Wrentham Duathlon - Run 3 / Bike 11 / Run 2

This was a race I had put on my race calendar during the winter when I was planning out my season, but didn’t sign up for because I wasn’t sure what the weather would bring considering it was an early spring race. I still wasn’t sure if I was going to race this one or not until the night before.

The weather for race day was suppose to be in the mid 40's to lower 50's with the race starting at 8:30. When Jess and I arrived it was cloudy and about 43 degrees. It was going to be great running weather, but I knew it was going to be a chilly bike leg. By the time I finished warming up and setting up my transition area the sun was out and it had warmed up to maybe 50 degrees.

Run - 3 miles - 16:43 (5:34 per mile pace)

The first run went great and it felt like a relaxing pace. I didn't want to take the first run to hard because I wanted to save whatever I had left for bike leg since I haven't been able to put much time in on the bike. The run was pretty flat with no hills and was a 3 mile loop around the Wrentham Fairgrounds. I finished the first run 4th overall and 2nd in my age group. As soon as I went into the transition I was passed by a few people because I hadn't switched my running shoes over with the quick laces. This transition was also setup in the grass and it was soaked from the morning dew. My plan was to try and start the bike leg with my bike shoes clipped in on the bike and then tighten them up once I was going on the bike. I wasn't able to do this since we started on grass so I ended up putting on my bike shoes in the transition area and ran my bike out to the road.

Bike - 11 miles - actual -10.93 miles - 31:38 (20.7 mph)

Well I knew that this was going to be my weakest leg of the duathlon since I haven't put enough time in the saddle training for my half ironman. Well sure enough I was right. The course wasn't that hilly, but had some rolling hills, which I would have to say that I kinda struggled with. It didn't take long for me to start getting passed on the bike leg. I think I ended up getting passed by about 12 people on the bike leg, which put about 16 people ahead of me coming into the second run. This transition was done exactly how I wanted to do it. I ended up unstrapping my bike shoes and leaving them clipped into the pedals and pedaling with my feet on top of my bike shoes. As I approached the dismount area I was able to ride in and jump off and start running with my bike. This was a much quicker transition and was able to get my running shoes back on allot quicker even though I still had to mess with laces.

Run - 2 miles - 11:51 (5:55 per mile pace)

The last run wasn't to bad, but my legs could feel it from the bike leg. I'd have to say that they didn't feel like they did the first time I ever did a bike to run transition. My legs are getting use to the bike to run transition but I do need to spend more time doing this. This run was flat as well with a 2 mile loop going around the Wrentham Fairgrounds as well with no hills.

Finish

I was able to pass 2 people on the run to finish 14th overall and 4th in my age group with a final time of 1:00.14. I wasn't sure how I was going to finish as far as time or place considering I hadn't really examined the results from the previous year so I was happy that I finished in just over an hour. It was also great that my Aunt Joyce who lives about 20 minutes away was able to show up and be part of the cheerleader / support group and kept Jess company during the race. Also, as a I side note, Jess and Joyce said that I had definitely finished in the top 10 after the race so I was excited to find this out. So after waiting for the race director to post race results I found out that I wasn't even in the final results. Well, come to find out they weren't able to download the actual results since the cord that connects to their laptop wasn't working so they had to resort to manual timing. After talking to the race director and giving the my time I ended up placing 16th overall and 5th in my age group. I was definitely a little disappointed since this would be the first race of the season that I wouldn't come away with any hardware or prizes. Well we ended up sticking around for the awards ceremony for the 1st and 2nd place for every age group and then left. After we got home and checked the results online I had found out that I had actually done much better than I had originally thought.

All and all it was a great race considering the SNAFU with the results. It was also a good indicator that I need to put more time in the saddle to get ready for my half.