Race #1 of the Season: Chilly Cheeks Duathlon #2

This past Saturday, I raced the second offering in the Chilly Cheeks Duathlon series. Brandon chose not to race and instead be my personal race photographer. Thanks, mrr!

As the January race usually is, it was much warmer than December. I think it was around 20-some degrees at race start? In any case, even though it had snowed a bit on Thursday, roads were nice and dry, so I was doing the full thing.

Ready to race!

Run #1:

The first run was pretty short; 1.25 miles. If you recall from Friday's goals post, my hope was to not kill myself on it. I thought I was doing pretty well with this, but my Garmin split at the first mile told me, uh, no. Clearly I still need to work on tuning in to my natural pace better ...



Time: 12:42 (12th division, 36th gender, 85th overall)

T1: 

So, I love those Skirt Sports convertible mitten/glove thingys, but they don't make untying shoes easy. So, had to ditch a glove to untie my shoes and get into my bike shoes.

Time: 1:22 (5th, 12th, 41st)

The Bike:

I know this bike course. I know this bike course very well. I also haven't ridden this bike course in a long, long time. It was also cold, and I have a lot of training to do this month/year. So ... I consciously took it easier and didn't hammer as much as my racing brain wanted me to. In short, did I achieve my goal of pacing those 10.8 miles? I would say, kind of! Probably best I have yet  ...



Time: 41:26 (8th, 25th, 71st)

T2:

Took a bit of extra time here, ditching the MaccaX jacket and once again taking off a glove to get my shoes on. I don't bother with speed laces anymore, but they would have been helpful on the day as my cold fingers just didn't want to work.

Time: 1:37 (10th, 26th, 61st)

Run #2:

Second run was a bit longer, 2.75 mi. Coming out of transition right off the bat, I was having trouble breathing. Cold? Sports asthma? Did I hammer the bike too much? Damnit. I consciously kept my goal of "smooth and steady" in the back of my brain, though, and tried getting into a rhythm as soon as I could.


Starting the second run.



Being mature.

The run was a bit of a struggle, but I managed through okay.

Time: 31:28 (11th, 35th, 81st)

Overall Stats:
Time: 1:28:36
10/14 division (F30-39)
31/45 gender
78/100 overall

I was about five minutes slower than when I did this race last year, but I'm also a few pounds heavier and working on slowly coming back from an extensive break. Besides, my goal for the race was to have fun (which I did!) and really, to not destroy myself (and therefore make myself sick, like I have a tendency on doing). By that criteria, it was a successful day.