Heading into this race I knew several things. One is that I'm pretty good at duathlons but to be among the best in the country I still need to improve on the bike, and even on the run as well. If I'm going to be competitive at Duathlon Nationals next spring I'll have to run sub-17 for the first 5k and then keep up on the bike. Another thing I knew was that my run form is slowly returning after my Boston Marathon / Collegiate Nationals double 5 days apart last month. On Thursday I felt great in my track workout clicking off 400s in 80 seconds on less than a minute of rest. Finally, along with the first part, I knew I'd be reasonably competitive, but whether that meant top-3 or top-10 overall would depend entirely on the competition. I was certainly hoping for the former, especially after discovering my race number was 3, my second single digit multisport number this year!
Never having seen the course, it's very difficult to accurately predict how fast it's possible to go, especially on the bike with varying amounts of elevation change between races. I've had races at which I felt 21.5 mph was an outstanding effort and held up competitively compared to others, whereas other races I've averaged over 23.5 and left with some catching up to do on the run. In this race I knew to expect hills, but I had no idea how they would impact my bike split. Based on last year's times I thought 43 minutes for the 16 mile leg would be excellent. My plan on the runs was to go around 18 minutes, but I understood that 18:00 is still pretty quick for a 5k. Nonetheless, assuming around 1:30 for combined transition times, that gave me a goal time overall of 1:20:30 that would have placed on the podium every year in the past.
At the start, I took off into the lead. That tends to be my style of racing, and so long as I stay within myself and don't push the pace when people catch me, it tends to work for me. With an open 5k running alongside the duathlon, there were over 600 people starting together. Half a mile into the race I was sitting comfortably in 7th on the road and continued running my pace through the first mile in 5:39. The mile marker was actually a bit before my watch split at the mile, but for all of my splits I use my recorded miles. Mile 2 brought some rolling hills but the tempo was still high and I began closing the gap on a few runners ahead of me. I split 5:35 to hit the 2 mile mark in 11:15. I knew I'd be faster than planned for the first 5k, but not by much and it seemed to be a competitive field with me still sitting back in 7th place. At the 5k split only one person ahead of me turned off, leaving me in 6th position in the duathlon. Heading up the hill to transition I knew I just needed to stay close and I would leapfrog a couple of places heading onto the bike. After a 3rd mile of 5:52 and an extra 35 seconds my first 5k of 17:41 was the 6th fastest of the race and just 20 seconds shy of my 5k PR (which was run on a track) and averaged 8 bpm below my anaerobic threshold / open 5k HR.
My 42 second T1 turned out to be the tied 2nd fastest of the race, matched only by a multiple time AG National Champion, and bested by a single second by a 3 time overall podium finisher at Nationals and AG World Champion last year. The next fastest transition time was 7 seconds slower than the 3 of us so, as expected, I leapfrogged a spot and exited T1 in a close 5th. I quickly got moving before getting my shoes on and had 2nd place in sight shortly into the ride having passed one athlete already to move into 4th. The athlete with whom I had exited transition was setting a steady tempo and gradually pulled away from me, moving into 2nd. Shortly thereafter I would move into 3rd and wouldn't see anybody for the remaining 11 miles of the bike leg. Somehow I moved up to 2nd during that time due to what I can only assume was a missed turn by the guy ahead of me. The bike leg was hilly, as expected, but I was surprised to not even break 20 mph for the first 10k. The next 10k was slightly faster, though, and for the final 5.5 km to transition I averaged 24.5 mph. My total bike split was 43:47 and, like my first run, would be the 6th fastest of the race.
A reasonable T2 of 50 seconds got me out onto the run course in 2nd place, with no hope of catching first, but a little trouble with my right shoe certainly cost me a little bit of time. I started the run with a lead of just 21 seconds over the guy behind me, much less than I thought I had. I started out fast, though, and felt reasonably good through the first mile in 5:55. I felt my right side start to cramp a little in the second mile but knew I had to keep pushing to hold off the guy behind who was slowly closing the gap. If he was going to catch me, he was going to have to bleed to do it. My second mile came by in 6:01. As I felt slightly better I began to push for home. Despite dropping to a 5:51 mile for my third, I had 3rd place on my heels as we turned for home. I kicked up a slight rise and pulled out a 20m lead again but pushed my limit and heaved a few times. I wanted to keep on kicking into the finish, my legs could, my brain wanted to, but my stomach simply said "no." In all of the races I've ever run, I have never had a feeling worse than wanting to kick and knowing that the instant you do you will throw up. After knowing that 2nd place was simply not in the cards, I slowed slightly and enjoyed my 3rd place finish. The final "5k" turned out to be closer to 3.33 miles and had I known that, or had I not had a little trouble with my right shoe, maybe it would have turned out differently. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.
In the end, my overall time was 1:22:37, and my second run split was the - you guessed it - 6th fastest of the day. Consistency is clearly the way to succeed, the only 3 athletes to place in the top 10 in all 3 legs wound up on the podium. It's my second overall podium finish this year, but first ever in a race this big, and my third top 7 out of 3 duathlons this year!
Strangely enough, my overall time was 11 seconds faster than my first duathlon of the year back in February, despite the distances being completely different. Here's a detailed comparison:
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