When USAT announced that the 2012 Long
Course Duathlon Nationals would be held in Cambridge, MD at the Blackwater
Duathlon, the race immediately went onto the 2012 schedule but it turned out
that it would be only one week before Eagleman 70.3m. Hmmm....two "A"
races in two weeks and a month after IM St George. As posted before (my blog here) training
since IM has really just been maintenance so the goal for these two races was
to come in fresh off St George.
The Nationals Duathlon course was a
10km run, 70km bike and a final 10km run, all pancake flat on the Eastern Shore
but with an almost guaranteed wind. Having ridden the course the previous two
weekends, I knew which way the winds would be coming from and planned the race
strategy accordingly. Looking at the
field in the weeks leading up to the race, it looked like a who's who of
Duathlon but to be honest being 4th in the 30-34 age group last year down at
Powerman Alabama had me thinking that the podium was within reach in the 35-39
AG this year.
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Race morning the wind was calm and with
temperatures hovering around 60 degrees it was almost too good. At 7:00am I was off with the first wave (males 39 and under) and
set about trying to settle into a fast but comfortable pace. A lead group of about 7 guys (including some
professionals) pushed hard from the gun and it was the first decision of the
day....go?stay?go?stay? In the end I
stayed at my pace and that left me in no-man's land not with the front 7 but away
from the main field. At least I set my
own pace and could run my own race.
Surprisingly with little speed work since IM the 5:35min/mile pace felt
a hard but comfortable pace and just after the 5km point I caught up with a
couple of others who had tailed off the front pack. The course was an out and back with the back
having a headwind and the three of us kept on pushing to T1. Looking back I feel I could have perhaps
pushed that return leg a bit faster but the comfort of the small group was sure
to pay dividends on the 2nd run. I
entered T1 in 8th after a 35:25mins (5:43min/miles) 10km run.
Duathlon transitions are nice and easy
without the hassle of a wetsuit and it was out quickly onto the 70km (43.3 mile
bike) on the Parvilla Cycle & Multisport supplied Guru CR9.01. Again the course was an out and back for 2
laps, with the back having the headwind.
This meant that we were all flying out of T1 with the wind at our
backs. The plan was to stick to my Peaks
Coaching Group approved power strategy, averaging 256 watts throughout, an
Intensity Factor of 0.85 and minimizing the Variation Index. Flat courses make this task much easier and I
hit the first 17.75km turnaround averaging 261 watts. In that time I had kept a few guys within
view as "rabbits" and had passed a couple of riders while also being
passed by a couple. The return leg into
the headwind was much the same....averaging 257 watts but at a slower
speed. The Intensity Factor was right
there at 0.85 (based upon my FTP of 300 watts) and the Variation Index was
hovering at 1.02 (within 2% of the average power at all times). This power output was giving me a 24MPH
average and turned around for the 2nd lap feeling good despite the wind having
kicked in as it always does on the Shore.
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Bike Time 1hr 48mins (24.0MPH) and 9th
overall.
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Heading out onto the 2nd 10km run I
felt good and had a couple of runners immediately in my sights, including the
35-39 AG'er that had passed in the final few miles of the bike. Within the first mile I had successfully
passed him to take the lead and made a purposeful effort to increase the pace
as I passed. Surprising even myself I
actually increased my pace from the 1st mile consecutively to the 5km
turnaround. At that point I could see
the gap to 2nd place and had just 5km to go to take 1st place and the National
Championship! The headwind took it's
toll and with the pace ever so gradually slowing, I passed one more runner to
cross the line in 3hr 4mins 52secs for 9th overall and 1st in in the 35-39 Age
Group.
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2nd Run Time 38:54mins (6:17min/miles)
10km run
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So, 2012 National Age Group Champion
for the Long Course Duathlon......it's pretty cool to be able to say that! And
above all, it gives me some confidence heading into Eagleman 70.3 this coming
weekend.
