Heel and Crank Duathlon

This was a benefit race for ALS research and to help support families that are affected. They started donating to the ALS chapter after after a local triathlete who was up to the 1/2IM distance was diagnosed with ALS two years ago. This was the last race he ever competed in. He is already to the point where he can't speak by himself, but has this program where he uses his eyes (I think) with a computer to communicate with people. Before the race, he said a few words, and I love what he ended with. Someone had told him while he was racing that "when the going gets tough, the tough gets slow." How appropriate to so many things in life.

This was a 3mi run, 8mi bike, 2mi run. Pretty flat, some technical turns on the bike going through a neighborhood where you couldn't get up a lot of speed. The temp was only in the 40s to start, probably upper 50s when we finished. I started out wearing my gloves, arm warmers, and tights, losing parts as I went along.

The first run went pretty well. I was aiming for a 10min mile, and finished the 3miles in 30:35. Really happy with that, only walked once for a little bit. Was able to get in a good rhythm. Had to remove my gloves about 1/2 way through the run. First transition went pretty well, I think I was out of there in less than 2minutes.

The bike was okay. I foolishly had ridden 20miles the day before where we had planned on only riding about 14mph over 16miles. Well, yesterday as we were coming back, the wind picked up so much (25+ sustained), that I almost got blown over in the cross wind (my friend behind me thought I was going down a couple of times), and had to go to granny gear into the head wind on flat roads. Needless to say, my legs were a little tired today. I got through the turns and rough roads of the neighborhood okay (need to work on keeping more speed during turns) and went out on the long straight road. Felt like I was flying going out, after the turn around found out why - more wind, tail wind first, then head wind back in. Finishing time was 1:03, so my average speed was about 16mph. I was wanting 16-17, so not bad.

T2 I decided to take my tights off, so added a little time there, but my legs were getting pretty toasty on the bike, so I didn't want them on the run. The second run hurt more, of course, but I was able to keep going and finished in 1:25 overall. My runs have definately improved since last time, and my bike was what I expected.

goals for next tri/du - keep progressing on both bike and run speed - it's happening slowly, but since I took 1 1/2 minutes off my mile run in the past 2months, it is definately happening. Also need to work on turns on the bike - I was passed there on a couple of occasions by people that I passed on the straights.

Great race report, btc! I'm impressed with your times. Sounds like a really good decision to take off the tights. If you were already overheated, you would've been miserable after running two more miles. You're inspiring me to look into duathlons. You can do a du well before and after the tri season. Thanks so much for posting your report. And, as always...pix?! :D

Hey Lise, there were some pics taken, just don't know when I'll get them. I'll post them, though. And yeah, I've decided that these duathlons are a great way to extend the season by 2months - anything to keep going!

Awesome race today, btchance!!! :D You did VERY well, and even dropped some time from your run (the hardest part to drop time from, IMO). Impressive!! 16 mph on the bike is smokin'. Nice job! I also have trouble maintaining speed on turns, and am hoping that with practice I'll feel more comfortable taking corners at a faster pace.
Yes, definitely want to see pictures when you get some back!
Congrats on a great race!!!!!