San Angelo Duathlon

Our coach, Tim Key, thought it would be a good idea to compete in a race prior to the Ironman next month. We chose the 18th Annual Striders Duathlon Long Course in San Angelo,TX. This is the longest running Duathlon in the state. The course consists of a 5 mile run mostly along a dirt road, a 45 mile bike ride, and then the 5 mile run again for a total of 55 miles travelled.

Gary and I drove up the day before in order to check in at the required orientation by the race director and also to have our bikes inspected. GP was eager to try out his new Trek. It's pretty awesome with a custom paint job but even more impressive are the Durace electronic shifters. It passed inspection without a glitch needless to say.

 On the morning of the race I had  two Power Bars , a bananna, a 500ml bottle of water, and one cup of coffee about 2 hours before the start. We arrived with plenty of time to set up our transition area for the run-bike-run. Gary wasn't sure if his bib number 911 was a good or bad omen. When you see his results it was obviously good.

The first run started at 8am and it was a beautiful 55 degree morning without much wind. I didn't drink anything and tried to maintain my pace at under 8min/mile. My HR was about 10 beats higher than I wanted it to be but I really felt great.

Gary and I discussed that we were going to press hard for the first part of the bike ride. We started off into a headwind of about 30mph by this time and later we changed direction so it was a very strong crosswind. Finally at mile 25 the wind was at our back for the home stretch. Nutrition on the bike was important because I knew that the final run would be fast and short and I wasn't planning on slowing down to hydrate then. I went through 2 bottles of electolytes, 1 bottle of water, and 1 bottle of Hammer Sustained Energy while riding. The only other source of calories was two Power Bar gels.

Finishing the bike was a highlight and I felt strong for the final run. It took me a mile or two to transition into a comfortable run again trying to stay with a sub 8 pace. I did slow down at two aid stations for quick sips of water but that was it. Below is a picture of me crossing the finish with one of the female sprint racers just in front.

 

Coach Key should be proud since 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place went to his athletes. I am very happy with my 8th place finish mainly because this is the first race that I have completed that I can honestly say I gave it all I had and didn't play it too conservative. Susan would be thrilled.

The website below has the results and if you put in the bib numbers you can see the split times.

1. Jarred 3:09:24  bib 915

2. Damon 3:22:38  bib 916

3. Gary 3:25:19  bib 911

8. Sloan 3:43:20  bib 910

http://www.mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=5411

This weekend I'm meeting my family in Austin to celebrate Easter. Tim has a 5 hr bike ride for Saturday and a 3 1/2 hour run on Sunday in store for me so that I can get a good taste of the humidity.

Thanks for the visit.