Gaining more than you lose

I guess it hit me that I'm signed up for a duathlon this Saturday and I've ridden my bike 3 times this year. Did an hour on the trainer, followed by a zippy 1.5 on the TM - I wanted to make sure that I could run in my bibs. With the proper application of Glide, they'll be fine.

I really struggle on the trainer and TM, my legs feel fine, but I just can't seem to get in a good "go all day" rhythm when I don't feel like I'm covering any ground. I'm really interested to see how this thing goes. 5K run, 22m bike, 5K run. Just glad I don't have to swim! :)

Similar route as Saturday, only by myself. BST in Kaysville to the Great Western turnoff (4.7). This time I didn't continue up. I did run down the BST for a little to see where it went, but it got really steep and muddy so I turned back - didn't want to run back up that slop. Overall the trail was in fantastic condition, significantly better than Saturday even after all the rain yesterday. The streams and creeks were running full and strong. Didn't push the pace on the way back quite as hard, but still made good time. Ran into a friend on the trail, so I did stop to chat for a few minutes. Beautiful day!

9.75 miles - 1:31:49 - 9:24 Pace - 1710 vert

30 minutes on the bike trainer while my wife ran - nothing fast, probably 8-9 miles.

I haven't ridden my bike outside this year yet, the three or four times I have ridden have been on the trainer, so I wanted to preview the course for this Saturdays Duathlon. I've ridden Legacy plenty of times, so really I guess I was previewing myself. Rode 11 miles out and 11 back starting from the Farmington Frontrunner station, which is the turnaround point for the race. Finished the 22 in 1:04:50, with an average speed of 20.4. My legs actually felt great, I guess those quad pounding trails paid off. My butt, however, was plenty sore - its not used to being on a bike, so I'll just have to run through that in the race! 

Met my buddy about an hour later since he wanted to see what kind of 5K time we could get, so we met back out on Legacy. Ran it in 21:22, 6:53 AP, just 2 seconds off my PR!!...beat him by nearly a minute. Not bad considering I had just ridden 22 miles! 

I really didn't know what to expect heading into this race, as I really hadn't been training at all for the 5K distance, and REALLY hadn't been training on the bike. My buddy had called me a "one trick pony now" so I figured I'd do this race with him and show him this pony could beat his. :)

1st 5K - 20:50 (PR) This this entire race is on the Legacy Parkway trail system, there's not really a place to do a mass start, so they did a staggered start. The race director told everyone to just "go talk to each other" and figure out who was the fastest and then line up behind them based on time. I was probably 15 or so people back, settling in the 22 minute range. Then they began starting people about every 3 seconds, so I was quickly off. My friend was right behind me, he wanted to pace with me because he didn't have a watch. I started off pretty fast and within the first half mile I turned to him and said "I'm pretty sure I'll PR my 5K time here", as I was feeling comfortable with the 6:30 first mile pace. Passed several people. This was an out and back, and I gained some ground on my friend on the way back. There was also a "short course" option, so I began passing a lot of them as they headed back from their turnaround. I quickly ditched my shoes, threw my bike shoes and helmet on, and was getting ready to leave as my friend ran in. Had about a minute on him...

Bike 22.11 miles - 1:06:34 (20 mph avg) - Once I got on my bike it took me a minute to navigate around a few people as they were getting clipped in. My method is to just hop on and start riding, and clip in as I go. Once I got settled I followed my fueling schedule and ate a gel. My plan was to eat 3 gels and drink all my fluids on the bike, so I wouldn't have to worry about anything but running on the runs. I passed a few people and was passed by several sleek, expensive bikes that wurred by. There were a lot of decent cyclists out there, and a lot of nice bikes! One of the challenges of this course is that the it is an open course, so not only do you have to be aware of passing racers, but you also have to dodge other recreational bikers, joggers, strollers, rollerbladers, etc...This was especially bad on the way back when you had a lot of racers coming towards you on their way out to mix in with the regular traffic. There were a couple of times that I had to slow down almost to a stop until I could get by. A little frustrating, but its all part of the race. Gelled up just after the halfway mark, and about a mile away from the transition area. Stretched the legs just as I was coasting in to the exchange, they were starting to feel a little cramped. 

2nd 5K - 21:52 - Right when I hopped of my bike it was hard to walk (especially when you're trying to move fast) you just have to trust that your legs know what they're doing. Tried to quickly change shoes and get the bike racked. Took me a second to pull my watch of the bars (as my friend came in) and then I was on my way. He was still close - turns out our bike times were identical (though he will quickly point out that he was .9 second faster) I'm glad I had my watch because I couldn't feel my legs/feet yet and after cruising along at 20mph for an hour, its really hard to tell how fast you're going. I just kept my turnover going, and felt like I was dragging - I looked at my watch and was running a 6 min pace. I knew that wouldn't last, but just kept the effort strong. It was funny because I had noticed a few people from the Buffalo Run 50K, but one kid in particular that I had run with (and near) for quite a while on it, was running right behind me as we made the turnaround. He caught up to me with about a mile to go, and mentioned that the kid a little ways in front of us was in 1st for their age and "I want to catch him so bad! If I pass him I'll be in 1st!" I had seen that other kid struggling a little on the bike, and noticed that he had stopped to walk for a minute as he took water on the turnaround, so I just said "well lets go catch him!" I picked up the pace a little and pulled him along for a minute, and then he just slingshot up and cruised past the kid and far beyond. He was cookin' (turns out I beat him overall by 15 seconds). I caught up to now second place kid and passed him as well. Its cool to see these young kids competing and getting into stuff like this (especially the 50k). Tried to turn on the jets a little for the last part, finishing that leg only a minute slower than the 1st (and only 40 seconds of my previous PR). I felt confident that I could run this 5K strongly, as my legs are used to running tired! My friend really slowed down on this leg, finishing almost 5 minutes back - giving me the "W".   :)  

Goal time had been 2 hours, finished in 1:51:34. I had counted most of the front guys coming back on the run, and even though that's not completely accurate on a staggered start, I figured that I had to be in the top 20, and most of them looked mostly older than me, so in the back of my mind I thought there could be a chance that I could place decently in the age category. Though I will admit I was a little surprised when they were announcing awards and they called my name for 2nd place in the 30-34 mens age group. I hadn't even been standing in the area so I had to run over to accept my medal. Ahead of me in my age was Dane Rauschenberg, who was there promoting his 52 marathons in 52 weeks book (See Dane Run), pretty cool.

Fun race, only thing that was tired and sore was my butt! Its not used to being in the saddle. If not for the Easter family stuff that took the rest of the day, I probably would've hit the trails up too. ;)