Duathlon - Jan 28th 2012

  Headed out of the house early (5:45am) this morning and drove down to Otay Lake for the first TCSD Duathlon of the season. Got to the parking lot at 6:45, checked in and picked up my personal timing chip that I keep for all TCSD races/events. Got my Tri-Suit on and took my bike, bike shoes, & helmet over to the transition area. Did a few hundred yards of warm up running. Walked over to the start area with my Tri-Suit, white compression calf sleeves, white arm "coolers", biking skull cap with my running hat over it, windproof cycling gloves (it was cold out), and my brooks silence shoes on.
I was standing in the start area for maybe a minute at the most and an unseen person starts yellin, "GO GO GO!" The race was on!

I went into the race thinking I might be able to run an 8:20min/mile pace or so. During the first 1.9 mile run leg I just looked at my heart rate a few times to make sure I wasn't over stressing myself for the rest of the race, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that my pace was 7:54.
Came into transition, pulled off my hat, switched my shoes, put on my helmet and grabbed my bike. The bike exit was only about 20 feet away so I just walked it so I wouldn't mess up my cleats.

I was on the RIVET the entire way! So much so that I was almost off the front of the seat. I think my bike fit needs some serious work. I was picking people off left and right (actually passed people on the right because they were riding right by the double yellow). I started training just 2 weeks ago and have rode my bike maybe 3 times over those weeks, so this is a good baseline for my run and bike fitness. It was a 12 mile out and back and I ended up with an average of 20.5 mph. This is a pretty good starting point and I'm excited to see what I can do this season!

Coming off the bike I did a good dismount and placed my bike in the rack, removed my helmet, gloves, and skull cap. Then I switched out shoes, grabbed my running hat, took a few swigs of water, and I was off!

The second run was better than expected also. I ended up with a 7:39 pace. My right calf twitched and (I think) almost cramped at mile 0.25 and I was like, "oh no" but it was ok. It was a struggle to maintain form for the last mile, something I know that I really need to work on.

My transitions were 55 seconds and 56 seconds.

Overall, I am pleased with the way my body responded when I asked it to. I am encouraged that the work I am going to put in over the weeks and months to come will provide the gains I am looking for.

I also meet some very nice TCSD members and it is a great club to be a part of.

Special thanks to Ty Haeber for taking these awesome the photos!

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