30:07 1/5 in division


The Women's 35-39 Winning Time


What's up with the creepy dude behind Jennifer?
(nice umbrella....freak)

Karl had an awesome race as well. He's been training like a fiend, so it was no surprise. He posted a 20.9 avg. on the bike, and a 14:36 second run. He's really starting to put everything together, so I expect he'll get a AG win sometime this Spring....if not a top 3 overall. His secret training method is to get a stomach virus a week before the race....quick way to lose 3 pounds. He's definitely going to be a big factor at every duathlon this Spring. I'll really have to step it up if I want to stay close to him in the overall this year.
Results: Run 1 - 13:46 Bike - 40:09 Run 2 - 14:36 Finish 1:09:59 2/13 in division


That dog was in every picture


The second fastest man....in THE WORLD!

Overall a fun race despite the weather. The new Element worked out great, especially being able to keep the bikes dry....for awhile anyway. Gas mileage isn't great, but we knew that going in. I think it will work out great for the weekend bike trips.

Next race on the schedule is Beloit on May 17th. A short flat course of 2/11/2. I'm hoping for a better showing. We're also hoping our friends Chris and Gail will try their first du......this is the course for it.