Race Report: Delmar Duathlon 2013

Is winning two years in a row too soon to call something a winning streak?  Or would it simply be back-to-back wins?  I remember how everybody started calling Craig Alexander a legend after he won the Ironman World Championship two years in a row.  They were positing that he could have another streak like Mark Allen did in the late 80's-early 90's.  Is it too early to call?  Maybe.  It was for Craig, unfortunately.  Is it too egotistical, brash, and hyperbolic to compare my "streak" to Craig's?  Most definitely.  Is this even a reasonable comparison?  Certainly not.

Not.  Even.  Close.

Let's try this again.  Remember in elementary school when your team happened to win the daily game of soccer/kickball/basketball during recess for a few days in a row?  Maybe Alex was out with the chicken pox and Sammy was on vacation, so the other class had to play without their best players.  But that didn't matter, because you still won bragging rights.  You were on top of the world until they came back and put a hurting on your team, right?  Well, your brief stint as victor of the playground was about as significant as my current "streak" at the Delmar Duathlon.  It certainly is fun to win a race, but I only won a local race at a small town park, two years in a row.  Cool?  To me, Yes.  Fun?  Most certainly.  Bragging rights?  Probably not.

Here is how it all went down, this turned out a bit more lengthy and in depth than I intended.  It might take you longer to read this than it too me to to do the race...that is, if you read as slow as I do.

Pre Race:

An 8am start required a 6am wake-up to finalize my gear for the day and get some food and caffeine in my system before heading to the race site.  Fortunately, it was only 15min away so the drive was easy.  I went to get my chip and race bag, only to realize that I forgot my race belt.  An annoyance, yes, but there were safety pins so it was not a show-stopper.  The woman at packet pick-up recognized me from last year and complimented my win, to which I jovially thanked her and commented about hoping to repeat my performance again this year.  Unbeknownst to me, another racer was listening and chimed in, "I wouldn't be so sure about your chances, so-and-so is here today." Oh, ok!?  I didn't quite know how to respond to this stranger, so I smiled and walked back to transition to get my spot ready.  A short warm-up jog reminded me that my legs were feeling dead after a long training day last weekend where I sought out some of the biggest hills in the area.  Moreover, I spent the day prior at "Man Night" with some friends eating bacon burgers, bacon hot dogs, and drinking beer...all topped off with a creation called the meat turtle:

Ground beef on the inside with a shell made of bacon.
Legs and head are hot dogs though they are hard to see since they are partially
submerged in the sea of chili and surrounded by cheese waves and hot dog buoys.

My stomach was not too pleased on race morning.  Nevertheless, I was determined to have fun so I donned my old dingy MSU Spartan Race Top/Tank and headed off to the start.

A wildly unflattering picture.

Run # 1 (2mi):

The run course was a double lollipop style: run from the start/finish to the trail, loop on the left, loop on the right, run to transition.  The loops were both on a nature trail that had a few hills, some rocks, and some tricky tree roots around turns.  They started us in waves with the Kids' Wave (18-29) starting first, then subsequent age groups every 2 minutes after.  I lined up next to a few people I recognized from last year and we relished in the drastic improvement in weather as compared to the year before.

The race went off, right at 8:00:00 AM, a standard in Albany Running Exchange Events that is rarely experienced elsewhere.  Since I knew my biggest competitors would be in my wave and the wave after, I sprinted from the start knowing that a clear and empty trail is a fast trail.  The faster athletes in the later waves would have to compete for space with the slower athletes that started ahead of them.

And we're off...

Half a mile in, at the beginning of the first loop, I still had another racer on my heels.  I pushed hard up a hill and gained some distance then crested and continued to drive to gain more space.  By the end of the first loop I had a 10s lead and kept gaining time all the way to transition.  I ran 12:22 for a 6:11/mi pace, a good start.  Good enough in the end to be tied for the fastest Run #1 split.

T1 and Bike (10mi):

The transition area at this race is not the greatest, it is only two long racks of bikes on the left and right as you come into transition.  So it is hard to remember how far down the row your bike is, as opposed to standard transitions that have numbered racks and you can simply count racks or remember your rack number.  Anyway, I found my bike quickly stepped out of my shoes and kicked them out of the way.  Only to realize that I needed them again for Run #2, so I had to stop and grab them at the cost of a few seconds so they would be organized for T2.

I grabbed my bike and ran out of T1.  A good mount and a quick click of the Garmin to start the time and I was off.

Excellent race tank status

The bike course is flast - a word I just made up that is obviously a combination of flat and fast.  The roads are in fantastic condition out here and the volunteers and police officers did a fantastic job controlling traffic at the few intersections that were on the course.  I knew I was well ahead of 2nd place in my wave but I was still racing against others from previous waves.  I would have to race this against the clock since no one was close to me.  I settled in to a steady effort and just started turning the cranks.  I drank some water at 5min intervals to make sure I didn't start the second run low on fluids.  I put out some great wattage for the ride and only got out of the saddle once to stretch my legs.  I was astounded that I was producing that much power at what felt like such a low effort level, but it felt comfortable and I was confident that I could run another fast 2mi off the bike.  

In good spirits on the bike.  Also, I downloaded a new Photo Collage App.

Stats for the bike are as follows - 10mi in 23:03, 290W, 26mph, 93rpm, 164bpm, fastest bike split by 1:20 over the entire field, including some seriously fast riders with whom I train.

T2 and Run #2:

Off the bike and into T2 with the same problem I had last time.  How far down on this rack was my spot?  My nondescript black shoes didn't help them stand out either.  

My bike shoe hit the ground so my bike was not cooperating on the transition run.
Also,  I couldn't find my spot, I was an absolute mess.

I found my spot, racked my bike, off with the helmet, on with the shoes, and out of transition I sprinted.  T2 in 41sec.

The second run was identical to the first: run from transition to the trail, loop on the left, loop on the right, run back to the start/finish.  I knew I had a big lead on the field, but I had no idea where I was compared to the later waves.  So, I was all alone for 2mi without another racer in sight, racing against the clock.  The one motivation I had was that when I ran out of T2 bike I saw 36:XX on the race clock and knew that sub 50:00 was possible, for a 2min improvement over last year, and a probable win.  

I didn't see anyone behind me on the trail until I finished the first loop - over a mile into the run, with at least half a mile lead on 2nd place in my wave.  I kept reminding myself to stay relaxed but to pump my arms, drive my knees, and engage my hip flexors to stay in good form and keep my cadence up.  I was still in good spirits as I crossed over into the second loop, high-fiving the niños that were volunteering.  I looked down at my watch and saw 44:30 and 1.2mi, only 5:30 left to run 0.8mi.  It might be close!

I went into the second loop and took it easy up the first hill knowing I had another one to climb right before the last quarter mile of the run.  I bombed down the hill on the back-side of the loop and drove hard to get back to the end of the loop and to ascend the final hill.  I crested the final hill at 48:19 with 0.22mi to go.  

Top of the final hill, time to push hard for the finish.

The last quarter mile is all paved so you can really kick it into high gear and finish strong without worrying about footing.  I again focused on driving the arms and keeping my cadence high.  I looked up with about 50m to the finish and knew I would finish well below 50:00.  I crossed the line at 49:28 for a second run split of 12:45 at 6:22/mi and then began waiting for the next finisher to see if I had actually won.   

Time to wait for the next finisher

Anna had started a timer as soon as I finished to see if anyone finished within their delayed start time.  I was most worried about Waves 2 and 3 so I would have to wait 2 and 4min respectively to see if anyone from those waves had bested my time.  I waited at the finish and 2 minutes passed by quickly with nobody coming out from the trail.  Good, I beat the Wave 2, the 30-39'ers.  2:30 after I finished and still no one in sight.  3:00 - nobody.  3:30 - nobody. 3:45 -  I see another guy from my wave sprinting fast with someone form Wave 3, the 40-49'ers.  Although, with 250m left and only :15 to finish, I knew I had it locked on Wave 3.  Unless there is a wildly fast 50-59'er, I had won the race.

REJOICE!

Overall a stellar benchmark for my fitness compared to last year.  As it turns out I ran the exact same time for the first run this year as I did last year.  I biked 2min faster and then ran my second run 7sec faster than last year.  I am thrilled to see those numbers and thinking about how fit I thought I was last year.  Although the run times were not that different compared to last year, I still ran a few seconds per mile faster this year after a much faster bike leg.  Oh, and the racer I was warned about before the race, this so-and-so, he came in 2nd place, and is as decent a runner as I.  We ran an identical first split and he ran a few seconds faster than me for the second run split.  I out biked him by quite a bit though, which led to my 1:30 margin of victory. 

It seems my fitness is sky high right now, the next test will be American Zofingen Long Course Duathlon on May 19.  5mi run / 84mi bike / 15mi run.  All up and down a mountain.  I better start preparing to suffer now, it's going to be brutal.