2011 Apple Duathlon Race Report - A New PR

First, I will list my previous times and my time for this year and then I will go into a race report. 

2007 Apple Duathlon
Run (3.1mi) - 23:41 (7:38 min/mi)
T1 - 1:19
Bike (20.5) - 1:02:07 (19.8MPH)
T2 - 1:14
Run (3.1mi) - 25:35 (8:15 min/mi)
Total - 1:53:45
Overall - 135/255
AG - 14/23
Time/Distance - 4:21 min/mi   (I do this metric for all races in my spreadsheet. I divide the total time by the distance to get an idea of my min/mi for the whole race.  If a course changes somewhat from year to year, Gear West this year for example, I can still get a comparison for year to year.  I don't always post this metric, but I will start now.)

2008 Apple Duathlon

Run (3.1mi) - 22:11 (7:09 min/mi)
T1 - 0:59
Bike (20.5) - 1:00:22 (20.4MPH)
T2 - 0:56
Run (3.1mi) - 24:14 (7:48 min/mi)
Total - 1:48:41
Overall - 100/261
AG - 10/26
Time/Distance - 4:04 min/mi

2009 Apple Duathlon - Injured, but volunteered

2010 Apple Duathlon (Intentionally took the run easy, recovering from injury)

Run (3.1mi) - 26:49 (8:38 min/mi)
T1 - 0:58
Bike (20.5) - 57:42 (21.3MPH)
T2 - 1:24
Run (3.1mi) - 29:10 (9:24 min/mi)
Total - 1:56:01
Overall - 117/238
AG - 16/31
Time/Distance - 4:21 min/mi

2011 Apple Duathlon

Run (3.1mi) - 22:55 (7:23 min/mi)
T1 - 0:59
Bike (20.5) - 58:31 (21MPH)
T2 - 0:53
Run (3.1mi) - 24:56 (8:02 min/mi)
Total - 1:53:45
Overall - 83/226
AG - 15/34
Time/Distance - 4:03 min/mi

In 2011 I bested my 2008 best by about 29 seconds.  Run was slower, bike was faster.

The night before I had dinner from Noodles & Company, Pasta Fresca with Chicken and Parma (Yum), and I ate it fast for some reason.  Also, I have mild sleep apnea and I have been sleeping with a CPAP (Continuous Positive Air Pressure) device for about 6 years on and off.  I woke up a little before feeling pretty crappy.  Occasionally, something goes wrong with how I am sleeping with the CPAP and I end up with cramps in my GI area, I think I get air in my GI tract or something.  Anyway, I had cramps in my middle and lower GI and just felt ick.  Between breakfast and the hour + drive things cleared up pretty well.  Thankfully.  I still felt a little ick, nausea, at the start and throughout the race, but nothing that I could not deal with.

 
It was a BEAUTIFUL day, nearly perfect.  Blue sky and sun.  I got there early, as usual, and could take my time.  Chatted a little with people, warmed up on the bike and ran a little.  The bike felt cold during warmup, that would not be the case during the race.
At the start, Jerry made a comment regarding my shaved head, as always, very nice.
My plan was to not hammer up the first hill during the start, and then on the downside pick it up, which I did.  This is a pavement run and mostly flat which makes it a pretty fast run.  I felt pretty good on the first run.  I was surprised how warm I got.  I was sweating really good at the end.
I took the hill out of transition easy and took some fluid.  Once over the hill I got in the aerobars and began to go harder.  If memory serves me, there are a couple of climbs where I typically get out of the aerobars.  There are a couple of nice low grade downhills where you can get really going.  Not steep downhills, but longish and flat to slightly downhill.  I started getting passed by the guys over 40 about the half way mark, and Erik Hull passed me in the last couple miles (He had a great race and had a podium finish in his AG).  Typically, the bike has a head wind on the 9ish miles back along the river.  Today the head wind was not that bad, it was still there and causing some pain, but not as bad as in the past.
I coming off the bike I felt pretty good.  I saw Erik coming out of the transition and tried to stay on him, but I could not.  I took the hill out easy, and then pushed the downhill and flat.  I was not feeling too bad, once I turned the corner on the course backside, which is a low-grade uphill, I started feeling it.  I slowed on the backside and started to struggle a bit.  By the time I turned the corner to head uphill to the finish line, I could feel my legs begging to stop.  I was cooked coming into the finish.  I would say I pushed myself pretty hard.
At the finish there was pizza, good pizza, buffalo and bbq wings, plus some fruit and cookies.  The pizza and wings tasted surprisingly good.  I had chance to chat with a few people after the race, which is always nice.
I am extremely happy with my race.  I am surprised I was able to get a PR, with the slower run than 2008.  I don't think there is anything I could have done differently on this day.  It was a nearly perfect day for a race and a great race.  Not much you can ask for.
I was racing on new shoes.  Shoes I bought last weekend and had put about 40 minutes of running on.  The shoes are Saucony Kinvara (http://www.saucony.com/store/SiteController/saucony/staticpage?CID=Print-Kinvara&content=Kinvara_saucony).  They are good shoes, so far I really like them.  Three people asked me about them, without prompting, which is unusual to be asked about shoes.  All of them said they heard good things about them.  That is good to hear.


As always, Steve has a fine race report at his blog: http://iwannagetphysical.blogspot.com/2011/05/apple-duathlon-race-report.html

I am sure Keith will have one up soon at: http://tundrat-zone.blogspot.com/

Both of these guys had great races, especially Steve who finished 2nd in his AG.

My next race is not for two weeks, it will be my second triathlon of the year at the 2nd Annual Eau Claire Triathlon.  That should be a very interesting race.