Well, that was fun! I had a great race and hit the times that I wanted but unfortunately I didn't place where I wanted. A couple fast guys showed up to clean up at the race and overall the top finishing times this year were faster than last year. I finished 12th overall and 2nd in my age group (although the 1st place guy in my age group won the race overall). Overall I had a great time at Bangs Lake and I only wished I could have gone even faster that day.
I woke up race day morning feeling pretty good and ready to race. The race is only 40 minutes away from my house so I was able to stay in my own bed the night before, which meant I was actually able to get some decent sleep in. I wasn't jittery or anything because I was treating this day like a fun training day. Just another fun brick workout, no pressure. The race is also pretty small so I knew setting up in transition would be pretty stress free. Plus I wouldn't have to swim so that was one less thing to worry about. I arrived at the race and casually set up my gear and waited for my start time.
I lined up at the front of the pack along with a fellow CTCer (Hayes) and several other fast looking guys. As soon as the gun went off we all took off sprinting! I got caught up in the excitement and tried to keep up with the main pack but I soon noticed they were running sub 6:00 minute miles so I backed off and settled into my own pace. Pretty soon the lead pack put a pretty big gap on our chase pack. At the turnaround point I counted about 12 guys in the lead pack and guessed they had a 30 second lead on us at that point. I picked it up a bit on the way back to T1 and finished the first run in about 20:35. So far so good, I felt fresh and ready to bike.
On the bike it took me a little bit of time to settle into a good rhythm, but after a couple minutes I felt ready to push it. I got passed up by a couple other duathletes in the first half, but by the second half I was passing by other duathletes. I was trying to hold 95%+ effort for the short ride, but a couple times I had to back off because I felt too much lactic acid building up in my legs. Argh, I know it still takes me a while to recover if I stay too long in the red zone so I decided not to push it too far on the bike. I eased up a bit more near the end to shake my legs out and get them ready to run. I felt pretty good about my bike but I didn't know exactly where I was in the overall standings (since the race course was being used by the triathlon and the duathlon at the same time). I was in 13th place entering the bike and I thought I might have moved up a spot or two on the bike but I wasn't sure.
Starting my second run my legs felt pretty good. I felt a slight twinge in my hamstrings but that quickly went away. I started off a little slower than my target pace but kept a high cadence and short steps. Fast quick leg turnover. Pretty soon I started picking up the pace and picking off people. I picked off 3 people and then made it to the turnaround, where I counted 12 guys ahead of me (including 3 fast guys way ahead of the pack). Damn, I had lost a couple spots on the bike. Nothing I could do about that now except run fast. I picked off one more racer with about a mile left to go and then saw a group of guys ahead of me within striking distance. I pushed it really hard on that last mile and came within 15 seconds of catching up to that pack but ultimately I just ran out of real estate. The last guy in that pack was my friend Hayes, so that would have been fun to pick him off right near the end, but I couldn't catch him.
My final standings: 13th on the first run, 13th on the bike, 7th on the second run. I had an awesome run coming off the bike, with a time of 19:38, matching my standalone 5K PR! I finished 12th overall, 2nd in my AG, but the 1st guy in my AG won the whole race (he was fast!). I was within 20 seconds of the top 10. I was within 1 minute of catching up with about 7 guys and jumping to 5th. Clearly some guys went out too hard on the first run. I stayed with the lead pack on the bike (relatively) with a 22.4 mph pace, but I think I could/should have pushed it more. If I was able to match my 5K PR on the second run that means I didn't push it hard enough on the bike. Ah well, I still had a great time. It was fun doing a little race like Bangs Lake because I was able to see the whole field around me and that helped push me to go faster on the course.
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