It seems funny starting off with a race report, but since I kept procrastinating on this blog, the Footstock Duathlon in Cochrane has come and gone without me starting this thing. Until now.
With Chinook Half exactly one week after the Cochrane duathlon, I treated Cochrane as "just" a training day. No expectations, no swim no pre-race jitters. Maybe a bit of apprehension would have stopped me from eating hot dogs and chili the night before, chased with a bottle of Newcastle Brown. Maybe.
I woke up at 5:45am to a dreary, but dry day. By the time Dezz and I rolled out the driveway at 6:35am, I thought the day may turn out not too bad. Then we hit the road and the rain started. A quick package pick-up and bike drop-off later in Cochrane, I contemplated the best clothing for the race. 15 minutes prior to the race start, I'd picked an outfit (long sleeve cycling jersey, waterproof vest, full-fingered gloves), relieved my bladder at McDonald's, and headed down the hill to the start line with the rest of the 100-odd other gluttons for punishment.
The race consisted of a 5.8km run, 37.7km bike, and 9.7km run. I had no intentions of pushing hard on the first leg of the run, so I was content to start about 10 people back from the apparently non-existent start line. It wasn't long before I was dodging people on my way forward, but I still managed to keep a relaxed pace. The run, mainly along a red shale path, is a very pleasant run and seemed to fly by. Even joking with another runner about the gradual hill being way longer than either of us remember, I was still surprised I'd run a 4:27 km.
By this point, the rain was in full force and the wet roads coupled with the strong headwind (it's Horse Creek Road, what else did you expect?) made for a difficult bike. I felt I was putting in way to much effort for the speed I was getting out of it. Since a fast bike split wasn't my goal on the day, I got low in aero, tried to ignore my tight quads, and settled into a consistent pace. Of course, I was unhappy with my "out" time. Fortunately I still had the back, with a tail wind and mostly downhill. I'm not sure how much was better focus mentally and how much was the course, but I managed to shave 11 minutes off my time over 19 km on the "back".
I thought I counted 15 people ahead of me on the bike at the turnaround. I passed a couple of those guys on the bike, and another 2 on the first 4km of the run. The next 6km made me question if there was actually a race going on. I didn't see a single racer behind or in front. Running with numb feet and knees, I was very pleased with my focus and managed a 4:33 pace for the second run, 4th fastest on the day. I finished with energy to spare and no tummy cramps, which definitely gave me some confidence for Chinook this weekend.
All those intervals Grant has me doing must be paying off.
With Chinook Half exactly one week after the Cochrane duathlon, I treated Cochrane as "just" a training day. No expectations, no swim no pre-race jitters. Maybe a bit of apprehension would have stopped me from eating hot dogs and chili the night before, chased with a bottle of Newcastle Brown. Maybe.
I woke up at 5:45am to a dreary, but dry day. By the time Dezz and I rolled out the driveway at 6:35am, I thought the day may turn out not too bad. Then we hit the road and the rain started. A quick package pick-up and bike drop-off later in Cochrane, I contemplated the best clothing for the race. 15 minutes prior to the race start, I'd picked an outfit (long sleeve cycling jersey, waterproof vest, full-fingered gloves), relieved my bladder at McDonald's, and headed down the hill to the start line with the rest of the 100-odd other gluttons for punishment.
The race consisted of a 5.8km run, 37.7km bike, and 9.7km run. I had no intentions of pushing hard on the first leg of the run, so I was content to start about 10 people back from the apparently non-existent start line. It wasn't long before I was dodging people on my way forward, but I still managed to keep a relaxed pace. The run, mainly along a red shale path, is a very pleasant run and seemed to fly by. Even joking with another runner about the gradual hill being way longer than either of us remember, I was still surprised I'd run a 4:27 km.
By this point, the rain was in full force and the wet roads coupled with the strong headwind (it's Horse Creek Road, what else did you expect?) made for a difficult bike. I felt I was putting in way to much effort for the speed I was getting out of it. Since a fast bike split wasn't my goal on the day, I got low in aero, tried to ignore my tight quads, and settled into a consistent pace. Of course, I was unhappy with my "out" time. Fortunately I still had the back, with a tail wind and mostly downhill. I'm not sure how much was better focus mentally and how much was the course, but I managed to shave 11 minutes off my time over 19 km on the "back".
I thought I counted 15 people ahead of me on the bike at the turnaround. I passed a couple of those guys on the bike, and another 2 on the first 4km of the run. The next 6km made me question if there was actually a race going on. I didn't see a single racer behind or in front. Running with numb feet and knees, I was very pleased with my focus and managed a 4:33 pace for the second run, 4th fastest on the day. I finished with energy to spare and no tummy cramps, which definitely gave me some confidence for Chinook this weekend.
All those intervals Grant has me doing must be paying off.
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