Northeast Park Duathlon Race Report

After much anticipation, the race season has officially started for me and man what a start! This past weekend I took part in the Northeast Park Duathlon in Gibonsville, NC. I was anxious to see where my fitness level was after a long Winter of training, most of which has been indoors this year due to the cold temperatures and snow. I was also excited to be representing TriSports.com as one of my new sponsors for the 2014 season, as well as Headsweats and Feetures!

 

It was a great morning to race even in February and after talking with Richard Swor, the Race Director, earlier in the week and then seeing some familiar fast guys at the start line, I knew this was not just going to be an easy training race. Right away I saw Albert Harrison and Glen Thompson who are both top ten National and World Duathlon guys and Wes Kessenich who I met last year when he caught me in the bike section of the Bermuda Duathlon. I knew these three alone would make for a fast race but that wasn't all!

 

So the horn blows and we are now off and rolling in the first run leg and I felt good running in between Albert and Glen so I knew I was right where I wanted to be... problem was I was still barely in the top ten! So after the first mile I looked down at my watch to see we were hauling at a sub 5:30 pace and that was just a little more than I wanted to do so I fell back behind Glen but still in front of Wes (knowing he was a fast time trialer). I hit T1 still in the top ten and right behind Glen.

 

I had never raced against Glen, but knew he had raced on the US National Team and placed 6th at Worlds last year. I knew Albert was way faster than me right now, so I decided to focus on chasing Glen rather than worrying about Wes who I knew would be chasing hard behind me. As we made our way out of the park I pushed hard and kept Glen and Robert Maughan, who were battling it out in front of me, in sight for the entire ride. At the halfway point I knew I was ahead of last years pace but I just could not get comfortable on my bike. It may have been the fact that this was the first time I had been on my time trial bike outside since last fall, but either way I continued to push to keep my targets in sight. With about two miles to go, Wes came rolling by me and I was a little bummed but not surprised so I tried my best to stay with him into T2.

 

I remembered last year even though Wes had caught me on the bike, I had beat him in the last run leg of Bermuda so I tried not to panic. Well he was having none of it and took off out of T2 with me in hot pursuit. Needless to say, I did not catch him. He ran a faster second leg to hold me off and take 4th and I rolled in right behind him to take 5th Overall. Man what a great first race with awesome competition! This is just a preview of the speed I will need when Duathlon Nationals come to North Carolina in May. It will make for a great couple of months of racing leading up to it for sure!

Almost Time to Get 2014 Started.

After a long block of Winter training it is almost time get things going for the 2014 racing season. I have been working hard over the last four months to build myself up on a strong foundation that has consisted of the following weekly training:

• Weight Training 3days/ week
• Swimming 3days/ week
• Running 5-6 days/ week
• Cycling 5-6 days/ week

As the 2013 season ended, I started focusing on being more consistent with my running and coming off the Richmond Marathon in November I carried that conditioning into the off-season. I also knew I was going to focus more on triathlon's this year so I had to make sure I was getting a lot of quality time in the pool. With the help of my swim coach, Lindsey Jones, I have seen my times come down and I feel much more at home in the water. This Winter I needed to increase my power on the bike so I have worked my tail off in the gym in an attempt to get the watts I need to be more competitive at the national level on the bike.

Last week was my first time trials in the water for 2014 and my times looked good and I felt strong. I know I have a lot of work to do and Lindsey is really pushing me to do more IM work to be a more rounded swimmer. I don't like it but it is working. As part of my running program, I have been doing a tempo run every Thursday and I was very happy that I was able to hold my current 5k pace comfortably for ten minutes as part of the last workout. This past Saturday was my first timed power test on the bike and although I was fairly pleased with my wattage output, I have a lot of work to do on developing my power endurance. I see a lot of time spent in Scott Moir's garage in my future to make this happen.

I am really excited to get my multi-sport season going to begin representing my sponsors:

Trysports.com- for all of my general needs in all three disciplines. They have a great selection of products and sponsor a team as a way to give back to the comunity that made them.

Hammer Nutrition- this is a company that I have been a part of for a few years now and I truly love their products. If you haven't tried them click the banner on the right to save big on your first order!

Headsweats- I have been using thier products for years and now I get to officially represent them. They are the reason that I now prefer to wear a visor of a hat.

Feetures!- These are by far the best socks on the market and the Elite brand is durable and provides great arch support. As a Fleet Feet mentor/coach I was introduced to Feetures! and these are my socks of choice now.

Rudy Project- I have known Paul Craig of Rudy Project since my days as a cyclist at Virginia Tech and this a brand that I proudly represent. I have used their sunglasses for more than ten years and now also wear thier helmets exclusively. Rudy Project also helped sponsor a fall training video that I had the pleasure of being a part of with Endurance Films as well.

So just like last year I will start off my season with the Triad Duathlon Series in February and March put on by Trivium Racing. This is a great series and the last race is a Regional Duathlon Event so the competition should be more challenging. Being a member of the Roanoke Valley Elite Running Team this year is a big motivator to get faster in the run, so I will also sprinkle in a few local 5k's to help sharpen test myself against the local speedsters. Be sure to check out my calendar at the bottom of my blog page to see where I will be racing next and hopefully I will see you on the course!