This wasn't a year I got to do a lot of multisport, but I did get to do what I consider the best multisport around, some duathlons.
The year ender in Nova Scotia is always Riverport, and it never fails to end the year on a high note.
I didn't get to do this race last year, but I was back again this year and to a new course (due to some road construction). Instead of the 4km/28km/4km race I was used to, it was now at the standardized distance of 5km/20km/2.5km.
The day was wonderful weatherwise. The temperature to start was pretty cold, but the wind was low and the sun was bright.
We racked our bikes, had our race briefing and soon were on the starting line.
As usual, my goal these days is to try and grab a good strong start on the first run. My bike won't be the strongest, but I know that, so i try to get a win where I can. As the race started, I took the lead early and never relinquished it. For the first 2.5km, I could hear Colin and Andreas behind me. I had found a good strong pace early on and went for it. I didn't even bother to check my watch and just ran what I knew I could handle. This si a super flat course, so I knew a fast time was up for grabs.
At the turn around I had gapped 2nd and 3rd by a little and pushed on. By the time I came into T1, I had thrown down a 17:34 min 5km and had opened up a 21 second gap to second.
My T1 time wasn't the fastest but at 28 seconds, was pretty good. I was on my bike fast and off for 20km of hills.
We shared the race course with the Do a Du racers. So the bike course was a 10km out and back, which they did once and we did twice. There was a slight wind, but overall it was calm riding. I managed to hold onto 3rd place through the first 10km and was doing my best to keep Kevin behind me.
Coming back from the 5km turn around for the second time, I had to stop a little longer at the stop sign due to an oncoming car. This probably knocked me back 15 seconds or so, but it wasn't a huge deal. I was still in third some how until about 2km to go, when Kevin finally dropped me to fourth place. Lucky for me, this was the fastest part of the course and I didn't loose that much time to him compared to the hills.
I came into T2 about 200m behind Kevin, quickly dismounted and then threw down a fast transition time (fastest of the day) of 22 seconds, taking back 3rd place as we headed onto the run.
Nothing feels as "fun" as hitting that second run. With a short distance of 2.5km, though, I knew I had to push to make up any time I could on the leaders. Alas, the best I could do was put down some fast kilometers and cement my 3rd place overall. I clawed back a little time, but was still 1 minute down on the eventual winner Andreas. We actually shared the fastest second run, both coming in at 9:17.
In the end my overall time was 1:02:47, 3rd overall, 1st in Age Group. I felt pretty good about it. I know my running has improved this year and I think my biking got a little stronger thanks to some good winter training. Still not as good as the top guys on the bike (I was 10th fastest at 34.2 km/hr) but good nonetheless.
Elizabeth competed in the DoaDu and had a great result with her strongest runs ever in this race.
In our three races it was a 2 to 1 win for Colin. I managed to win all the 1st runs in the three Dus I entered this year though and I'll take those wins.
Oh and with the Age Group win today, I even secured a spot at World's, should I wish to go. I don't think I will opt to go, but it was a nice bonus to qualify.
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