2008 Columbus International Sprint Duathlon

An interesting race day. I went from Plan A to Plan B. Then I tried Plan C before choosing Plan D ,which was a hybrid of Plans A and C (kind of). Allow me to translate all that into English:

I was supposed to race the Olympic/International distance duathlon. This was going to be my long race for this season. But having not done much training in the two weeks leading up to the event, I decided it would be best if I just participated for fun and not worry about my time. I was fine with that, but then I found out (on my own) that the longer distance event was eliminated and I was now in the Sprint distance duathlon. I was a little upset about not being notified about this change (thanks Fat Rabbit Racing), but this is the distance all my other duathlons are, so it was fine. As I started the race the plan was to still just do it for fun. I felt good during the first run, so I decided to push it and make it a race.

This is a great race. I like the course, both the run and the bike. It's a fast course. All the trees provide a great shaded run, and part of the bike leg. But they also block the breeze. Which yesterday, I could have used more of. It was hot and muggy. Very different from last year's event. I began run 1 at a decent pace. I felt so good I decided to push it and see what would happen. The bike leg was fast going down 315. I have my complaints about all the debris on the shoulder, and all the flats it was causing. But it was fast none the less. Even going back up Olentangy River Road wasn't too bad for me this year. It's a bit rolling and took a toll on me last time. The second run was tough because my quads both cramped with over a mile and a half to go. I was pretty much limping in to the finish. And a close finish it was, too.

What's the bottom line? I finished in 1:24:25 and won my age group. Second and third places were right behind me, separated by only a handful of seconds. In fact, the first five finishers for the age group were only about a minute apart. That's a close finish!

So, now I'm looking forward to my next duathlon outside of Cincinnati at East Fork State Park in two weeks, as well as beginning training for the Columbus Marathon in October. Where is this year getting to?

Mr. P