So Much To Say
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Amen
Just like my man Dave, it's been much to long since my last update, and I've got so much to say. It's been a great week so far in training, and I can hardly believe we're coming up on the one year anniversary of The Daily Grind. It was just about a year ago when I was sitting around on my sofa, mentally preparing for my season opener, the Shamrock Duathlon, debating whether or not to start a blog. The downside was that every one and their brother seemed to be blogging, and so it seemed so passe to hop on the bandwagon. Yet, at the same time, I figured it would be a fantastic way to share race reports and the ups and downs of training with all of my good friends and family. Well, I obviously decided to launch my blog, and as it turns out, I've not only used this blog to communicate the minutiae of my tri-life, but I've been fortunate enough to have met some pretty cool people along the way - folks in the blogosphere that I would likely never have "met" in any other way.
Maybe we would have stood shoulder to shoulder on the sand of some Ironman starting line, or both gone to grab the pasta fork at some pre-race carb fest without ever thinking twice. Who's to say? For what it's worth, I'm grateful for all the readers of the Grind, and I'm glad I went down this road.
Speaking of the anniversary, the Shamrock Duathlon is right around the corner again. About a week away, to be exact. This year, the race is serving as a short-course duathlon World Championship qualifier, meaning there's going to be some seriously feisty competition. Good. Bring it. Because I've got a 55 gallon drum of early season whoop-ass just waiting to be tapped.
See you out there.
4 Comments:
Joseph, question:
When you run at Shamrock, how does your anticipated pace compare to what you would run in a "standalone" 5k? I'm trying to get an idea of how hard to run at Rye.
Thanks!
-DF
Good question solo!
I've tried a number of (overanalyzed) strategies for racing short course duathlons, and the best results I've had have come from the following approach:
Run the first run-portion at that run-length race pace. So for a 5k run, run it at your 5k race pace.
Ride the bike leg according to your time trial pace at that distance.
Survive the last run.
This approach works very well for me because I come from a cycling background, which means more often than not (not always, but usually) I can put a huge gap on my closest competitors during the bike leg. So I do my best to get to my bike as early as possible, open it up further on the bike, and then run the final run at whatever pace I can muster - which usually translates to 10k pace or slightly slower.
Of the duathlons I've done, I've only lost a finishing spot during the last run once, and the guy who did it was obviously a runner, as he turned out something like 16:30 5ks both before and after the bike, yet had a (relatively) pretty slow bike performance.
If you're not a runner, think of the race as a bike time trial, where someone has positioned you 5k from your bike at the start of the TT ;-)
Thanks! That is about my plan. I don't want to get stuck in too much traffic on the bike as I am confident that I will be among the fastest riders. I have been warned about how the 2nd run will feel... I just wanted to try one; not expecting any miracles. Thanks and good luck at Glastonbury!
Hey, how about more running, biking, and swimming and less writing! Who do you think you are some kinda triathlete with a brain, or maybe an engineering degree? Yeah, that's a good one! Like, Duh!
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