Beloit Biathlon

It's officially race season. The Beloit Biathlon (it's really a duathlon - run/bike/run) is probably my favorite race of the year. Two years ago, it was my first multisport event ever. So far the weather has been good every year, and it has become the beginning of spring/race season for me. The grass is green, the trees have leaves, the weather is consistently warm....

...it's race season.

I have a few goals for the year, and goal number one was to win the Beloit Biathlon. Being my first ever multisport event, I wanted to win it. I thought it would be perfect too, because I've never won the overall so I figured it could be my first win as well.

Goal #1. Check.

Race Report

I was in the first heat, and I started out at the front. About a minute into the race, I checked my watch and realized (like the April Du) I was running a 5:45 pace. Oops. I backed off and quickly dropped back to 7th. I've raced enough duathlons now not to get bothered by that. Everyone goes out way too fast so patience is the key. Run your own race and it will all work out in the end. On the turnaround onto Huebbe Road, we got our first blast of the nasty winds that day (25 mph). We had a full on headwind, and it was rough. I checked my watch and realized I slowed down too much. My first mile was 6:20 and I was now running 6:35. I stepped it up, and moved into 2nd by the end of the run.

Run 1 = 11:44 - 6:23 pace

T1 was fast. I came out about one second in the lead, hopped on my bike and started hamering the bike right away.

T1 = 55 seconds

About a quarter mile into the bike, I looked back to see where second was and I could hardly see him. How long did it take him to get on his bike? I had a gap already...so I dropped the hammer. After Huebbe we had a nasty crosswind, and I kept my watts at about 320 and got tucked down as much as possible. I wanted to get out of sight so second place wouldn't have a rabbit to chase. After the crosswind, things got fun for a while - a tailwind. I kept my speed consistently above 30 mph and let my watts drop a bit so I wouldn't burn out.

The way back was tough with a strong headwind and crosswind and gusts that were blowing me all over the road. I had a hard time keeping my power consistent, and I started tucking down really low....really low. It helped me keep my speed up, but I think it hurt my power a bit since I was uncomfortable. I checked back a few times and couldn't see second place.

Bike = 26:21 23.6 mph 275 watts

T2 was pretty fast. I didn't hit the lap button in time so I think it was about 45 seconds.

As I came out on the second run, the race director yelled, "you have a gigantic lead" and gave me a high five. I was now running down Huebbe Road and I still couldn't see second place. I was feeling pretty good about being able to hold the lead. I struggled a bit on the run, partly because I had no one to chase, and wasn't able to run as fast as I had hoped. I had a comfortable lead, but I wanted to keep pushing hard to try to beat last year's time and make sure no one in heats 2, 3, or 4 beats my time because I let up thinking I had it in the bag. About the mile mark I settled in a bit and dropped my pace from a 7 minute mile to 6:40. I finished the second run with a 6:51 average.

Total time = 53:03 (only 3 seconds faster than last year)

I got the overall win and a trophy. But most importantly, I had lots of fun, met one of my goals and got to see some friends I haven't seen in a while - the Wimmers and Steve Knox. Everyone did really well. The Wimmers took tons of time of last year's time and Steve took a couple of minutes of his time as well. Jenny got a third place age group medal and Steve got a second. A good day for all.

I'm looking forward to next year already. Maybe it won't be so windy. [be careful what you wish for - I wanted wind so the bike would be tough...I didn't want 25 mph winds though]

Race Report: Beloit Biathlon

I haven't been able to update my blog much lately because I've been having a hard time getting online (Charter sucks). One of these days I'm going to call Charter and go off on them, but I've been in a good mood the past few days so I need to wait until I'm in a really bad mood because I'd hate to accidentally be nice to them and not stress what a rip off their service (or lack thereof) is at $110 a month.

I could go on forever about them, but instead...This morning I ran the Beloit Duathlon, I mean, Biathlon (they call it a biathlon). It was a 2 mile run, 11 mile bike, 2 mile run. This was my first ever multisport event last year, and I pushed so hard on the bike my average HR was 97% of max and I had to walk a little on the run because I thought I was going to die. So this year my goals were...1. No walking. 2. Top 10 overall.

Finally...a nice day. Warm, sunny, but really windy (I kind of like it that way since the bike course is so flat...makes it a little tougher).

Check out the transition area. That's my bike. I was the first one there. If you're wondering why I parked so far away in an empty parking lot...it's because that's the way I roll. Also, notice we finally have leaves on the trees. Spring is officially here. It's official like a referee with a whistle (btw, I heard that line on TV and Cheri hates is so much it's quickly becaming a favorite of mine).



I signed up for the 9am elite wave so I headed out for a good 45 minute warm-up about 7:50. I rode the bike course with a few hard intervals thrown in to get my legs used to the lactic acid. Then I made sure my transition area was ready to go, hit the porta-crapper and did a short run warm up. Then we had the pre-race meeting and we were off. For being the first one there, I didn't really have any time to waste.

Run #1 - The first run was fast. I wanted to run about a 6:30 pace, but I switched my Garmin to kilometers last weekend for my 20K run and I forgot to switch it back so I was getting my pace in mpk and it didn't mean much to me. I ended up running a 6:08 pace and I came into the first transition in 8th place. It worked out because a 6:30 pace would've been too conservative.

There was some construction on the run route so we had to run through gravel and up onto a new concrete road and eventually back down, through gravel and back on the road. Not ideal, but it wasn't that bad (except I did slip on loose gravel stepping down and almost fell on my face).




T1 - Fast. I had my bike shoes clipped in already, so I got out of my running shoes, put on my helmet and I was off.

Bike - I must say, I'm pretty proud of my ride today. I started the bike in 8th place and caught and passed the leaders with a few miles to go. I pulled a bit of a gap and then in the last mile my right calf cramped up really bad and second place caught me while I was trying to stretch it out a bit. We were side by side going into transition, but he forgot to get out of his shoes early enough and I passed him again so I was first into T2....and....the best part...I won the bike! They didn't do chip timing so it is possible someone in a different wave beat my bike time, but I'm confident enough that that didn't happen to say that I won the bike today (even if I didn't I was in first place for a few miles and first into T2 and that was really, really fun). My average speed was 23.6 mph.

Here's a shot of the bike course I took on my warm up...



T2 - The lead didn't last long. My calf locked up and I was limping pretty good going into T2 and lost the lead. I racked my bike, took off my helmet and put on my running shoes and hobbled to the transition exit where I lost goal #1. They had a water station at the end of the transition and I had to walk through it and massage my calf because I couldn't run. It was locked up really tight. What is it with this race? 2 years in a row I've had to walk... but this time it was only for a few feet.

Run #2 - It didn't take long for 3rd place to catch and pass me (he eventually ran down the leader and won). I hobbled along a bit and my calf finally loosened up about the half mile mark. I checked back to see where 4th was and luckily I had a decent gap so I hung on for 3rd overall. I screwed up my splits by not hitting the lap button in time, so I don't know my exact times but I do know my average pace on the second run was around 6:50.

I finished in about 53 minutes and took 3rd overall and 1st in the 30-39 age group. And although I lost some time with the cramp and almost fell in the construction zone, I had tons of fun today. They said they were thinking of calling it quits after 19 years of running this event, but they're planning at least one more year and I have to say I really hope they keep this going. It's a small, but really fun, well-run event and we need more events like this in the area.



After the race I hung out and cheered everyone on while I waited for the awards ceremony. Then I stopped by my parents house and my dad was heading out to watch my nephew take his karate test so I tagged along. My mom was at work and she works at the Beloit Clinic where the Duathlon was held. I wish I had told them I doing the event. Maybe she could've gotten out for a few minutes to watch.

Here's a picture of my nephew dominating the dojo. I wanted to get a shot of his hands covered in blood when his partner got a bloody nose (I thought that would be a better shot of "dominating the dojo") but I didn't get a chance.




Tomorrow...The Double Bong 40K TT. If you're curious, the name comes from the location - Bong State Park (who named that park, I wonder).

Race Report: Peanut Butter Duathlon

Peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly peanut, butter jelly with a baseball bat.

This morning was the Peanut Butter Duathlon in Rockford, IL. 2 mile run, 14 mile bike, 2 mile run. I was hoping for one of those great spring days, but instead I got 45 degrees and rain. It was one of those days that make you wish you hadn't preregistered. Oh yeah, the run was a trail run.

Remember when I posted about my bright yellow Zoots that looked like this?




Now they look like this:




First off, I have to say I don't understand triathletes and why they refuse to dress warm. It was mid 40s and raining and some guys were wearing shorts and a short sleeve jersey. At the very least you have to put on some knee warmers to protect your knees. Anything under 70 degrees and your knees should be covered. Anyway, I was bundled up so I guess it doesn't matter.

Also, you can call my aero helmet goofy (because it is) but it's not as goofy as doing the run with your helmet on....which someone did.

Run 1: The first run started really fast. The official results haven't been posted yet so I'm not sure how many runners were there, but I would guess around 100. At the quarter mile mark I would say I was running at about the top 25% mark, which really surprised me since our pace was 5:55. I knew that was too fast for me so I backed off a bit and let a few guys get by me figuring there were a lot of people who headed out too fast. I finished the first mile at a 6:30 pace and started picking off guys who had gone out too fast. Then the mud got deep, ankle deep in some spots. It was slippery and really tough to keep your pace up without slipping. Unofficial time: 13:01.

Transition 1: I practiced transitions this week and was ready to do a fast transition with my shoes already clipped in. However, with the weather the way it was I didn't think that would be a good idea. The start of the bike was downhill with a few turns and wet and raining and I was wearing a thin pair of gloves which would make slipping into my shoes while riding more difficult so I opted to leave my shoes off the bike and play it safe. The Zoot shoes are really easy to get out of so I got those off really fast and got into my cycling shoes. Then, as many times as I've practiced putting my aero helmet on, I still screwed it up and I forgot to pull the ear flaps out and I smacked myself in the head with the helmet. The local news had some cameras there and one of them was in the transition area so maybe they'll show me smacking myself in the face with my helmet on the news tonight. Not smooth, but my first transition was still pretty fast. Unofficial time: :59

Bike: The bike was 3 laps around the park and had a lot of rolling hills. There was a guy that finished the run right in front of me a few yards in front of me on the bike so I pushed hard and passed him...then he passed me back and pulled a bit of a gap. Both of us then settled in and held that pace for the next 2 laps while working our way through some of the faster runners. Being a 3 lap course, we passed a lot of riders on the second and third lap and I spotted quite a few Schwinns. Good to see we were representing. Anyway, I had made up a little time on him on lap 2 and passed him early on lap 3. I was hoping to pull a gap, but figured he would get remotivated when he saw me pass and stay with me...and he did. Coming into T2, I slipped out of my shoes and that slowed me down enough for him to get by me again. He didn't get out of his shoes prior to the transition so I was anxious to see if I would put some time on him getting out of my shoes early. He had to come to a complete stop to get unclipped, and I came into transition riding side saddle and ran into transition getting by him while he was getting off his bike. Unofficial time: 40:52

T2: Not much to say. It went pretty smooth. I unclipped my helmet as I was running to rack my bike. Then I slipped into my Zoots, pulled the cord to tighten the laces, grabbed my number and hat and was off. I put about 7 seconds on the guy I came into transition with by not having to take my shoes off. Unofficial time :39

Run 2: The second run went pretty well. I checked back a few times to see if he was closing on me and I noticed about the 3/4 mile mark that I was putting a little more time on him so I stopped worrying about him and focused on keeping my pace steady and not slipping in the mud. Unofficial time: 13:19

Unofficial time: 1:08:12. I took 7th place overall and 6th in my age group. I would've liked to have had a faster bike leg, but I'm really happy with my results today. The hard training is paying off. However, I am a little disappointed I finished 7th overall and didn't place in my age group.

But I'm not going to let that get me down. I had a good race, had some fun despite the weather, and ended with my best finish in a multi-sport event. A good day, I'd say. Now I can't wait for the Beloit Duathlon in 2 weeks. That was my first ever multi-sport event so I'm looking forward to improving on last year's time. Hopefully the weather will be a little nicer...warmer at least.