Review of my 2012 Duathlon Results and Comparison to Previous Years

Not much to review this year.  Two duathlons, Gear West at the beginning and Dousman at the end.  Usually, these are the two Dus that start and finish the year.  Typically, I have one or two more in between.  Not this year, just triathlons in between.

My shining moments were, my fastest Gear West Duathlon and my ability to have a very good Dousman race after such a horrible race at St. Croix Valley.   At the GW Du I was able to have my fasest second run ever there.  I have done the Gear West Du 6 times, and it kicked off my foray into duathlons and triathlons in 2006.  It is amazing for me to see how much I have improved since then.  Especially my bike speed.

Below are my results from both races.  Click to enlarge

Below are the charts that compare my year-to-year average duathlon results.  Below the charts is a table of the data.  All pace is in fractions of a minute.  2006-2008, I show improvement in all fronts.  After my injury in 2009, there is a spike in 2010 as I come back from injury.  Basically, last three seasons I am up and down.  My average T1 time this year is a little off, I think it has to do with the timing issue that occurred at the Dousman Du.  My average overall pace and average second run in 2012 are improved over previous years, but it is also an average of two races.
One of the more interesting data points is my bike speed.  My average bike speed has been the same for the last 3 seasons, 21.3MPH.

Average First Run Pace Year-to-Year (Lower Pace is Faster/Better

Average T1 and T2 Time Year-to-Year (Lower Time is Faster/Better)

Average Bike Speed Year-to-Year (Higher Speed is Faster/Better)

Average Second Run Pace Year-to-Year (Lower Pace is Faster/Better)

Average Overall Pace Year-to-Year (Lower Pace is Faster/Better)

Table of Average Data

 

2012 Dousman Duathlon

This was not my fastest outing at this race, but it sure felt like it.  The weather was perfect.  The last two years were cooler and damper, 2010 it poured during the race at times.  This day was fantastic.
This was my 7th time at this race.  Six races as an individual and once as a relay. 
Two weeks ago at my last triathlon, St. Croix Valley, I had one of my worst races ever.  So, I was a little worried about this race.  How I would feel, how I would perform.  It turned out to be a great day.

Jackie came down to Kenosha with me and, as usual, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Kenosha so we could visit with my family.  Kenosha is about an hour drive from Dousman, so we were up early to get there around 6AM.  We picked up my packet the day before, on the way through, so when I got there I could right to my numbered, named, and wave labeled spot on the rack.  See the image.  First time I have seen that much labelling on a rack spot.

I got my stuff setup, got body marked, wandered around a little, took some pictures, and took the bike for a short ride.  At the time of race start the temperature was in the low 50s, high 40s.  I was waffling on wearing a thin long sleeve under my one-piece tri-suit, but I opted for the arm warmers instead.  It was a good decision.

I was in wave 6, so I had about 10-12 minutes to wait.  I was going out kind of easy, see how I felt and then try to pick up speed.  When the gun goes off it is hard to go slow, but I think I picked up pace nicely.  I had my GPS on and I was moving at a decent pace, breathing hard, as expected, I got through the first mile under 7 minutes.  This course is mostly flat, with some very low incline, longer stretches, but mostly flat.  I felt pretty good through the run, in pain, but good pain.

I came into transition and stripped off the arm warmers, I was getting hot, then got in shoes and helmet.  In the process and I hit the stop on my watch and had to restart.  I got off on the bike with no problems.
The bike course is a decent mix of flat, short and steep climbs, and some false flats.  The roads are mix of newly paved, older and decent, and older and crappy.  Thankfully, most of the road surface is not too bad.  This bike course is one of the better bike courses around.  This race typically has a lot of new people, and this was no exception.  A lot of people riding side-by-side, in the middle of the lane, wandering, etc.  So, I have to yell out, "On your left!"  a lot.  The  bike went very well.  There was some wind on the course but not too bad.  I went back and forth with one guy, since they have mixed waves, not sure his age.  I felt good on the bike and pretty good coming off. 

I was out of transition quick and Jackie was right there to cheer me on. Also, I was with the guy who I was going back and forth with, he came in transition slightly ahead of me.  I gave him a "nice ride" and he gave me a "it was fun going back and forth".  I was side-by-side and behind him for the first half-mile of the run, and then I got out in front of him and did not see him until after the finish.  The second run went surprisingly well.  I was in pain, but the kind of pain you should be in.

So, after the race there was a little timing drama for me.  I was not sure how far apart the wave starts occurred, my watch was stopped when I took of my arm warmers and I had to start it again, so I was not exactly sure my time.  I thought my total time was under 1:30.  I saw the time at the finish line, but was not sure how much to subtract for the wave difference.  When they posted the finish times, I was posted at 1:20!  That seemed fast, too fast.  If it was true, it was top 5.  So, they announced the top 3 in my AG and they were all about 1:19, so I was out of that, and still not entirely sure of my time.  That night I checked the results online and I was right about 1:30, see below.  No first run time and T1 time, so the numbers below are estimated.  I noticed that a number of people had missing first run times.  They were using a timing mat at the start and there may have been an issue.  I checked my watch as I entered T1 and my run time was about 14:45, if that was the case, then my T1 time was about 2 minutes, which seems a little high.  It seems high even for me taking off my arm warmers and starting my watch.  I think the time they have posted is a minute off, but I have no way to prove it. So the timing mess up is a little frustrating.  So, my time was not a personal best, close, and I was not that close to the top 3.  Basically, It was a tie with my fastest bike split at this race, and in a duathlon.  I am very happy with how the race went, especially considering how terrible I raced two weeks before.

I like this race, it is pretty easy going, the course is good, fairly flat run, good mix on the bike, well put together, and not too expensive.  I will probably continue to do this race into the future.  In the future, I would like to get my two mile time under 14 minutes and maintain my bike speed.  That would be an excellent goal to work towards.
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Before I post my results, both current and previous, let us look at the workouts for the two weeks prior to Dousman, after St. Croix Valley Olympic.  Shall we?

Sunday (9/2) - Bike 20 minutes on trainer at home, steady pace, mostly EZ

 

Monday (9/3) - No workout

Tuesday (9/4)Strength (4x25 wall squats with exercise ball, 4x25 crunches on ball, planks, back machine 4x25)

Alternate run and bike, twice for 10 min each = total 40 min.  First run is 5 min warm-up and then 5x(30 sec at 7:30/mi and 30 sec at 8:40/mi), then bike for 10 min and maintain 90-100rpm, second run is steady 10min at 7:30min/mi, second bike is steady 10 min and maintain 90-100rpm.

Wednesday (9/5) - Swim = 200fr, 4x50dr, 2x(200, 2x100), 2x75, 2x50 (1st fr, 2nd pull), 200 mixed stroke, 250 pull paddle. Total = 45min = 2150 yards

Thursday (9/6) - Bike = At home on trainer.  Warmup and then 10x(30sec hard then 30sec EZ), 3 min moderate and steady, 2x(30sec single leg), warm down. Total = 35min

Friday (9/7) -
At lunch = Strength (4x25 wall squats with exercise ball, 4x25 crunches on ball, planks, back machine 4x25, 2x25 side dips), Bike for 10 min steady moderate to EZ and maintain 90+rpm, Run for 12 min with 2 min warmup, 3x2min (1min at 7:40/mi and 1min at 8:40/mi), warm down
Evening = 10K run build up for first 5k, back off at 5k mark, then build up again.  Second 5K slower. Adjusted incline throughout run.  Total 10K time = 53:12

Sat and Sun - no workout, bachelor party golf and drink on Sat and recover on Sunday

Monday (9/10) -
Strength (4x25 wall squats with exercise ball, 4x25 crunches on ball, planks, back machine 4x25, 2x25 side dips)
Another run/bike alternate, 10 min each x 2 for total of 40 min.  First run 10 min total, 5 min warm-up then 5x(30sec at 7:30-7:40/mi, 30 sec 8:30/mi).  Bike 10min and increase difficult every 2.5min and maintain 90-100rpm.  Second run 10min fast, start at 8:00/mi and increase speed every two minutes.  Second bike for 10min harder than first, keep 90-100rpm

Tuesday (9/11) - Trainer at home.  Warmup then 10x(30sec hard, then 30sec EZ), 2min steady, then 2x(3min steady hard/mod, then 1min EZ), warm down.  Total Time = 37min

Wednesday (9/12) - Swim = 200(50fr/50k/50pull/50dr), 4x75(25LA/25RA/25Both), 12 min steady (725yards), 6min steady (375yards), 6 min pull (350yards), 3min pull (200yards), 100 pull paddle.  Total = 45min = 2250 yards

Thursday (9/13) - 20 min on trainer at home, steady.  Stay loose

Friday and Saturday - no workout
Sunday (9/16) - Duathlon

Total Time for two weeks prior to Dousman
Swim = 1.5 hours  = 4400 yards
Bike = 2.7 hours
Run = 1.4 hours
Strength = 36 minutes

So, I did one "long" run, 10K, during that time.  The rest of the running I would characterize as speed work.  I did nothing that I would characterize as a long bike, probably closer to speed work and some constant pace work.
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Two interesting things to note below, my bike splits from the last 3 years are nearly identical and my overall times are very similar, but look at how my overall and AG placement varies.  The competition each year varies by quiet a lot.  The first year I did this race, and the first year of this race, I did it on a road bike, note the bike time.

I will have post coming up that goes over all my duathlon results

2012 Dousman Duathlon Results
Run (2 mi) - 14:45 (7:22/mi), estimated based on total time
T1 - 2:04, estimated based on total time, seems high.......
Bike (21 mi) - 58:08 (21.7MPH) fastest in a Du
T2 - 0:37.5
Run (2 mi) - 15:23 (7:42/mi)
Total - 1:30:58
Overall - 90/578
AG - 14/42
Pace - 3:38/mi

2011 Dousman Duathlon Results

Run (2 mi) - 14:02 (7:01/mi)

T1 - 1:01

Bike (21 mi) - 58:44 (21.5MPH)

T2 - 0:42

Run (2 mi) - 15:05 (7:33/mi)

Total - 1:29:31

Overall - 47/601

AG - 7/40

Pace - 3:35/mi

2010 Dousman Duathlon Results

Run (2 mi) - 13:59 (7:00/mi)

T1 - 1:25

Bike (21 mi) - 57:53 (21.8MPH)

T2 - 1:14

Run (2 mi) - 15:01 (7:30/mi)

Total - 1:29:30

Overall - 85/792

AG - 15/62

Pace - 3:35/mi

2009 Dousman Duathlon Results

Injured, Jackie ran and I biked

2008 Dousman Duathlon Results

Run (2 mi) - 12:58 (6:29/mi), fastest run in a Du

T1 - 1:25

Bike (20 mi) - 57:17 (20.9MPH), one mile shorter bike than 09-12

T2 - 0:55

Run (2 mi) - 14:06 (7:03/mi), fastest second run

Total - 1:26:39

Overall - 32/614

AG - 5/54

Pace - 3:37/mi

2007 Dousman Duathlon Results

Run (2 mi) - 13:20 (6:40/mi)

T1 - 1:19

Bike (20 mi) - 1:01:50 (19.7MPH), one mile shorter bike than 09-12

T2 - 1:17

Run (2 mi) - 14:40 (7:20/mi)

Total - 1:32:26

Overall - 111/797

AG - 21/55

Pace - 3:51/mi

2006 Dousman Duathlon Results

Run (2 mi) - 15:12 (7:36/mi)

T1 - 1:48

Bike (20 mi) - 1:07:48 (17.7MPH), one mile shorter bike than 09-12

T2 - 1:44

Run (2 mi) - 16:28 (8:14/mi)

Total - 1:43:00

Overall - 238/254

AG - 13/24 (Clydesdale)

Pace - 4:17/mi

Review of My 2012 Triathlon Results - Comparison to Previous Years

Triathlon season is over. Time to take a look back on this year and do a little comparison to years past.
First, I would say that my best performance was in some of the worst weather, Lake Minnetonka Triathlon.  I had my fastest all around race, in pouring rain for most of the race.  I felt good that race, even in the rain. 
My worst race, was my last race, St. Croix Valley.  Not only was my performance bad, it felt bad.  I won't go into it further since I did in my last post. 
I had a string of three races, Minneman, Heart of the Lakes, and Chisago Lakes, where I averaged over 22MPH on the bike.  That was my best bike stretch.
My two fastest runs were the two races early in the season, Manitou and Minnetonka, that had short runs.  After those two races, most of my runs were pretty crappy, except surprisingly, Brewhouse.  Brewhouse does not have a flat run course, so it was a surprise to have a nice run on that course.

The table below lists all my races, and all my splits.  If you click on the table it will enlarge so you can see the details better.

Here are the averages, of 10 races, from the table:
Average Swim Distance and Pace: 1205 yards and 1:42/100 yards
Average T1 Time: 2:24
Average Bike Distance and Speed: 21.4 miles and 21.2MPH
Average T2 Time: 1:23
Average Run Distance and Pace: 4.81 miles and 8:25 min/mile
Average Total Triathlon Distance and Pace: 26.88 miles and 4:39 min/mile

Below are charts that compare my average speed/pace/time for each area of triathlon by year.  Below the charts is a table that contains all the data.  The times are averages of my sprint and Olympic distance races, no half-im distances are included.
Basically, I got faster after 2007, then I missed 2009 with injury, improved a bit in 2010, then kind of leveled off, and in some cases got slower, like the run. 
My increase in performance from 2007 to 2008 was probably due to the large increase in training time and to coaching.  Below the table with my averages is the total time I spent training each year.  Time includes, swimming, biking, running, strength, other (water jogging when injured and elipitical trainer), and races.  At the end of this year, I will compare training time from year-to-year

Swim Average Pace Comparison from Year-to-Year (Lower is better)

T1 and T2 Average Time from Year-to-Year (Lower is better)

Bike Average Speed from Year-to-Year (Higher is better)

Run Average Pace from Year-to-Year (Lower is better)

 

 



Total Average Pace from Year-to-Year (Lower is better)

Data table for each year's average with average and standard deviation

Time spent swimming, biking, running, in hours, each year is in paranthesis in that order
Total Time 2007 = 96 hours (27, 31, 37)
Total Time 2008 = 288 hours (83, 103, 102)
Total Time 2009 = 267 hours (120, 99, 22)
Total Time 2010 = 313 hours (117, 124, 50)
Total Time 2011 = 283 hours (92, 125, 60)
So far in 2012, as of end of August =  174 hours (74, 63, 38)

 

2012 St. Croix Valley Olympic Distance Triathlon

This was my last triathlon of the year, it was also my last chance to go under 2.5 hours for an Olympic distance triathlon.  Going under 2.5 hours was one of my goals for the year.  This day did not go as planned.  That being said, the weather was beautiful, Jackie came to watch, and at the finish line her brother's family was there to cheer me on along with a couple friends.  That being said, a disappointing finish to the triathlon was a very good day overall.

The weather was great, similar to last weekend at Maple Grove, except it was a sunny day yesterday.  Cool to start with low humidity for the whole race.  It was a little windy on the bike course and run course, which made it feel cool.

I got there plenty early, picked up my packet easily, got body marked easily, and setup in transition with no issue. Everything went smoothly, pretty much as usual.  Jackie napped in the car before the race started.  I did a short warm-up on the bike to make sure it was ok, and I was ok.  My legs did not feel very fatiged, everything felt ok.  That feeling would change.

The race started about 10 minutes late, announcements took a little while longer than expected, I think, and then the National Anthem.  The swim is two loops.  Calm water  The only real issue with the swim is that when coming back towards shore the sun is right in your eyes.  Hard to see bouys.  I did not have too much trouble.  Jackie said she saw a lot of people swimming off course.  I did not feel too bad on the swim, no worse than last week.  I was 4 out of 12 in my AG, so I came out of the water pretty good.  The only thing that is odd is that last year I had a mild panic attack on the swim, ended up treading water for abit, and my time last year was faster!  I don't know why it was slower this year by about 30 seconds.

The run up to T1 is up a staircase and a short run to my bike.  I had a pretty fast T1. Almost immediately out on the bike I could feel my legs not working well.  I would say this course has more, and steeper hills than Maple Grove, and the road surface can be a little crappy at times.  The whole course my legs just felt like crap.  Just heavy and not wanting to go.  My, time/average speed definitely reflects this feeling.  It was one of my slowest times of the year, next to Brewhouse.  I must not have recovered well from Maple Grove.  Last year I did St. Croix after Maple Grove and I had a pretty good race.  Not sure what did it to me this year.

Even before I got off the bike I was worried because my legs felt so crappy.  I got off and started running, my legs were not doing well.  My time through the first two miles was not that bad, but I did not think I could hold it.  There is one short steep up hill, some false flats, and some longer uphills on this course and I could tell it would be tough based on the feeling in my legs.  I ended up walking 3 times on the course.  That is the most I have ever walked on a Olympic distance course.  I walked on one hill, and at two water stops.  I just could not get my legs to go.  I wasn't really winded, my legs were just really tired.  It was my slowest run of the year.

I had a nice surprise at the finish line, besides Jackie cheering me on, her brother's family was there, along with a college buddy, who is also Jackie's brother's brother-in-law, along with his wife and daughter.  Once I got packed up, we went to the Kozy Korner Bar in North Hudson for some good pizza.

I am not sure what failed me.  I have done many back-to-back weekends in my short triathlon career and this is one of the biggest fails I have had.  Was it just that I raced a lot this year, not trained enough, and it caught up with me?  Hard to say.  Maybe I was just tired.  I know I should not be concerned with my time, but if I had gone the same time as last year, or similar time to Maple Grove, adjusted for bike distance, I would have placed in my AG at St. Croix Valley this year.  Also, it would have been great to go under 2.5 hours of an Oly this year.  Oh well, there will be more races.  In two weeks I have the Dousman Duathlon, which will be my final multi-sport race of the year.  Hopefully, I can get a good combination of rest and workout to get a good performance in the last race.

Again, upon reflection, I am happy that the weather was great, that I could compete, and that I had friends and family to cheer me on.

Soon I will post my triathlon results total for this year and comparison to previous years.

I did the St. Croix sprint in 2009.  I am not going to put the results below because I walked the run.  I was recovering from my stress fracture.

2012 St. Croix Valley Triathlon - Olympic
Swim (1640 yards) = 29:29 (1:48/100 yards)
T1 = 1:48
Bike (24.85 mi) = 1:14:56 (19.9 MPH)
T2 = 0:58
Run (6.2 mi) = 58:01 (9:21/mi)
Total = 2:45:09
Overall = 57/108
AG = 6/12 (Normal 35-39 AG)
Pace = 5:11/mi

2011 St. Croix Valley Triathlon - Olympic
Swim (1640 yards) = 29:00 (1:46/100 yards)
T1 = 2:22
Bike (24.85 mi) = 1:10:31 (21.1 MPH)
T2 = 0:51
Run (6.2 mi) = 49:36 (7:59/mi)
Total = 2:32:17
Overall = 40/103
AG = 12/19 (AG 30 -39)
Pace = 5:11/mi

2010 St. Croix Valley Triathlon - Olympic
Swim (1640 yards) = 28:12 (1:43/100 yards)
T1 = 1:41
Bike (24.85 mi) = 1:10:49 (21 MPH)
T2 = 1:31
Run (6.2 mi) = 48:49 (7:51/mi)
Total = 2:31:00
Overall = 26/103
AG = 6/14 (AG 30-39)
Pace = 4:44/mi