Greenville, NC Short Course Duathlon Race Report

Okay, so my first race report:

This past Saturday, i ran/raced the first of the 4 city duathlon series here in North Carolina. The first stop this year was in eastern North Carolina, quite possibly the flattest stretch of land in the civilized world. This was my first race with Finish Strong and Id have to say it was run very well. SOOOO here we go.

Over the past week, I've been watching the weather, and cringing as i say the forecasted temperatures plunge. It was 8* when i left my apartment Saturday morning, and had warmed up to a balmy 17* by the 9:00 race time. The event was rather low key, with only about 80 participants (most likely due to the weather). My dad told me that this was because only people clinically sick in the head would be racing this early in January.

The Race: 3 mile Run, 14 mile Bike, 1.5 mile Run...its called Short Course for a reason
The run was on a grass/packed gravel trail that is used for area cross country meets, a 1.55 mile loop (according to mr. garmin). Pre-race was all out of whack, between staying warm, getting loose, and maintaing it, before i knew it was 10 mins to start. First mile was FAST, like 6:14 FAST, like o $#!+ fast. I Realized that i was in for a world of hurt if i didn't slow down, so i kicked it back, a lot..
Mile Splits (6:14, 7:46, 8:23) for a 5K time of 22:23

The Bike: I might be the only cyclist to say this, but i hate flat roads. and by hate, i mean detest, i mean loathe, i mean ABHOR flat roads. NEWS FLASH: Greenville=farmland=flat as a pancake. I fought a mental battle the entire time. I was pedaling my ass off and feeling like i was going nowhere. My target speed was 21ish mph, for a total time of ~40 minutes...ended up averaging 17.5 with a time ~48:00. Greenville has a thriving cycling community, as I learned by getting passed by probably 10 racers...depressing, but its okay because I saw them later on in the day. However, one interesting move of the day: After the turnaround, i looked up and saw a guy ahead of me, and was instantaneously blinded. After my eyes readjusted, i realized the guy in front of me had a drop down mirror...on a tri bike.....yes, my feelings exactly. I quickly recalled TriBoomers Man Laws of Triathlon, and figured I could apply these to DUO's as well. Upon noticing this, i decided to HTFU (thanks rainmaker) and busted my ass to pass him. I not only passed him, explicatives were being screamed in my mind, and i passed him probably doing ~29 mph. It. Was. Redeeming. After that, my whole goal was to just make it back to the transition area and get out my running shoes on.

The Second Run:
T2 was 0:20 seconds long...fastest of the race, something to be proud of. I was out and running while 6 or 7 of the bikers who had passed me were still in transition. The second run was only one loop, and i ran it pretty for the first mile (7:37). shortly after i passed the mile marker, both my calves cramped up at the same time, and i had to slow to a crawl while i tried to run through it. Finished the lap in 12:15. Good enough for 21st overall, and 3rd in my age group.

I'm pretty pleased with the overall performance. My running was pretty solid, by my own standards...my transitions were 2nd best on T1 and 1st on T2..which is kinda cool. I know these are small portions, but its something ive worked on, so its nice to do it well. I need to work on being comfortable riding in aero..without coming out for hills. Sometimes, there aren't hills for me to chew up and then haul ass down them. Its all just very much like riding my trainer...which of course is not the most fun thing to do.

Hope everyone is doing well..sorry i've been so AWOL, classes started last week, and im restructuring a lot of my life.

Winston-Salem Short Course in two weeks...need some recovery for my calves.

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I leave you with the one picture taken from the race...from a cell phone..check out the sweet texas flag bike jersey: