There are relatively few road running distances I haven't raced and the same is true with triathlon. But there's a whole multisport world I never really planned to explore. I always teased David that duathlon was for people who can't swim. And it still may be, but the why we can't swim has changed. Pools are closed and it is still a bit early for open water (never mind you shouldn't really swim open water alone). And so I did my first duathlon.
It wasn't what I would call an exceptionally well planned event. It was more like semi-spontaneous shenanigans. Semi being like 10 days lead time. It started with a social pose from Ironman Virtual Reality with the upcoming schedule for their VR events. April 24-26 was listed as half Iron distance duathlon. I looked at my Training Peaks plan and my weekend was going to be "close enough" to that that I asked coach. He said sure and rearranged my weekend. I took Friday off work to plan everything for my Saturday event.
Then Ironman VR opened the race and they had posted the distance to social incorrectly, it was a 5150 (standard/international/Olympic) event for the weekend, not half distance. I decided to stick with the half distance. The the forecast wasn't changing and the weather looked good Friday and not good Saturday. So I reached out to my supervisors at work and got the one meeting I was going to do on Friday covered so I could "race" on Friday.
Friday morning came and I was loading up the car. Then I noticed I hadn't charged my watch...so that had to happen because if you didn't record it, it didn't happen...especially with no official race results/no timing tag. Then I headed to the business park.
The regional park (Eagle Creek) is closed to vehicles right now because it was getting overcrowded and needed to limit both the people in the park for COVID-19 social distancing and people not following the rules and parking on the grass, threatening the habitat. So the plan was 5K run in the business park, ride 56 miles on a loop that includes some hills, some rural areas, and the park, then finish running 13.1 miles from the business park, through Eagle Creek to the county line, and back.
The 5K was good. Comfortable temperature and the sun coming up. Low traffic and some good sidewalks, a nice loop around a pond. Except for the fall where I scraped my knee in the first mile it was good. I did notice I had forgotten to turn splits back on for the run segments, so that was not great. I was happy I remembered not to stop the watch when I fell because I was "racing" and the clock doesn't stop.
The bike started out great. The hills were a little more intense than I remembered, but some of the roads have been repaved so that helped. There were fewer cars on the winding s-curves, most of which are blind, so that felt safer. The rural area was lovely as always. Then a bit of traffic negotiation on 56th Street into Eagle Creek. The park had only a few people on the first loop. I stopped for a nutrition and potty break (part of why the park was important - potties) and continued out of the park. I didn't realize the gate didn't allow even bikes through and needed to turn around and use the path out of the park, but that was a first loop curve that didn't happen again. Second loop the hills felt better. Then the wind was starting to shift and maybe pick up even though it was supposed to remain pretty calm or die down. The fact that it was my longest ride with a helmet since fall (and longest with this one since it is new) was starting to get to my neck/shoulders. I also realized I wasn't drinking as much as I should and I probably should have brought electrolytes. Third loop was hard. Just hard. I stopped on the rural flats to take off my gloves and arm sleeves since it was getting warmer. The park also had more people so I was glad it was the last loop. By the time I headed out of the park I felt pretty icky and still had to climb a hill back to the business park and then finish a few miles there. I did. I also felt terrible and my speed had dropped.
I spent a lot of time in T2 pondering if I could even go out for the half marathon. I convinced myself to do it and took off using my 5 min run/1 min walk. After a bit of that I decided the difference between run and walk wasn't much and it wasn't likely to improve so I just walked. It was going to be that day. I had a Camelback and a handheld 20 oz bottle with me so fluids weren't a problem, but no salt. My gels are pure maple syrup and don't have salt. My calves were glad I had taken off the sleeves because it was warm, but pissed about the no salt and started cramping. I was on the hilly part of the park. When I made it to the 56th Street parking lot I turned around rather than continuing on the hilly path to the county line. I headed back to the car thinking I had Base Salt in there. I didn't but I was able to ditch the Camelback since I would be closer to the car (it was hard to get it off) and refill water. I headed back out for loops around the pond. At one point I went off the pond loop to the road sidewalk, but there were people and a dog so I had to hop into the street...except my legs were like oh hell no. I went back to the pond loop and was doing a helix with the bridges over the pond, except I wasn't doing so well at making the turns. I had run into a security guard at one point and while he didn't say anything I think he was a little curious about what I was up to.
I started making my way back to the car and finished in the parking lot. I was glad I finished but 8:20 wasn't quite the time I had anticipated...more like 7:15 or faster. But I remembered a lot of things about hydration and electrolytes. I remembered that early season is for rust busting. I gave myself some grace because this was very early for a half distance multisport and my first du. And then I went for a fancy coffee drink because I haven't had one in years. But the Starbucks is completely closed. I settled for a fancy coffee from Jack's Donuts and headed home to shower, call coach, and eat Indian food.
This solo, self-supported, no start line, no participants, no volunteers or aid stations, no spectators, no finish line, no t-shirt, no medal longer distance racing isn't for everyone. It isn't for people who can't be alone for hours at a time. But I think it will be good training for me and I think it will help me be ready for racing when racing is ready for me.
It wasn't what I would call an exceptionally well planned event. It was more like semi-spontaneous shenanigans. Semi being like 10 days lead time. It started with a social pose from Ironman Virtual Reality with the upcoming schedule for their VR events. April 24-26 was listed as half Iron distance duathlon. I looked at my Training Peaks plan and my weekend was going to be "close enough" to that that I asked coach. He said sure and rearranged my weekend. I took Friday off work to plan everything for my Saturday event.
Then Ironman VR opened the race and they had posted the distance to social incorrectly, it was a 5150 (standard/international/Olympic) event for the weekend, not half distance. I decided to stick with the half distance. The the forecast wasn't changing and the weather looked good Friday and not good Saturday. So I reached out to my supervisors at work and got the one meeting I was going to do on Friday covered so I could "race" on Friday.
Friday morning came and I was loading up the car. Then I noticed I hadn't charged my watch...so that had to happen because if you didn't record it, it didn't happen...especially with no official race results/no timing tag. Then I headed to the business park.
The regional park (Eagle Creek) is closed to vehicles right now because it was getting overcrowded and needed to limit both the people in the park for COVID-19 social distancing and people not following the rules and parking on the grass, threatening the habitat. So the plan was 5K run in the business park, ride 56 miles on a loop that includes some hills, some rural areas, and the park, then finish running 13.1 miles from the business park, through Eagle Creek to the county line, and back.
The 5K was good. Comfortable temperature and the sun coming up. Low traffic and some good sidewalks, a nice loop around a pond. Except for the fall where I scraped my knee in the first mile it was good. I did notice I had forgotten to turn splits back on for the run segments, so that was not great. I was happy I remembered not to stop the watch when I fell because I was "racing" and the clock doesn't stop.
The bike started out great. The hills were a little more intense than I remembered, but some of the roads have been repaved so that helped. There were fewer cars on the winding s-curves, most of which are blind, so that felt safer. The rural area was lovely as always. Then a bit of traffic negotiation on 56th Street into Eagle Creek. The park had only a few people on the first loop. I stopped for a nutrition and potty break (part of why the park was important - potties) and continued out of the park. I didn't realize the gate didn't allow even bikes through and needed to turn around and use the path out of the park, but that was a first loop curve that didn't happen again. Second loop the hills felt better. Then the wind was starting to shift and maybe pick up even though it was supposed to remain pretty calm or die down. The fact that it was my longest ride with a helmet since fall (and longest with this one since it is new) was starting to get to my neck/shoulders. I also realized I wasn't drinking as much as I should and I probably should have brought electrolytes. Third loop was hard. Just hard. I stopped on the rural flats to take off my gloves and arm sleeves since it was getting warmer. The park also had more people so I was glad it was the last loop. By the time I headed out of the park I felt pretty icky and still had to climb a hill back to the business park and then finish a few miles there. I did. I also felt terrible and my speed had dropped.
I spent a lot of time in T2 pondering if I could even go out for the half marathon. I convinced myself to do it and took off using my 5 min run/1 min walk. After a bit of that I decided the difference between run and walk wasn't much and it wasn't likely to improve so I just walked. It was going to be that day. I had a Camelback and a handheld 20 oz bottle with me so fluids weren't a problem, but no salt. My gels are pure maple syrup and don't have salt. My calves were glad I had taken off the sleeves because it was warm, but pissed about the no salt and started cramping. I was on the hilly part of the park. When I made it to the 56th Street parking lot I turned around rather than continuing on the hilly path to the county line. I headed back to the car thinking I had Base Salt in there. I didn't but I was able to ditch the Camelback since I would be closer to the car (it was hard to get it off) and refill water. I headed back out for loops around the pond. At one point I went off the pond loop to the road sidewalk, but there were people and a dog so I had to hop into the street...except my legs were like oh hell no. I went back to the pond loop and was doing a helix with the bridges over the pond, except I wasn't doing so well at making the turns. I had run into a security guard at one point and while he didn't say anything I think he was a little curious about what I was up to.
I started making my way back to the car and finished in the parking lot. I was glad I finished but 8:20 wasn't quite the time I had anticipated...more like 7:15 or faster. But I remembered a lot of things about hydration and electrolytes. I remembered that early season is for rust busting. I gave myself some grace because this was very early for a half distance multisport and my first du. And then I went for a fancy coffee drink because I haven't had one in years. But the Starbucks is completely closed. I settled for a fancy coffee from Jack's Donuts and headed home to shower, call coach, and eat Indian food.
This solo, self-supported, no start line, no participants, no volunteers or aid stations, no spectators, no finish line, no t-shirt, no medal longer distance racing isn't for everyone. It isn't for people who can't be alone for hours at a time. But I think it will be good training for me and I think it will help me be ready for racing when racing is ready for me.
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