To get to the Gear West Duathlon I have to go west. I live in South Minneapolis and the race is in Orono. The sky in the west looked pretty grey and gloomy. As I was driving, I could see lightning and hear thunder. When I got a couple minutes from the race site, it started to pour, in sheets. It was raining so hard it was difficult to see. This was about 6:30AM.
I parked and waited a few minutes for the rain to back off, then grabbed an umbrella, and walked over to the packet pick-up. The walk took longer than pick-up. I walked back to the car, organized some of my gear, and drove to another parking lot, on the other side of transition. Transition had been moved from the previous years. I the site of the race consists of the Orono elementary, middle, and high school. I think it is all three schools and there are multiple parking lots. For years, the transition was in the southern parking lot. This year it was moved to the middle, slightly more north, parking lot. I think I like this setup better than the previous. Anyway, the rain ended by 7:45AM, and they delayed the start until 8:15AM. Race was supposed to start at 8AM. I basically talked to people and putz around until the race started. Did a little warmup run.
The run is a combination of pavement, grass, running on portion of an old track, and dirt path (in most years mud). It is a basic high school cross country course. Lot of ups and downs, one particularly steep hill. My watch said I did the first mile, of the first loop, in about 7 minutes, which means the other 1.8 miles, the harder part of the course, I did much slower.
You run the same course twice. The run can be something of a demoralizer in this race, in my opinion. It can be very sapping, especially on a wet course. I did not feel terrible, but not great, I did not have my fastest day out there on the first, or second run. On the second run I did almost lose my right shoe. Slipped off heal, still had front of foot in it, I tried to run and slip my heal back in, but eventually had to stop and fix it, before I got to the really muddy stuff.
I gave it the run, and the whole race, my best effort, which is the best I can do.
I got out on the bike and felt pretty good, my time is a little slower than the last few years, but not much. It took a few miles to feel comfortable on the bike, once I did it started to feel pretty good. The race was pretty well spread out, so there was not a lot of traffic from other bikers.
My wife got me a Road ID bracelet for my BDay. This is the first time I wore it for a race and I learned I need to put my watch on the other arm, or Road ID on other arm, or if on the same arm, the bracelet has to go in front of the watch. If the watch is in front of the bracelet and I bend my wrist, I can stop the GPS\stopwatch on my watch. I found this out on the bike, when I bent my wrist slightly to look at my watch when in the aero position.
Below are some pics, nothing too exciting. Some pics of my mud covered legs.
This is always a nice race at the beginning of the year in MN. It is well run, there are people race, volunteering, and spectating that I know. Going to a race where there are people you know, and like, and a race that is fun and well done, makes for a good day, even if you don't have your best race.
It is hard to compare year-to-year, at least in terms of the run. The run course varies from year-to-year, and in this race the run is the hardest part. Not that the bike is easy, it has a decent amount of climbs on it, but it is the same bike course every year. My bike has been consistent since 2008. My run has been all over the place, partly due to the course, partly due to the weather, and partly due to my condition this early in the year. Based on how I was running up to this point, I expected to be faster today, but there are a number of variables that could contribute to my slower than expected run. Even though my run was slower than I would have liked, I am still happy with my results.
2013 Results
Run (2.8mi) - 24:17 (8:41min/mi)
T1 - 1:34
Bike (17mi) - 48:07 (20.7MPH)
T2 - 0:51
Run (2.8mi) - 25:30 (9:07min/mi)
Total - 1:40:19
Overall - 107/249
AG - 20/31
Pace - 4:31
2012 Results
Run (2.8mi) - 22:18 (7:53min/mi)
T1 - 1:21
Bike (17mi) - 48:53 (20.9MPH)
T2 - 0:51
Run (2.5mi) - 20:16 (8:05min/mi)
Total - 1:33:42
Overall - 99/263
AG - 16/27
Pace - 4:12
Convert first run to 3.1 miles to compare to 2006 - 2008, and 2010 and total time = 1:36:04, which is 1:18 faster than 2011 and 2:20 faster than 2008, previous fastest.
2011 Results
Run (2.8mi) - 22:33 (7:59min/mi)
T1 - 1:12
Bike (17mi) - 48:52 (20.9MPH)
T2 - 1:06
Run (2.5mi) - 21:16 (8:29min/mi)
Total - 1:34:58
Overall - 129/321
AG - 14/31
Pace - 4:16
2010 Results - Taking it slow due to recovery from stress fracture
Run (3.1mi) - 27:57 (9:19min/mi)
T1 - 1:15
Bike (17mi) - 48:41 (21MPH)
T2 - 1:47
Run (2.5mi) - 25:42 (9:42min/mi)
Total - 1:45:19
Overall - 200/380
AG - 38/63
Pace - 4:40
2009 I volunteered, did not race due to stress fracture
2008 Results
Run (3.1mi) - 23:58 (7:44min/mi)
T1 - 1:15
Bike (17mi) - 49:40 (20.5MPH)
T2 - 1:16
Run (2.5mi) - 22:17 (8:54min/mi)
Total - 1:38:24
Overall - 151/410
AG - 26/44
Pace - 4:22
2007 Results
Run (3.1mi) - 24:29 (7:54min/mi)
T1 - 1:42
Bike (17mi) - 53:56 (19MPH)
T2 - 1:29
Run (2.5mi) - 23:15 (9:18min/mi)
Total - 1:44:29
Overall - 201/342
AG - 39/45
Pace - 4:38
2006 Results-First Duathlon Ever
Run (3.1mi) - 27:49 (8:58min/mi)
T1 - 3:18
Bike (17mi) - 1:00:37 (16.8MPH) - Road bike with clip-on aerobars
T2 - 2:25
Run (2.5mi) - 26:59 (10:47min/mi)
Total - 2:01:08
Overall - 315/353
AG - 43/44
Pace - 5:23
I parked and waited a few minutes for the rain to back off, then grabbed an umbrella, and walked over to the packet pick-up. The walk took longer than pick-up. I walked back to the car, organized some of my gear, and drove to another parking lot, on the other side of transition. Transition had been moved from the previous years. I the site of the race consists of the Orono elementary, middle, and high school. I think it is all three schools and there are multiple parking lots. For years, the transition was in the southern parking lot. This year it was moved to the middle, slightly more north, parking lot. I think I like this setup better than the previous. Anyway, the rain ended by 7:45AM, and they delayed the start until 8:15AM. Race was supposed to start at 8AM. I basically talked to people and putz around until the race started. Did a little warmup run.
The run is a combination of pavement, grass, running on portion of an old track, and dirt path (in most years mud). It is a basic high school cross country course. Lot of ups and downs, one particularly steep hill. My watch said I did the first mile, of the first loop, in about 7 minutes, which means the other 1.8 miles, the harder part of the course, I did much slower.
You run the same course twice. The run can be something of a demoralizer in this race, in my opinion. It can be very sapping, especially on a wet course. I did not feel terrible, but not great, I did not have my fastest day out there on the first, or second run. On the second run I did almost lose my right shoe. Slipped off heal, still had front of foot in it, I tried to run and slip my heal back in, but eventually had to stop and fix it, before I got to the really muddy stuff.
I gave it the run, and the whole race, my best effort, which is the best I can do.
I got out on the bike and felt pretty good, my time is a little slower than the last few years, but not much. It took a few miles to feel comfortable on the bike, once I did it started to feel pretty good. The race was pretty well spread out, so there was not a lot of traffic from other bikers.
My wife got me a Road ID bracelet for my BDay. This is the first time I wore it for a race and I learned I need to put my watch on the other arm, or Road ID on other arm, or if on the same arm, the bracelet has to go in front of the watch. If the watch is in front of the bracelet and I bend my wrist, I can stop the GPS\stopwatch on my watch. I found this out on the bike, when I bent my wrist slightly to look at my watch when in the aero position.
Below are some pics, nothing too exciting. Some pics of my mud covered legs.
This is always a nice race at the beginning of the year in MN. It is well run, there are people race, volunteering, and spectating that I know. Going to a race where there are people you know, and like, and a race that is fun and well done, makes for a good day, even if you don't have your best race.
It is hard to compare year-to-year, at least in terms of the run. The run course varies from year-to-year, and in this race the run is the hardest part. Not that the bike is easy, it has a decent amount of climbs on it, but it is the same bike course every year. My bike has been consistent since 2008. My run has been all over the place, partly due to the course, partly due to the weather, and partly due to my condition this early in the year. Based on how I was running up to this point, I expected to be faster today, but there are a number of variables that could contribute to my slower than expected run. Even though my run was slower than I would have liked, I am still happy with my results.
2013 Results
Run (2.8mi) - 24:17 (8:41min/mi)
T1 - 1:34
Bike (17mi) - 48:07 (20.7MPH)
T2 - 0:51
Run (2.8mi) - 25:30 (9:07min/mi)
Total - 1:40:19
Overall - 107/249
AG - 20/31
Pace - 4:31
2012 Results
Run (2.8mi) - 22:18 (7:53min/mi)
T1 - 1:21
Bike (17mi) - 48:53 (20.9MPH)
T2 - 0:51
Run (2.5mi) - 20:16 (8:05min/mi)
Total - 1:33:42
Overall - 99/263
AG - 16/27
Pace - 4:12
Convert first run to 3.1 miles to compare to 2006 - 2008, and 2010 and total time = 1:36:04, which is 1:18 faster than 2011 and 2:20 faster than 2008, previous fastest.
2011 Results
Run (2.8mi) - 22:33 (7:59min/mi)
T1 - 1:12
Bike (17mi) - 48:52 (20.9MPH)
T2 - 1:06
Run (2.5mi) - 21:16 (8:29min/mi)
Total - 1:34:58
Overall - 129/321
AG - 14/31
Pace - 4:16
2010 Results - Taking it slow due to recovery from stress fracture
Run (3.1mi) - 27:57 (9:19min/mi)
T1 - 1:15
Bike (17mi) - 48:41 (21MPH)
T2 - 1:47
Run (2.5mi) - 25:42 (9:42min/mi)
Total - 1:45:19
Overall - 200/380
AG - 38/63
Pace - 4:40
2009 I volunteered, did not race due to stress fracture
2008 Results
Run (3.1mi) - 23:58 (7:44min/mi)
T1 - 1:15
Bike (17mi) - 49:40 (20.5MPH)
T2 - 1:16
Run (2.5mi) - 22:17 (8:54min/mi)
Total - 1:38:24
Overall - 151/410
AG - 26/44
Pace - 4:22
2007 Results
Run (3.1mi) - 24:29 (7:54min/mi)
T1 - 1:42
Bike (17mi) - 53:56 (19MPH)
T2 - 1:29
Run (2.5mi) - 23:15 (9:18min/mi)
Total - 1:44:29
Overall - 201/342
AG - 39/45
Pace - 4:38
2006 Results-First Duathlon Ever
Run (3.1mi) - 27:49 (8:58min/mi)
T1 - 3:18
Bike (17mi) - 1:00:37 (16.8MPH) - Road bike with clip-on aerobars
T2 - 2:25
Run (2.5mi) - 26:59 (10:47min/mi)
Total - 2:01:08
Overall - 315/353
AG - 43/44
Pace - 5:23
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