1855Cru

One of my goals this year was to compete in a Duathlon and I can now check that off the list

Yesterday I took part in the Charlotte Duathlon and really enjoyed it. The event consisted of a 2 mile trail run followed by a 19 mile bike ride and finished with another 2mile trail run. The trail run was a combination of surfaces, gravel, grass and backwoods. There were lots of twists and turns and soft going made the coarse tougher than it's 2 mile length. I was hoping to run 9:30 mile pace for the first leg and actually timed out at 9:23 I took about a minute and a half in transition and then it was off on the bike ride. It was a very pleasant ride through the countryside, the course was rolling hills and there was no drafting allowed. I managed a very good for me avg of 17.2 mph over the 19 miles and then it was back to transition. I took a long time here, over 2 and a half minutes then started the final run. I immediately ran into trouble with a cramp in my left calf after just a few hundred yards. I had to stop, stretch and massage my calf. I got underway again at a slow jog and within another hundred yards or so I was struck by another cramp this time in my right calf. I had to stop again and then gingerly started to jog again. I'm not sure what caused the cramps but I think it was transitioning from bike to run because after the first mile, I started to increase my speed without discomfort. I grew stronger as the run progressed and finished the last mile in 9:45 pace with the last half mile at 8:50 pace.

Overall I think the cramps cost me about 3 minutes. My overall time was 1hr 49mins good for 98th place out of 128 competitors. My bike ride ranked at 80th place.

There were some amazing athletes competing. The fastest riders were posting 25 mph avgs and the fastest runners at sub 5:40 mile pace, really amazing. I'm glad I did the race and now have an official yardstick to measure future progress. The thought of ever competing in one of these events just a year (and 82lbs) ago would have been a joke but now I can say I actually did it!! Now I have to think about training for the marine corps marathon in Oct.

B.Alive

That's great! Nice run!

jbrow1

Good job! Looking forward to the nice weather here to get some racing in myself Keep up the good work!

skilsaw

Well done. Really well done.
You are way ahead of me. I'm not doing any serious riding, but I do go to the bank, post office, grocery store on my bike.

1855Cru

Thanks guys, it was a really big moment for me to cross that finish line. Suddenly other challenges seem slightly less daunting

iforgotmename

Way to go!

MrClyde

Good job! Duathlons are fun but challenging. That's probably because running just sucks.

DanteB

Isn't that a great feeling when you cross the finishline!

Neil_B

Congratulations!

freighttraininguphill

Good job

Sayre Kulp 

Great job! I love duathlons. They are a lot of fun. If you had some trouble, I have to ask - "did you do brick workouts in preparation for the event?" Not everyone knows what that is, so allow me to explain. A brick workout is an extended workout in one discipline immediately followed by another without a break or recovery period. For example: In preparation for my first duathlon I did brick workouts where I would run at least a mile before jumping on the bike for a few miles and then jumping off and running again. I mixed up the distances a bit from time to time, but the point was that it got my legs used to the adjustment and as I did it more frequently, the discomfort and weird "rubbery lead" feeling didn't affect me as much.

1855Cru

Thanks Sayre, I did some brick workouts but probably not enough. Also I hammered pretty good on the bike leg and I really think my body was not ready for the run. I may try doing some calf stretches before the last run on my next duathlon. I agree with you it is a great sport, very challenging yet rewarding.