2008 Maumee Bay Sprint Duathlon

What a great day to race: we made great time travelling to Toledo, the weather ended up being near perfect, and I had a lovely 3 and a half hours of sleep. Lucky for me, I also had my chocolate covered espresso beans.

Actually, I had a great race! Both the first and second runs were well above average and the bike was decent. I still have a lot of work to do with the bike. I just need to make time to start logging some serious miles. I finished 3rd in my age group, catching and passing the 4th and 5th place finishers on Run 2. My time was 1:27:24. I'm happy with that, as I don't have any other races at this particular distance to compare to yet.

The start of the race saw temps in the 60's with a slight breeze which made for just the slightest chill in the air. I started up towards the front, about where I'm comfortable being with my pace. The run loops around a man made lake and then heads out along the Lake Erie beach to the turn around. My split at mile 1 was 6:02. I was running hard, but not too hard, and still feeling good. Approaching the turn around, I saw that I wasn't as far behind the overall leaders as I usually am. Those guys really take off. Eventually I settled down into a pace I could maintain back to the transition area. Finishing run 1 in 20:44, I made my way down the entire length of the transition area to my bike. Off with the running shoes, with their indispensable elastic laces, and on with the new cycling shoes. The one Velcro strap made things much faster than the previous 3 strap version. On with the helmet and I was out of transition in 54 seconds.

The bike leg began a little rough. Literally! The road out of the park was rough. I lost the sponge/foam "cork" from my new aero bottle on one of the bumps. I saw it go and made the decision to leave it rather that stop and pick it up. Fortunately I already have a replacement one. That breeze began to pick up by the time we were on the bikes. It felt like it was out of the West, and that's the direction we rode first. I kept waiting for the big packs of cyclists to catch me and I could latch on, but it never happened. The race directors added more wave starts to the triathlon, spreading everyone out. The big packs never materialized. So I was surprised to find myself riding solo. The ride went well. I didn't crash. The bike leg for the sprint distance is only 12.2 miles, so I pushed hard. Heading back in with a tailwind, I finally felt like I used to on the bike years ago. I really need to do more bike work. I finished the bike leg in 43:15, averaging 19.8 mph. I'll take that.

Transition 2 went just as well as T1, and I was in and out in 40 seconds. Now, run 2 is where I usually start to fall apart. That's one reason I switched to the shorter distance for this year. But this year I have a couple things going for me. One, I've done way more bike/run training bricks than last year. Two, I logged a lot of miles last fall and finished two marathons. I was surprised at how well I felt running out of transition. I was passing people left and right. A little voice suggested I tone it down or risk a major breakdown. Once out of the packs of runners, I did ease back a little. Shortly after that my right quad began tightening on me. That was around mile 1 of the final 5K. So I pretty much ran in pain for that last run. My breathing was fine so I just went. I passed one of my age group competitors early, but came upon the second with maybe 3/4 of a mile to go. The thought crossed my mind to just sit behind him and wait till we got closer, then attempt to sprint past him. But for whatever reason, I chose to pass him and encourage him to keep it up and finish strong. If he had some energy in reserve, he might have made the ending interesting. But he didn't. I was able to put 15 seconds on him and I pushed into the finish chute without looking back. My time for run 2 ended up being 21:52. That time is better than I've been able to achieve at just a 5K. I'll definitely take that.

So a great race to wrap up the weekend. I'm taking today off to rest. My legs are a little sore, especially my quad. Tomorrow we have another speed workout at the track, so I need to be better by then. I need to squeeze in some miles on the bike this week too. I have my next race this Sunday down in Columbus. I'm looking forward to it now.

Mr. P

Maumee Bay Eve

This is going to be short and sweet because I need to get to bed. Pronto! I've been running around trying to get all the last minute stuff done and now it's 10:25. And I'm getting up at 2:30 to drive to Toledo tomorrow. The tornado sirens going off this evening didn't help anything either.

I'm about as ready for my first duathlon of 2008 as I can be. I could do without the long morning drive, but it saves money. The bike is already mounted on the car rack. My stuff is packed. I have directions. We had storms tonight, so hopefully tomorrow will be OK. I haven't done much since Tuesday except go through 3 buckets of balls at the driving range. But that's work. At least I'm sore, so I'm counting it as work.

I'm going to bed. Tomorrow will bring what it will, and I'll deal with it then.

Mr. P

Long Time, No Write

I know it's been a while since I've updated last, and I apologize. No, I don't. I take that back. I was on vacation, so I'm not sorry I haven't updated. I was busy while on vacation. And not just doing vacation type things. I was able to get a few workouts in. Three treadmill sessions, plus one elliptical workout, and some free weights. Not bad considering all the driving around and walking in 100 degree heat.

We decided to head to the nation's capital. Somewhere none of the Pythagoras' have been before. We were in Washington on Saturday, Sunday, and part of Monday. All three days were HOT. On Saturday, we toured The National Mall and saw what sights we could. We walked an estimated 6.5 to 7 miles that day, but were able to see most of the major things. I won't go into a day by day recounting of our trip, but here's a list of what we did: Two Hard Rock Cafe's, The National Aquarium of Baltimore, The National Air and Space Museum Annex at Dulles Airport, Arlington National Cemetery, the Marine Corps Memorial, a tour of the U.S. Capitol, a ride on the Metro, Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens Europe, a quick stop at Gettysburg, Hershey Chocolate World, and Hershey Park. Like I said, we were busy.

Sunday morning I was able to get in one final bike/run brick. I took the mountain bike out the trail for 15 miles, then ran 3 around the neighborhood. It was a little warm here too. Except for a mystery pain in my left knee, I felt pretty good.

Last night I joined the running club for my second speed session on the track. That first one two weeks ago was easy compared to last night. I was really working to keep up with everyone. We started with a mile warm-up followed by some 100 meter striders. Next came 4 X400 meter intervals at 90 seconds with minimal rest between. Then we did 2 X 800 meters at about 3 minute pace, jogging a lap between. Finally, we finished with another set of 4 X 400 meters at a slightly quicker pace than the first set. I was pretty tired and it took me a while to get my breathing back under control during the mile cool-down. A good workout, even though it hurt like hell. It's supposed to help me get faster, so I hope it works.

I'm looking forward to my now first race of the season this Sunday at Maumee Bay State Park. It's my first sprint distance duathlon since last June. I'm excited because the course is very flat and fast. There are so many cyclists on the course that drafting is inevitable, and my average speed should be higher than normal. Not that I intentionally draft when it's illegal, there are just so many people on that first lap, it cannot be avoided. Last year was super hot, hopefully the weather will be a little more race friendly this year.

Mr. P

Back to the Track

I would venture a guess that it has been about 16 years since I've set foot upon a track for a workout. Until tonight that is. I want to write while I'm still hurting. Not leg hurt either. The post hard run gut pain. The long slow runs just don't give me that kind of pain.

Actually, the workout went really well. I was surprised at how good I felt doing the speed work. We began with a leisurely 1 mile warm up. We then proceeded into 8 X 400 meter repeats with 100 meter recovery. My breathing held out till the last couple sets. I wasn't huffing and puffing like I expected. After the 400's  we did two laps of jogging the curves and striding the straights. Again I felt good. But this time I was pushing and going anaerobic. On the last 100 meter repeat, I was giving it all I had. It was nice. Brought back some memories from many years ago.

We did a 1 mile cool down at a very easy pace. I joined a couple other runners after the cool down to log some more laps, doing another mile and a quarter. Did I mention that we did our workout in a steady rain? I was soaked. I hate running in wet shoes, but that's what I had. I was ringing water out of my shirt and shorts. But it was fun! I can't wait to do it again. I need to add speed work and this is going to be the only way I do it.

Now, I need to go get a big bowl of ice cream.

Mr. P

Unofficial VS. Official Race Dates

So here's what happened. I like to plan out my racing schedule, nearly in it's entirety, as early in the year as possible. So that means in January and February I'm scouring websites looking for race dates. All the BIG races like major marathons and the like, release dates years in advance. But the smaller races become available in the late winter. The duathlon series I do is through HFP Racing. As soon as their schedule came out, I penciled their races into my calender. After I registered however, I noticed that one of the races was pushed back a week. Last year we raced on Father's Day, and it looked like we would be doing so again this year. But they moved it a week later. I caught that one. The one I didn't catch was the first race. It was on the first weekend in June last year, but this year, it's next weekend. My problem is that I didn't notice the change, and went and planned a vacation trip to DC starting next weekend. So it looks like I'm going to miss a race. That really bummed me out when I realized what happened. I feel like I should take a remedial calender reading class or something.

If I couldn't race today, I could at least take advantage of the beautiful weather and do a good training brick. And that's exactly what I was able to do. I got out the door around 7:00 this morning for a bike/run brick. I enjoyed my first ride outdoors on my racing bike today. I was able to try out all my new toys too. Like my new pedals, cleats, and shoes, and my new aero water bottle. Everything felt and worked great. I tooled around Medina a little before heading out west along one of the rural roads. Much more traffic than I expected for that time in the morning. It felt really good to be back outside on that bike and riding fast. Most of my races are only going to have 12 mile bike legs, but I went for 18 today, just to push it. I still need to work on my power and climbing ability, but I'm happy otherwise. If I would have been any faster coming into a certain 4-way stop this morning, I would have been even closer to the a**hole driving a green Chrysler mini van who decided to blow through it at 50 mph. Decorum prevents me from describing what I would like to do the driver if given the opportunity.

The run went just as well. The heat was beginning to build by the time I began my run. I didn't know how long I was going to go for, so I brought a couple gels and some water. I ended up doing 5.7 miles, and I was tired and sore by the time I finished. I drank a full bottle of Gatorade on the bike, but a little food might have helped me through the run a bit better. Today was probably the last training brick before Maumee Bay in three weeks, which is now the first duathlon of the season. They have a nice flat fast course out there, so I don't have to worry about the hill work for a while.

In other news, I began my new career yesterday. I attended my first golf lesson! If all goes as planned, I'll be asked to join the PGA Tour in a couple years, and can get paid to play a game. We shall see.

Mr. P