After years of bad weather, cold and rain, cold and\or rain, this year was nearly perfect. Some wind, can't complain, and sunny, and not cold. Gear West Du is my first MN race of the year, as it has been since I started doing St. Anthony's Triathlon in 2008, in FL. Gear West was my first multi-sport race in 2006, since then I have done it every year, except 2009 when I had a stress fracture and volunteered. As always, the race is well setup, and registration is fast and easy. Plenty of room in transition. No issues.
I had my usual breakfast, OJ, yogurt with fruit and granola, and a banana. Then coffee, water, and donut on the way. Had some water and Gatorade while waiting for the start.
Did a brief warm-up on the bike, just to get a feel for everything.
I have said it before, and will say it again, this is probably one of the most challenging races around, even when the weather is nice. The run is tough, pavement, grass, dirt, woodchip, packed gravel. There is every surface to run on and very little of the run is flat. Even with this year's smaller field, the race is still very competitive.
I would say I had a pretty good race, not a great race. Better than last year, but not my best. I think the weather helped and I think I am in better shape than last year. I thought I was a little faster on the first run, but with this race it is hard to judge. The bike felt pretty good. With good weather and wind that was not too bad. When biking straight north, or nearly straight north, it felt like a pretty tough headwind, especially the last bit coming into transition.
The final run is always, always painful. I think that is the case with any duathlon, but this one even more so. It is basically the same run as the first. Out of transition it is flat and then a little downhill, then it is hills, grass, and trails, and pain.
Below are pictures I took, pictures Drew (works at Gear West) got of me, and then below the pictures are my results for this year and the previous years.
I will continue to do this race until I cannot. That is really all I have to say about my future doing this race.
2014 Results
Run (2.8mi) - 23:20 (8:19/mi)
T1 - 0:57
Bike (16.6mi) - 47:43 (20.9MPH)
T2 - 0:41
Run (2.8mi) - 24:03 (8:35/mi)
Total - 1:36:42
Overall - 72/181
AG - 9/20
Pace - 4:22
2013 Results
Run (2.8mi) - 24:17 (8:41min/mi)
T1 - 1:34
Bike (16.6mi) - 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
No comments:
Post a Comment