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