Spring Classic Duathlon

I added a duathlon into my race schedule. I met up with Lisa, Ross, and Karen at Forza a little before 6 AM. The roads were dry. Thirty minutes later it was pouring. It was going to be a wet race. Luckily I brought clothes for rain or shine. I ate a couple of HONEY STINGER WAFFLES st 7AM. We pulled into the race site at 7:45AM.

We picked up our packets and set up our gear. That left 45 minutes to relax before the warm-up. I put on the OOMPH  racesuit and jumped on the bike to loosen up the legs. I rode 8 minutes to the right and turned around. It took 5 minutes to get back. The roads were wet and it was sprinkling very lightly. I re-racked the bike and then set out for a short run. That left 5 minutes before the gun.

10:00AM - The gun sounded and we were off. We started on a small hill and turned left into a tailwind. There were several guys ahead of me and a couple of girls. My goal was to keep a steady pace. I could not believe how many people started out too fast. I passed 5-10 people by the first mile mark. After the turn-around we were straight into a head wind. I caught 2 more people. One guy decided to tuck in behind me for a draft. I spit off to the right. He yelled, "Spit to the ground!" Oops, I must have hit him. I took a right and headed downhill to transition. (5:45-5:58, 6:18=18:45 6:01 avg for 3.12miles). I was in 25th place.

I slipped off the NEWTONS. I put on my SPIUK KRONOS and headed out with my green steed, LYNSKEY. I passed 3 people in transition. I had the second fastest transition, 45 seconds.

I turned right, dead smack into a head wind. In the first 2 miles, I passed a few guys before the first turn-around. It was tail wind city for the next 8 miles. I caught up to a guy who tried to draft off a referee on a motorcycle. Really? I needed to pass him, but couldn't. He was riding right next to the center line. Is it worse to pass someone over the centerline or on the right? I chose the lesser of 2 evils and passed on the right. I dared him to try and draft off of me. He didn't. There were 5-6 miles were on rough road. At the last turn-around it was back into a headwind until transition. I passed 1 more guy during this section. I averaged 22.3 mph and 14th fastest bike.

I re-racked the LYNSKEY, took off the SPIUK, and put on my NEWTONS. I had the second fastest transition again, 42 seconds. I was in 15th place.

This time we ran to the right, into the headwind. I saw a group of 5 guys ahead of me. My calves were cramping up, so I backed off a little to make sure there would be no problems later. After a few minutes the cramps were gone. The group of guys slowly started pulling away. After the turn-around, it was tailwind city until the finish. I saw a guy just ahead of me and another charging behind me. I picked up the pace to catch the guy in front. The gap was shrinking, but not enough. He ended up beating me for first in my age group. I held off the guy behind me. He ran 40 seconds faster than me. (6:20, 6:04, 6:01 =18:29 6:08 avg for 3.02 miles) It was the 18th fastest 2nd run. I placed 2nd in my age group and 13th overall.