I did this duathlon before I started my blog, but figured I should capture what I remember about it before my memory fades!
I didn't really set out to do multisport... I was really just looking for a reason to keep my running base from the winter, so wanted a goal to work towards. Never in a million years would I have anticipated I'd be doing triathlons a year later! It wasn't even a glint in my eye.
It was a Sprint Duathlon, with distances:
5K run
20K bike
2.5K run
Full Results
At this point, I had only been running for about 10 months, so I was still learning about pacing and such.
Run #1 - 5K
The run felt good... at first! I could see my fast marathon friend at the 1K point... surprised to be keeping up with him, I kept a pretty quick pace. At the halfway point I was just behind, thinking things were going OK... but by the end of the 5K I was really spent... and worse, I could feel my ITBS start to flare up. More on that later.
Run #1 Time: 24:56, 39/78 (4:59/km)
Transition 1
I don't really remember what happened, but for some reason it took me 1:27. Should have just had to change shoes, but I didn't practice beforehand.
Bike - 20K
The bike started out really bad... I had gone too hard in the run and was paying for it right from the start.
About 5K in, I was trying to eat a gel, but then hit a bump. I slammed my hand back down on the handlebars, with gel still in hand... it splatted all over my brake hoods, it was nasty. Worse, I didn't have a gel to eat!
I remember looking at the course description before the race which described the course as hilly. What an understatement... the hills were killer. I didn't feel comfortable on the bike until the last few kilometers going back into Cobourg.
Bike Time: 44:25, 31/78 (27.0km/h)
Transition 2
1:55... too slow! Not sure why I took so long, I'm much faster in transition now.
Run 2 - 2.5K
So here was the test... would my ITBS problems subside, or were they going to kill me?
Unfortunately the answer was they were going to kill me. Within a block I could feel the familiar pain, and not long after I was stopped and stretching.
Such a short distance, I should have been able to hammer through it, but I ended up walking almost as much as I ran, and stretching every 200m or so. It was miserable. I don't know how I had better times than two people, they must have been on crutches.
I finished the run and headed straight to first-aid for ice... but ended up feeling the effects of the ITBS for weeks after.
Run #2 Time: 22:00, 76/78 (8:48/km)
Post-Mortem
A neat race, and one I should do again now that I'm dedicated to triathlon. I have my ITBS well under control, orthotics resolved it, so that won't be repeated.
The big take-away, though, was not to go out so hard... if I'm doing another duathlon, I'll take the first run a lot slower, closer to 10K pace, so I have something in the tank for the rest of the race.
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