This is my
version of a flashback episode, the kind on TV where they show you the ending
first and then work backwards to show how they got there. Why would I set up a post this way? Good question. The answer is I want to get to the conclusion
right away before circling back to the issues that came up along the way.
Duathlon Age Group National Championships
When I first
heard that the Duathlon national championships were being held in St. Paul, MN,
I got really excited. First of all, I
really enjoyed duathlons – no swimming!
Second, St. Paul is only about a 5 hour drive from my house and most of
my wife’s family lives in the Twin Cities area.
Signing up for this race seemed like a great idea at the time of registration.
While that
last sentence sounds ominous, the race actually went really well. I ended up with a 2nd place finish
in my age-group and a 7th place finish overall. My results were good enough to qualify me for
a spot on Team USA for the Duathlon World Championships next year in
Australia. I still haven’t made up my
mind about that yet – I would love to go and compete as part of Team USA,
however travel expenses for a race in Australia are a little outside my budget. As for this race, the course started off with
a 2.86 mile run, 19.39 mile bike and finally ended with a 2.73 mile run because
of course modifications due to recent flooding along the Mississippi River.
Run #1
started off fast! I lined up in the
second row of runners and started well, however I was quickly pasted by about
10 more runners. Often times in a race,
people start out fast and then fade, but not this group. This field of competitors was made up of the
fastest duathletes from around the country. Despite me running pretty much
exactly what I planned, I still finished the first run in 22nd
place. Time: 15:13, run pace 5:19.
I wasn’t sure
how the bike leg would go. As you’ll
read below, my bike ride the day before wasn’t very good so I wasn’t sure what
kind of legs I would have on this morning. To make matters worse, the bike course was
just awful! There was a ~ 150 yard run
from the end of the transition area to where you could mount your bike, by far
the longest distance I’ve had to run with my bike. And the roads were covered in pot holes and
uneven pavement. I actually hit a pretty
big pothole right after mounting my bike causing my water bottle to bounce out
of its holder…now I had nothing to drink for the entire bike section. Everyone had to deal with these roads though,
there were plenty of crashes and spills, so I’m not going to complain about
losing a water bottle. Overall I think I
had a good bike portion; I was very strong on the climbs and continually passed
people, however I was too cautious on the descents (did I mention the crashes
and spills?) and ended up getting passes by multiple riders. I will need to work on that, but my bike
section was still the 12th fastest overall on the day. Time: 49:01,
bike speed 23.7 mph (this time includes run from transition exit to bike
mounting line).
Run #2 felt
great. Leaving transition, I took a
quick look back and didn’t see anyone following me. I knew I could relax a bit; not that I didn’t
run hard, I just didn’t have to worry about someone running me down right then. I still went out and ran as hard as I could
but I was feeling pretty happing knowing that I wouldn’t have to fight it out
during the final run. Turns out I was
still able to post the 9th fastest 2nd run. Time:
15:01, run pace 5:30.
Overall I was
very happy with my results. My total
time was 1:20:20 which as I said put me 2nd in my age-group and 7th
overall (full results here ). I spent the rest of the weekend
in a much better mood then the way I started it, as you’ll read below.
Leading up to the race
(Queue the
flash back montage!)
I’ll admit
I’m a bit of a control freak. I know
exactly how I like to prepare, what I like to eat, how much sleep I need and so
on. However I spent the week before this
race at a ski resort in Maine attending a conference on drug resistance (I’m a
microbiologist first and athlete second).
While the conference itself was good for those who have an interest in
that sort of thing, the week spent attending the conference did not lend itself
well to preparing for this race. I didn’t
sleep or eat well (buffets every meal are not a good idea for someone who likes
to eat!), however I felt like I trained the best I could while in Maine. Initially I thought I would only be able to
run while at the conference, but I was actually able to rent a road bike one
day and go out for a nice ride. But the
worst part by far was the travel. Since
the conference didn’t end until the day before the race, I basically had to fly
directly from Maine to packet pickup in St. Paul (along with a 2 hour layover
in New York). All of this together left
me very stressed out and crabby when I met my family at the airport – and I
continued in this mood all the way until race morning.
My wife was
already in St. Paul when my plane landed.
She drove up a couple days early to visit her family and was able to
bring all of my gear, including my bike.
As soon as we checked into our hotel I went out for a ride to stretch my
legs after being on a plane most of the day.
In short, my bike ride sucked! My
average speed was almost 4 mph slower than normal and it wasn’t because I was
trying to take it easy. I just didn’t
have it in me after all of the travelling.
This sent my stress and crabbiness levels even higher. Convinced something was wrong with my bike, I
spent much of the night before the race sitting in my hotel room tinkering with
my bike. When I was done playing
mechanic – which I don’t play well – my brakes were all messed up. Way to go Tim! Fortunately real mechanics were available at
the transition area before the race to undo all of the wrong I did.
In my next
post, I want to go into a couple issues that really presented themselves for
this race. Those issues are: 1) traveling to a race where extended family
lives and 2) the pressure I put on myself before each race. I’m really curious if other people react the
same way I do, or if I’m just crazy.
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