Saturday was my first multisport event of the year, the April Du. It's a free practice race put on by a friend of mine, April. Hence the name.
It's a 2 mile trail run, 12 mile bike, 2 mile trail run. It's a really fun, well-organized event. And for just a training/practice event, the course is really challenging. Lots of hills, and as has been the case all spring - very, very windy.
My goal this year was to beat my time from last year, especially my second run time. Last year I averaged a 6:30 pace for the first run, 267 watts on the bike (21.2 mph) and a 7:30 pace on the second run.
Duathlons typically start out at a very fast pace and it's really challenging to hold back and let everyone pass you, so I was pretty happy with my discipline when I did just that. I kept tabs on my pace and stuck to my goal - match my first run pace from last year. I came into transition with a 6:31 pace for the first run.
The bike was tough this year with the wind, so it was slower than last year. I beat last year's wattage with an average of 272, which came to a 20.2 average - 1 mph slower than last year.
The second run was where I really wanted to step up my game. I've always felt like I don't pace myself well enough in duathlons so this was a test of pacing. I ran strong on the second run and finished with a 6:28 average, so I think I could have pushed harder on the first run and the bike. It's fun to finish feeling like you didn't push hard enough.
I finished in 1:01:xx, a minute faster than last year which I'm really happy with since the bike was slower. I was third overall, behind Joe Kurian (he won the amateur division at IMWI last year) and one of his Gear Grinder teammates Tom Shepard.
Next weekend is the Crazy Legs Classic, an 8K race, and the following weekend is my first triathlon of the season, the Alexandria Triathlon in MN.
And today is Marathon Monday....the Boston Marathon. Go Meb!
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