The alarm was supposed to go off at 5:30 this morning, but I was up and wide awake before that. Pre-race preparations went well. I had no trouble finding Hibernia County Park in the middle of nowhere, PA and had about 45 minutes to get my transition area set up and get warmed up.
I was in the second of three waves, mine being "men 40 and over." I started out a little faster than I wanted to but quickly settled into a good pace. The run was in the park, which meant plenty of tress to block wind. It also meant half of the run was gravelly and I really had to watch my footing. I also found out what it's like to run hills. It's so flat in Rehoboth Beach and I'd forgotten that hills can kick you butt.
I finished the run, averaging 7:15 per mile - definitely not my best 5k, but decent for my first duathlon, for which I wasn't sure how fast to go for the first 5k.
Transition 1 went alright - 55 seconds - which helped me pick up a few seconds over a number of other participants.
The bike started out ok, but soon the hills were once again kicking my butt. The bike was outside of the park, which meant no break from the wind. The was one long stretch of slight incline and lots of headwind. I was so not ready for the hills. A GU at mile 10 gave me a bit of extra energy (I really need to work on my on-bike nutrition) and I made it back to the transition area averaging 15.5 mph. Somewhat disappointed with that, but again, I'm not used to the hills.
Another relatively good transition - 55 seconds again - had me back out on the run course. This run, while somewhat slower than the first, felt better. I started picking up several places. If I counted right, I moved up 8 places during the second 5k. I crossed the finish, averaging 7:54 per mile for the second 5k.
Final time: 1:39:58 - good enough for 88th place (out of 247) and 18th (out of 30) in my age group.
I've got a lot to work on before the next race, but overall I'm feeling alright about today's race.
Onward!
1 comment:
Good job Daniel!
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