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CityTri Prospect Park Spring Duathlon

I think this is the longest I’ve gone without posting since I starting this blog. I’ve gotten away from feeling compelled to post everyday. I did plan on writing yesterday, but I had this stupid cold over the weekend and frankly, after running some errands and an afternoon nap, the day just slipped away from me. That means that you get an extra long entry today!

Training-wise, the weekend was great. The highlight was the Prospect Park Spring Duathlon. I think I’ve written that this was my first duathlon and my first race on the Crono.

All week the forecast called for a cold and potentially rainy morning on Saturday, but when I got out of bed at 5AM, it was clear and already warmer than I’d expected it to be at race time. It wasn’t “warm”, but it was probably in the low 40’s, which, especially given my expectations, was great. I gave myself loads of extra time just in case the subway took a long time or I had some other problem, but I got to Prospect Park very quickly and was all checked in and ready to go by 6:30, well before the scheduled race start of 7:30. So, I paced around, chatted with a few people, warmed up a little and checked my bike, again and again. This event was part of the Gotham Cup Series, in which the various New York tri clubs compete to earn points toward a season title. There were a bunch of people representing their teams. I had signed up as a member of the Brooklyn Tri Club, because I know a few people on the team. I have to say that looking at the team members, all decked out in their matching outfits and talking about strategy and racing, etc. had me a little intimidated. By 7:30, it had warmed up some, but was still in the 40’s and I wasn’t sure what it would feel like, especially on the bike. I wore a short-sleeve baselayer under a long sleeve one, tri shorts, leg warmers, a hat and gloves. I knew I risked being too warm on the run portions, but was more concerned about being too cold on the bike.

The race finally started at 8AM, about a half hour late. I haven’t been really training for speed or running short races, so I was a little nervous about trying to go out fast. I knew that given the distances, this race was all about speed, but I was worried that if I went out too fast I would blow up. When the gun went off, I started a bit slowly, but I noticed a pack of about 15 people already charging out to a substantial lead. I didn’t think there was any way I could keep up with them, but wanted to be in the lead of the second pack. So, I kicked it up a notch or two and ended up with a good group of about five or six, taking charge of the second pack. I knew I was running faster than my normal “fast”, but concentrating on sticking with this little group helped me maintain the pace. I was also a little too warm, but there wasn’t anything I could do about that. We were cruising, but I had no idea how fast. I was trying to size up our little pack and felt confident that at least two of them were runners, not cyclists, who I would be able to drop on the bike. I wasn’t sure about other two. (Don’t ask how I made those determinations, I just “felt” it.) We cruised into transition (first 5K = 20:04) and after a somewhat clumsy and relatively slow transition I was on the bike and off. I immediately passed two people who got out of transition more quickly than I did and I started flying. I was feeling great on the bike. I just tucked right into aero, got into a comfortable gear and rode as fast as I could. In the 14 miles, I never once came out of aero or touched the brakes. The course was four loops of the Park, and I was passing people left and right, but I couldn’t tell if the people I was passing were actually ahead of me or if they were slower ones who I was lapping. It felt considerably colder on the bike and I was happy to have that extra layer on my torso, especially anytime the wind started blowing. I finished the bike in 37:43 and my second transition felt fast and smooth. As I was leaving for the second run, I noticed two other cyclists coming into transition. I couldn’t see anyone in front of me. I figured the leaders had a sizable lead on me, so my motivation was simply to not get passed on the second run. My legs were feeling fairly strong, but I ran with a strange pain deep inside my stomach. (My stomach actually hasn’t been totally “right” for a couple weeks – there no specific symptom other than it just feels a little achy most of the time.) I checked back every so often and sometimes could see the guy behind me. He was still far enough back that I didn’t have to panic, but I didn’t have a “comfortable” lead. I just kept up my pace and at the final turn (a couple hundred yards to go) I tried picking it up and bit and came across the finish line pretty strong. I never once saw anyone ahead of me, but maintained my lead on the guy behind. I could tell, based on how few people were around, that I had finished near the front of the field. At one point during the run, one of the race marshalls had said something like “12” as I passed, but I didn’t know if he meant I was 12th or if he was right or even talking to me for that matter.

I stuck around the race site for a while to hear the results. I chatted with some of the participants, and with some new confidence as I wasn’t so intimidated by their teams any more. I ended up getting an award for second in my age group, which was a pretty proud moment. I was 11th overall.

Here’s proof:

After the race, I went home and played with Charlie a bit and then crashed, hard. After my nap, I got right back on the bike and rode for an hour in front of some college basketball. It was an easy recovery ride – I didn’t really want to do it, but I needed to make up some time on the bike. Saturday night was a fun dinner with some friends. And Sunday morning, I got on the bike again, but this time rode outside. Sunday’s ride was nice – I was definitely feeling Saturday’s effort in my legs, but I rode pretty strong and felt comfortable. Central Park was a bit of a zoo because in addition to all the normal tourists, horse carriages, pedicabs and runners and cyclists, there was a big running race going on. I was still able to ride at a nice clip in most of the Park, it just meant paying even closer attention than normal to all the people darting in and out and across the lanes.

Some other good news – both Elizabeth and Charlie’s knees seem to be coming along well. Elizabeth’s is still not great and she still can’t run, but at least she was able to ride the bike and take a spin class this weekend. She went back to physical therapy today and is feeling optimistic about it. Charlie is healing great and at his follow-up appointment today, the vet said that he’s just about ready to get back to full off-leash playing.

Finally, I’ve entirely revised my pre-Ironman race schedule. I think I’m going to scrap both the Columbia Triathlon and Eagleman 70.3 and replace them with the EnduraSport New York Harryman Half Ironman in Harriman State Park on May 20. For one, it’s a heck of a lot closer to home and second, it fits better into my preparations. This race is nine weeks before Placid, compared to Eagleman, which is only six weeks. Having the extra time to recover and still get in some good training will be a better plan. It’s too bad because I was planning on doing Columbia with my friend Matt and Eagleman is supposed to be a great race, but I won’t miss the long drives to get to them!

Run – March 23
Distance: 5.5 miles
Time: 42 minutes
Average heart rate: 149
Course: West Side Highway
Conditions: Cool, overcast, really nice

Swim – March 23
Distance: 1,800 yards
Time: 33 minutes

Prospect Park Duathlon – March 24
Time: 1:20:51
Average heart rate: 151
Splits:
Run 1: 20:04
T1: 1:14
Bike: 37:43
T2: 0:45
Run 2: 21:05
Overall place: 11/111
Age group place: 2/16
Conditions: Cool, sunny, nearly perfect race weather

Bike – March 24
Time: 1:02
Average heart rate: 117
Indoor ride

Bike – March 25
Time: 2:07
Distance: 36.3 miles
Average heart rate:
Course: West Side Highway and Central Park
Conditions: Partly sunny, crisp (low 40’s), some wind

Swim – March 26
Distance: 3,000 yards
Time: 1:03

Strength Training – March 26
Time: 45 minutes

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