First off...spoiler alert. If you've been living in the suburbs of La Crete with no electricity over the last 5 days and have no idea that Ryder Hesjedal won the Maglia Rosa on Sunday, stop reading now. Oh wait, uh, stop reading about 2 sentences ago.
Life the last 3 weeks has consisted of work, tri club, long rides, Giro d'Italia, Tour of California, and NBA playoffs - and not necessarily in that order. (I just found out the NHL finals start this week). So suffice it to say I have been on Ryder's jock since his 17th place finish in the ITT on May 5. But more on that in a minute.
I'll miss Footstock Duathlon and the timing of Sylvan's BBF duathlon was right, so I'd found my annual duathlon (I'll trade you 2 runs for a swim any day)! Waking up at 6am overlooking a sparkling Sylvan Lake on Sunday, I rode my bike around the corner to transition, got set up with a prime spot in about 2 minutes, and headed back for some breakfast and the start of the Giro TT. At 8:15, Dezz and I dragged ourselves away from the TV and headed back for the athletes meeting.
15 minutes after the sprint tri swim started, the first 5km run of the duathlon was underway. On Thursday night's tri club run, Jon had anyone racing on the weekend doing a modified set of 3 minutes at race pace, 2 minutes recovery (x3). Paying attention to form (especially when I passed Jon as he yelled at me to relax my shoulders and drive my knee forward) I was easily running sub-4s. So once the pseudo gun went off (some dude yelling "Go!") my goal was to get out in front and focus on running my race without outside influence. That worked great for the first 2km and then a gradual 1km climb threw off my pace. Never having led a race in my life, it was a unique experience for me. I think I may have forgotten I was actually racing if not for the aid station at the 3km mark. I was disappointed with my first run time, but I did stay relaxed and let the run come to me. Baby steps.
I reached T1 not having any idea how far ahead I was, but my goal on the bike was not to get passed (including by triathlon competitors who were also on the road by this point). Tucked into aero for 90% of the ride and maintaining high cadence on the uphills, I checked another goal off.
Hitting the second run of a duathlon is always a unique experience, but Wednesday night bricks with Grant and Ed have gotten me used to those run-bike-run transitions. So although a bit fatigued after riding into a stiff head wind for 12km, the legs were turning over pretty well and I again fell into my zone. Then came that silly hill again to zap my pace. Hitting the 4km mark still in first (I couldn't differentiate duathletes from triathletes on the course, but I hadn't been passed by anyone to this point) I started to really push for the finish line feeling like I may have left a lil' something out on the course.
Yes it was a very small field, but it did feel good crossing the line in first place for the first (and probably only) time in my multisport life. Maybe these new TCTC jerseys have some magic. I enjoyed the experience while eating ice cream with wifey, before starting to analyze where I lost time and how to get faster next time. Dezz is a patient woman. Overall I finished in 21:43-0:59-44:30-0:35-23:02 for a 1:30:51 finishing time. The journey continues.
Oh and about that Hesjedal fellow. As soon as we got home the PVR came on and we gathered around the tv to watch the first Canadian ever win a grand tour. Now that, was a good day. And to top it all off, many of my friends and TCTC team mates ran their way to PBs during the Scotiabank marathon/half-marathon/10km. Awesome job.
Life the last 3 weeks has consisted of work, tri club, long rides, Giro d'Italia, Tour of California, and NBA playoffs - and not necessarily in that order. (I just found out the NHL finals start this week). So suffice it to say I have been on Ryder's jock since his 17th place finish in the ITT on May 5. But more on that in a minute.
I'll miss Footstock Duathlon and the timing of Sylvan's BBF duathlon was right, so I'd found my annual duathlon (I'll trade you 2 runs for a swim any day)! Waking up at 6am overlooking a sparkling Sylvan Lake on Sunday, I rode my bike around the corner to transition, got set up with a prime spot in about 2 minutes, and headed back for some breakfast and the start of the Giro TT. At 8:15, Dezz and I dragged ourselves away from the TV and headed back for the athletes meeting.
15 minutes after the sprint tri swim started, the first 5km run of the duathlon was underway. On Thursday night's tri club run, Jon had anyone racing on the weekend doing a modified set of 3 minutes at race pace, 2 minutes recovery (x3). Paying attention to form (especially when I passed Jon as he yelled at me to relax my shoulders and drive my knee forward) I was easily running sub-4s. So once the pseudo gun went off (some dude yelling "Go!") my goal was to get out in front and focus on running my race without outside influence. That worked great for the first 2km and then a gradual 1km climb threw off my pace. Never having led a race in my life, it was a unique experience for me. I think I may have forgotten I was actually racing if not for the aid station at the 3km mark. I was disappointed with my first run time, but I did stay relaxed and let the run come to me. Baby steps.
I reached T1 not having any idea how far ahead I was, but my goal on the bike was not to get passed (including by triathlon competitors who were also on the road by this point). Tucked into aero for 90% of the ride and maintaining high cadence on the uphills, I checked another goal off.
Hitting the second run of a duathlon is always a unique experience, but Wednesday night bricks with Grant and Ed have gotten me used to those run-bike-run transitions. So although a bit fatigued after riding into a stiff head wind for 12km, the legs were turning over pretty well and I again fell into my zone. Then came that silly hill again to zap my pace. Hitting the 4km mark still in first (I couldn't differentiate duathletes from triathletes on the course, but I hadn't been passed by anyone to this point) I started to really push for the finish line feeling like I may have left a lil' something out on the course.
Yes it was a very small field, but it did feel good crossing the line in first place for the first (and probably only) time in my multisport life. Maybe these new TCTC jerseys have some magic. I enjoyed the experience while eating ice cream with wifey, before starting to analyze where I lost time and how to get faster next time. Dezz is a patient woman. Overall I finished in 21:43-0:59-44:30-0:35-23:02 for a 1:30:51 finishing time. The journey continues.
Oh and about that Hesjedal fellow. As soon as we got home the PVR came on and we gathered around the tv to watch the first Canadian ever win a grand tour. Now that, was a good day. And to top it all off, many of my friends and TCTC team mates ran their way to PBs during the Scotiabank marathon/half-marathon/10km. Awesome job.
Way to go Dave!
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