4/21-4/23/2006 Bicycling & Race Day!

4/21/2006 Bicycling Leisurely Style

I wanted to get out and do something on Friday to loosen up after spending 9 hours in the car, and 4 hours hanging around the hospital in Cleveland on Thursday. Getting out and cruising around on the bike seemed the perfect solution. It also gave me an opportunity to explore downtown Batavia again after so many years away. Most days I don't go through town at all; it is pretty much jump on the highway to work and back. Even when I do my rides I usually go around the town or the other direction toward Milford. Actually riding around in town was a nice change of pace and brought back some nice childhood memories. I rode for approximately one hour and 10 miles.

4/23/2006 Race Day! Caesar Creek Duathlon

The Stats:
1st 5K Run= 24:37.80 pace= 7:56
Transition= 1:30
20K Bike=41:55.79
Transition= 1:01
2nd 5K Run= 25:26.22 pace= 8:12
Total Time= 1:34:30.81

It was an incredible day for the race. It was absolutely beautiful and sunny on Sunday with the perfect temp for a race, about 65 F at the beginning of the race. I didn't feel really nervous at the beginning of the race, because I didn't have much in the way of expectations for the race. I was excited to be out there though, and was also happy to see Lisa, my Spinning instructor and workout guru at the race. It is always nice to see a friendly face at the course, and I've had a lot of luck with that this year.

The first 5K I was a little nervous, because I was afraid I would push it too hard early and blow up during the last 5K, or worse during the bike portion. I would have been left with nothing but pain during the last run. I completely underestimated myself though, as usual, and could have pushed it a little harder. The breakdown from my stop watch was: mile 1= 7:11 mile 2= 9:26 mile 3= 7:16. There was something screwy going on with the second mile. It was a lot longer than mile 1 or mile 3. I can understand a 30 second drop in time between miles, or even a minute if I'm feeling bad, but there is no reason that it should have taken me a full 2 1/2 minutes longer. I had the same issue with the last 5K, so clearly something was not right with the measurement. They may have shorted the other two miles. I'll probably never know.

The 20K bike broke down like this according to my bike computer: dist: 12.82 mi, time: 41:54, Avg: 18.3 mph, max: 29.6 mph. I was very happy with the ride. It was not an easy ride by any means. There were a fair amount of hills on the course, and it was also fairly windy. It was pretty much a trouble free ride, although I did lose a few minutes when I threw my chain off the front sprocket on a fairly steep uphill climb. I'm gonna have to look into that, because it happens to often. I don't know if it is a problem with the way I am shifting, or if the front derailleur needs to be adjusted. Either way it was a little annoying to get stopped on the side of hill, and have to try to get the momentum going again. I am also gonna have to start pushing some bigger gears, because I felt like I was cruising at a good pace, but I still got passed more than I would have liked. I did some passing too, but still you just don't want to get passed in a race. In the final analysis of the ride, I must say that I am very happy with the outcome. The fact that I maintained an 18.3 mph average on a hilly windy course is very impressive, especially this early in the year. It gives me a lot of confidence for the upcoming races.

The second 5K was the real test of the preparation for the race and my overall fitness level. I must say that I am very happy with the result: mile 1= 7:05 mile 2= 10:25, mile 3= 7:38 mile, .1 miles to the finish= 0:51. You can clearly see the huge discrepency between mile 1 and mile 2 once again. I'm thinking the overall distance was right, but the mile markers weren't placed correctly. When I got off the bike I was fully expecting the brick effect on my calves. I was really getting ready for some pain, but it never came. Well, it came, but not like that. I was definitely a little stiff coming off the bike, but not so much that I couldn't maintain a good pace, as is clearly shown by the time breakdown.

Hitting that second mile off the bike was the only time in the race that I wondered what the hell I was doing out there. It is not unusual for me to have this thought somewhere in the middle or late in a race. That is the moment when I decide whether to coast to the end or have a strong finish. I decided to finish strong, and damn it felt good. I look at the results, and it's easy to overanalyze and think that if I would have pushed a littler harder here or ran a little faster there I could have finished a few places higher, but in the end I am really happy with my performance. I'm really excited about the Flying Pig in 2 weeks!