On March 19, 2011 I did a 'Classic distance' duathlon 5kR/14mB/5k.
My time was:
5k Run: 33:46 (pace 10:54) 14m Bike: 52:38 (16mph) and 5k run 35:42 (11:32 pace).
I had estimated 36 minutes for the 5k's and 1hour for the bike. So I did better than that, and so I am happy about that.
Prior to the race, I had been pretty nervous about my nutrition during the race and pacing. I ended up eating a gel right before the start of the run. There was no warm up time, just 'START'.! Then the first thing that came up was this huge hill - it turned out afterwards that I reached my max HR in the first few minutes - 185. It was a pretty hilly route through the walking paths of Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Towards the end of the 5k, there was a pinnacle that you reached on a mountain where you could see the landscape of the surrounding Brooklyn neighborhoods. I ran
past waterfalls, over a bridge and through a tunnel. I wanted to commit the run to memory so I could come back later and enjoy the scenery a bit more.
Bike segment: The bike segment went fairly well. I pushed hard, and at one point when I got nervous about how hard I was pushing, I said to myself that I have been doing the Computrainer class for 1 hour, once a week for the past 16 weeks (give or take a few due to snow and extremely cold weather), so I could push myself for 1 hour. The second thing that I did a little differently than when on training rides in the park - I went fast on the downhill. I pushed aside my fear of falling or of someone dashing in front of me. I speeded up, pushing it as much as I could. There were 4 loops and by the 3rd loop, I got a sudden cramp on my upper calf, so I started spinning until it left.
Run segment #2: I enjoyed myself more during this run. I couldn't believe I was actually running again and close to finishing the race! I continued to enjoy the scenery and focused on pacing myself. I started to consciously not try to go faster - at some points I actually felt I could go faster. But I had the NYC Half Marathon the next day, and it was looking more and more like I would be able to finish the duathlon and move on to the next activity the next day. This was very exciting.
I still would like to / need to do a whole lot better in the running, but I'm hoping to keep on working on my pace, do more speedwork, and I will get better!
My time was:
5k Run: 33:46 (pace 10:54) 14m Bike: 52:38 (16mph) and 5k run 35:42 (11:32 pace).
I had estimated 36 minutes for the 5k's and 1hour for the bike. So I did better than that, and so I am happy about that.
Prior to the race, I had been pretty nervous about my nutrition during the race and pacing. I ended up eating a gel right before the start of the run. There was no warm up time, just 'START'.! Then the first thing that came up was this huge hill - it turned out afterwards that I reached my max HR in the first few minutes - 185. It was a pretty hilly route through the walking paths of Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Towards the end of the 5k, there was a pinnacle that you reached on a mountain where you could see the landscape of the surrounding Brooklyn neighborhoods. I ran
past waterfalls, over a bridge and through a tunnel. I wanted to commit the run to memory so I could come back later and enjoy the scenery a bit more.
Bike segment: The bike segment went fairly well. I pushed hard, and at one point when I got nervous about how hard I was pushing, I said to myself that I have been doing the Computrainer class for 1 hour, once a week for the past 16 weeks (give or take a few due to snow and extremely cold weather), so I could push myself for 1 hour. The second thing that I did a little differently than when on training rides in the park - I went fast on the downhill. I pushed aside my fear of falling or of someone dashing in front of me. I speeded up, pushing it as much as I could. There were 4 loops and by the 3rd loop, I got a sudden cramp on my upper calf, so I started spinning until it left.
Run segment #2: I enjoyed myself more during this run. I couldn't believe I was actually running again and close to finishing the race! I continued to enjoy the scenery and focused on pacing myself. I started to consciously not try to go faster - at some points I actually felt I could go faster. But I had the NYC Half Marathon the next day, and it was looking more and more like I would be able to finish the duathlon and move on to the next activity the next day. This was very exciting.
I still would like to / need to do a whole lot better in the running, but I'm hoping to keep on working on my pace, do more speedwork, and I will get better!
