Duathlon this weekend

[trigurl]

I was wondering if I should do some light riding today? my Du is Sunday, Sat I am swimming in a swim meet but only doing the 50 and 100. Monday I did a hard ride for an hour on the spin bike, I ran 50 min. Tue, and yesterday I swam an hour. I did not exersice last w/e b/c we had a 2 day shooting match, I did some walking there but nothing too physical.

So, should I exercise today and tomorrow? I really want to swim tomorrow b/c I have been slacking off on swimming to get ready for this duathlon.

[skibum]

I have a Du this Sunday too. I'm not really following any kind of training plan, just doing it for fun since I do both running and biking. So, take what I say with a grain of salt. I usually like to take a rest day the day before a race and take it easy for a day or two before that. I've got a soccer game this Sat so I'm making a few adjustments to my normal pre-race plan. I'm going to ride easy tonight, rest tomorrow and then play soccer on Sat.

Good luck in your race, let us know how it goes!

[skibum]

Nope, mine's at Lake Lanier in GA, just outside of Atlanta.

[skibum]

So trigurl, how'd your Du go? Mine was a big DNF I was a little more than halfway through the bike portion, on a short but fairly steep climb; got out of the saddle to get a little more power to finish the climb and... chain suck!! The chain was jammed very tightly between the frame and the chain ring. I cut up my fingers (and bled all over my poor bike) trying to get the chain back where it belonged but it wouldn't budge. I finally gave up and flagged down a support vehicle to get a ride back to the finish.

I was a big bummer because I was enjoying the race and felt like I was doing well. Extra bummer because it could have been prevented if I had just kept up on my bike maintenance. Many things can cause chain suck... one thing is not keeping your drivetrain clean and well-lubed. I noticed a gritty feeling while pedalling a few days ago and realized that I was overdue for some cleaning/lubing of the chain. I meant to do it before the race but didn't get to it.

I hope your race went better than mine. I need to find another one to sign up for so I can redeem myself!

[CorsairMac]

Sorry to hear about your DNF ski. What a bummer! Sending good thoughts your way for your next one!

[trigurl]

Hey Ski, mine went pretty good! sorry to hear about your chain

My chain came off but I was able to get it back on quickly, dang if 2 women didn't pass me in that little bit of time! I finally passed one but never could catch the other - until the last run I passed them both

My first 3 mile run was great I did it quite fast as I was running with a group of women and was determined to keep up, the bike ride was great, I climb hills here all the time so those little bumps they had called hills were nothing, well except one and it wasn't big it was just at the end of a flat where I was pushing like crazy to make up time and was tired, I made it up and the next few laps I had to compensate on the flat and not push quite as hard.

I finished 5th in my age group, out of 6 but I know now what to work on! I don't usually ride longer then 1 hour on the spin cycle so I have to get more long rides in, and run faster and longer. Whew, my BF is already complaining I am never home

He was excited for me! he even mentioned starting to ride with me but after he found out how much it costs to enter he decided on not competing! He can be cheap sometimes.

I think I will look tonight at the bike shop and see if I can find him a bike - then maybe he will ride with me - if he can keep up

I did a dua in Nov. here in the mountains it was fun but harder than anything I had ever done so this one was a piece of cake compared to that one.

My time was 2:13, my goal is to get under 2 hours! now to go find another one. I am planning on doing a tri in July in Richmond.

OOPS, I just checked the final results - there were 7 in my age group, one looks like a DNF, my time was 2:05 the time before me was 1:56, and the winner of the age group was 1:44!!! sooooo they didn't beat me by as much as I thought they did, AND my first 3 miles was done in 25:20! holy cow was I smokin, and my second after 18 miles biking was done in 27:52, not bad for having one foot numb for 1/2 that 3 miles! (note I must get bike shoe covers)

[skibum]

AND my first 3 miles was done in 25:20! holy cow was I smokin

That is smokin'!! Sounds like you did great. I'm sure you'll be able to shave some time off your next race. Just getting out and riding more will help and if you can get your BF out riding with you, that will be even better.

[Veronica]

Anyone who actually goes out and runs deserves an award. Are the distances always the same?

V.

[skibum]

I think the distance depends on the course and what the race director wants to set up. There may be some standard distances like with triathlons but I haven't noticed it. My race was 3m run, 16m bike, 2m run. Another one in this area is 2.4m run, 13m bike, 2.4m run. It sounds like trigurl's race was 3m run, 18m bike, 3m run. So, quite a range of distances... makes it hard to tell if you improve from race to race unless you happen to find ones that are the same length.

[Veronica]

Thanks Skibum.

I was wondering how you could see improvement if the courses and distances were different. Maybe looking at average pace for each leg, rather than overall time and making some sort of assessment of the course conditions - flat, hilly, strong wind and from which direction.

V.

[trigurl]

This one was in Richmond VA, few hills but not like where I live in Roanoke. I did one in Nov. on the parkway, 3m run 10m bike and 2m run, all trails and VERY hilly that was the hardest thing I have ever done and the most fun

If anyone knows of any duathlons in the SE, VA, NC, or WVA let me know!