Cary Duathlon Race Report

Better late than never!   Here's my race report from last weekend's Cary Duathlon (Short Course).   2.5 mile run;  17.65 mile bike;  2.5 mile run.

A local race and a very civilized 9:00 am start time meant that I didn't have to set my alarm for the middle of the night for a change!   Never-the-less, I was (as always) one of the earlier arrivals at Brook's Park in Cary and was soon registered and warming-up with a nice easy run around the park.

After having a little trouble inflating the tire (or "tyre" if you're reading this in the UK!) on my front Zipp 808 race wheel and running over to bike support to get the valve loosened, I got my transition area set-up and was soon chatting to Rabbit and Mr. Rabbit as the sun finally started to get a bit higher and take some of the chill out of the air.  A big topic of conversation was "what to wear?".  It was certainly a bit chilly and it would almost certainly be cold on the bike if you didn't layer-up a little.   Worse than that though (for me at least, would be being too hot as the race went on.  In the end I opted for long running tights over my tri shorts and an Under Armour long-sleeve under my tri top.  Gloves were ready in transition for the bike leg!

Rabbit "prepping"....   It seems that she opted for the "I'm going to wear everything" approach!

While chatting a strange figure appeared silhouetted against the sun and pushing his bike....   The Coachman delivering my new One Step Beyond Multisport tri top!    I quickly ran back to the car to put it on and dump some of my extra layers and ran straight into Ashley Gilreath from the Outer Banks Tri Club.  She was visiting to race while hubby was doing a local half marathon.

The Coachman cometh!

Ashley looking cold? angry? surprised? when I snapped this picture in transition.

The next person I ran into was Flipper Ass, who was wearing some sort of pink outfit that burned my retinas.   There should be some sort of law against "wearing a loud outfit in a built-up area"!    It should be noted here that, despite their earlier promise of loud support with cow bells and copious quantities of liquor, both Compass and Snort bailed on us at the 11th hour and are now considered untrustworthy undesirables!  ;-)   It was nice to meet a few more members of the One Step Beyond team such as Stephanie Turner, Julie Paddison and Julie Worden.

OK, so on to more serious stuff....   the race!

Transition area seemed strangely uncluttered without the need for wetsuits, towels and so on!

Coach Bri apparently had different ideas and brought the kitchen sink!

Run One:   2.5 miles:  An out and back course through a neighborhood and around Brooks Park, with a couple of hills.

The run got off to a slow start as the opening section was narrow and crowded.   I ran with Flipper Ass to start and knew that things weren't all that special, but found somewhat of a rhythm after about half a mile.  By this time Flipper was easing away, but I could still see that hideous pink outfit up in the distance.   The rest of the run was basically uneventful, but slower than I would have liked.

20 min 32 seconds.  Just over 8 min/mile pace.

Bike:  17.65 miles.  Rolling - not too many truly flat sections.  

I feel that the bike went reasonably well.  I wouldn't call it windy by Outer Banks standards, but it was certainly breezy and there were times whenyou could certainly feel the effects of the head wind.   I basically tried to stay in aero position and keep a strong steady cadence.  As usual, I was overtaken by a few speedsters, but I enjoyed chasing down and overtaking many more, including Flipper Ass!  :-)  (she would get her revenge later!). 

56 min 50 seconds.  ~18.7 mph

Run Two:  2.5 miles.   

Things got a little uglier here.  Legs were a little "toasty" getting off the bike and I took a while to find a decent rhythm.  Even when I started turning over a little better I just felt slow.    Slogged it out though, even after Flipper Ass blew by me on her way to her third place age group finish!

22 mins 51 seconds

Overall (inc. transitions):   1:41:34

Yes, it was painful!

Coming into the finishing chute.  Almost there!

  After a drink and some food I got in line to check my time on the computers that FS Series had set-up and.....   what's this?....    wow!   I was actually third in my age group - a podium finish.  A nice way to start the race season and faster than I was over the same course a couple of years ago, despite the wind.

The guy who won was almost a full ten minutes faster, but I was encouraged that we had about the same bike split (he absolutely rocked the run!!).  The guy in second had similar run splits to me but a great bike.   Overall, I am a happy camper!