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Race Result

Racer: Steve Smith
Race: Pound, Pedal & Pant-Summer
Date: Sunday, August 31, 2003
Location: Stafford, VA
Race Type: Duathlon - Sprint
Age Group: Male 30 - 34
Time: 1:07:50
Overall Place: 1



Race Report:



I returned to Stafford, Va, to defend my first multisport win at the Second Pound Pedal and Pant. This is a small duathlon race on a fantastic and scenic course. I really enjoyed the first race in April of this year, and I was really looking forward to racing on the same course twice in one year. I've advertised this race a bit over the last few months, and a couple of Reston area speedy folks showed up: Daniel Labarca & Dave Cascio. Also on the start list, but not making the start, was John McGarva. Drats, I was looking forward to racing with him. Lastly, the second place finisher from April returned. Chad is a Marine, a strong runner, and with the Quantico Marine base just up the street, this is a hometown race with lots of Marines.

In April, Chad and I set an identically fast run pace (16:13 for 3 miles) before I rode at an average of 24.7 mph to gain about 1:30 before the second run (by my bike computer--official splits included transition--my Polar records cadence, so it's obvious when I'm biking). Since I was racing the next day as well, I pulled he plug with about a mile to finish the second run in 16:43 (to Chad's even split of 16:13) and won by a minute in 1:09:43.

This time around the bike course was tweaked just a bit. The second turn-around of the double out-and-back (think of a very short-stemmed, wide-angled "Y") was pulled back to give us a little more room to turn 180-degrees. An excellent tweak, but it reduced the bike course .4-mile according to my bike computer (from 14.4 to 14.0).

The gun sounded, and the race started just as it had in April: a small pack quickly formed (Dave, Daniel, Chad and myself), and I settled in for the first half-mile to judge how I felt and see if the pizza, beer & ice cream from the night before were a dangerous indulgence :) The answer was no, and after a minute or so I wanted to push the pace. An increase of speed soon reduced the front of to Chad and myself. He counter-surged and we were really cooking before the turn. And he didn't let up. We hit the first mile in 5:15 or there-abouts, and pretty much held that pace until we returned toward TA and ran full onto a fierce headwind. We hit TA in 15:45. Chad really forced the pace the whole way; I had to produce my gutsiest run of the year to match his pace. I made a point of not drafting behind him; mostly because I wanted him to know I was right on his shoulder, but also because I didn't feel right drafting off of him (not to mention he's a pretty skinny dude).

I had a crappy transition spot, right in the middle of a puddle. Chad was slightly better off, but right next to me. No biggee. We both made a careful transition (Chad clipping into full-on cycling shoes complete with ski-boot style clamps) and we headed out of transition as Dave & Daniel were coming in. I sped out of transition and didn't look back for at least two miles. I should mention here that Chad had recently busted one of his crank arms and was racing with, hold on to your hats, PowerCranks. Holy cow! Anyway, the first 4-5 miles of this course are a low-grade uphill. It was much more noticeable driving down that it was biking up. Of course, the fierce wind that we faught into TA was now pushing us up the hill. I was cranking at 26 mph for the first few miles, uphill :)

When I finally looked back, no Chad, or anyone else. This is a curvy course, and getting out of sight soon is a good idea. At the first turn-around, Chad, Dave & Daniel seemed closer than I thought they would be ... but I was looking forward to the low-grade downhill descent. Descents that require full power are one of my strengths, and I was able to hammer down the hill with a HR similar to what I climbed with. Making the turn for the second out-and-back, I hit the rollers feeling a little sapped, but I recovered. Upon returning from the second turn-around, I had a more comfortable lead on the bike.

Back toward TA and into the harsh headwind. I hit TA and got my feet good & wet before heading out for the second run. Unlike April, I had no intention of letting up. I really wanted to even split the runs. While on vacation last week I put in 60 run miles over 4 days (that's what a triathlete does when you take away his bike :). Given my weak finishing runs at Diamond in the Rough and New York City, I felt I needed some run mileage. Well, I think I'm a long way there; I felt really strong on the second run, but I didn't even-split the run. Not even close. I don't have official splits, but looking at the HRM data I think I was probably 16:10. After the race (and before I'd seen the HRM data) I was pretty sure I had come closer to 16:00. I felt like I was flying out of TA, and I didn't fade at all on the run. This just confirmed what I already know ... I race better with faster people nearby.

Overall, the race was a great experience and held two surprises. First, I was surprised to find my bike time, while faster with the shorter course, came out to be exactly the same average as April (24.7 mph). I struggled on the last 1/3 of the bike back in April, but I felt much stronger this time around. However, looking at the logs I know my bike mileage has suffered in the last two months.

In reviewing this, I learned an important lesson: don't cookie-cutter train. What works one year, or even at one point of the training year, doesn't necessarily work all the time. Last year I had tons of bike mileage in my legs. By the time race season started, I could ride 50 miles on Saturday and race on Sunday. The Saturday ride was usually fairly easy, but punctuated with 2-3 race pace efforts of 5-10 minutes. In fact, I found this was the best way to prep for my bike split (since then, I believe that while it's the best prep for the bike, my run suffers). So, of course, I did the same thing this weekend. What I should have realized is that I had many more miles in my legs last year when I rode 50+ on Saturday and then cranked a good race Sunday. So, at this point and time, the 50-mile pre-race-day ride isn't such a great idea. Not the cheeriest thought at mile 10 of a 14-mile bike ride. But at least it wasn't a 56-mile bike ride :)

While the equivalent bike split was interesting, the facts behind it make it understandable. The second surprise, and what stills surprises me, were my run splits. I was fairly sure that I would not match my 16:15s from the first race. I'm about 6 pounds heavier than I was in April, and I just didn't feel that great in my finishing runs at Diamond or NYC. I figured I'd be 16:25 or more. While I did have a good run week last week, the numbers don't make as much sense here. Basically, I ran that first run on guts. Chad, having lost 1:30 in the bike in April, admitted "I thought I'd try something different" as we talked before the awards. I chuckled, because immediately after the race he said, "I took it out too fast again." I thought to myself, "Dude, don't blame me this time! I was hanging on for dear life" (I did push things back in April because, back then, I knew my run was strong).

Anyway, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it, at least until the official splits come out. I'd be curious to my second run split. While Chad raced me into a 15:45 on the first run, whatever I split on the second run was all me. Chad finished solidly in second place at 1:09:43, almost identical to his April time.