Riverport Duathlon a Success

Well the Riverport Duathlon is done now. My racing is over for the year (I think). The result was pretty darn good.

The Day began all cold and dreary with a forecast of rain. Luckily the rain held off until the start of the race, which meant I didn't have to stand around getting cold before heading out. And the real bad weather held off until the bike portion of the race was started. I don't mind biking in the rain, I hate running in the rain.

Anyway, the race started well for me. I was next to my friend Mike. But I really wanted to get to the front early on and started to work my way past many of the other runners. My philosophy on racing is to go out really fast and hope that momentum carries you over the finish line.

Well I finished the first run strong and entered Transition 1 with a time of 16:58 for 4 KMs (a 4:14 kph avg pace). I quickly got into my bike shoes, helmet and grabbed my bike. As it was wet, running to the bike start line was tricky and of course as always I fumbled clipping into my peddals (I should work on that). Then off I went.

I was happy with my bike ride. I passed a few riders as well as a couple of cars. The rain started to really come down and my feet were soaked. My new aero setup was really comfortable and allowed me to stay in a tuck position for almost the whole 28KM lap. I entered tranisition zone 2 with a time of 48:21 (34.7 KPH). And as I had purchased a quick clip shoe system I was into my running shoes in record time. Off I went for the run.

And just like last year my legs immediately gave up. All that training went out the window and the cramps set in. I did my best and kept my pace as high as I could manage. It took me close to 3 of the 4 KMs to get the legs working again. By that time of course I had lost many spots to other runners, and my goal of a top 20 finish was dashed. But my other goal of a decent improvement over last years total time was still there. So I picked up the pace as best I could, I turned the bend for the last 100 meters or so and sprinted my butt off and managed to stop the clock at 1:27:50 to beat last years total time (on a sunny day at that) of 1:35 and change. My final run was 22:32 for 4 KM. Although that seems slow it is still so much faster than last years sub 26 minute run.

I know have something to strive for again in next years events. I have a years worth of data on my successes and failures for Duathlons and Running races. And next year I also hope to add in a triathlon or 2 as well, assuming I can learn to swim well enough.

Riverport Du Is Coming

Okay, so I like the Du's (see earlier posts). For me the biggest of the season is coming up. All other events that I have participated in have lead to this one. The Riverport Duathlon, this October 4th. I have registered in advance (I think I was 3rd or 4th to do so) and have, for the past few weeks started training specifically for the demands that this event will place on me.

What makes this one so special compared to other things I have done this year (my first Century ride, my first running races, and even longer more grueling Du)? Well this is the first Duathlon that I have repeated. Therefore I have expectations for this event. Last year I finished 44th overall, 17th out of 20 in my age group. That was a great finish as I had never run that far in my life, let alone with a bike ride in the middle.

So this year I have to beat that. I have to place higher than 44th, as I have been training hard. In fact I want to see a top 20 finish overall. And I really want to get into the top half of my age group.

We'll see how training continues and I will report back. So far I have ramped up my distances to 2 k run, 20 k bike ride and 3 k run. This weekend I plan on upping that first run by a km and the last run by 4 k. I may even time myself this weekend to see how my times are coming along.

Crab Fight!!

 

I went to do some SCUBA with Dave yesterday. It was like crab city down there. And this crew (in the bottom corner) was fighting for supremacy. I am sure it is a hard fought battle between 2 tough oponents, but when they are only 4 inches big or so, it is a very cute sight.

No interesting fish on this dive. A few small lobsters were seen though, but they are the biggest cowards of the sea.

Ian Finishes His First Real Century Ride

So yesterday (Sunday the 16th of Aug) I rode my first real century ride. A proper 100 miles in one day event. Well in Canada of course that is 160KM's. I have ridden many metric centuries in the past which are 100KM's, but never the traditional style.

Anyway this was the Middleton Century Ride, in Middleton, Nova Scotia. They were celebrating their 100 years as a town. And what a great event. Rest/food stops each 25K for the first 100K then a brief water stop at the 130K mark before a final ride back to the beginning.

I rode originally with 2 friends from my riding team, the Spinachers. Mike and Fred decided to sign up for the metric century as the time needed to complete the whole ride was going to be too much. So at the 100K mark I waved goodbye and moved on solo for the next 30K. At the final water stop I met up with Dave who I had spoken with a few times in other legs of the ride and rode off with him. Then a large group of moderately fast riders came up, we joined in and off we went. A minor crash later and we managed to finish with a riding time of 6:08:35.

My final computer readings were for 164.31 KM at an average of 26.7 KM/H.

Most important is that today, though tired, I am not at all sore or stiff.

Ian discovers......

So I am not always fast when it comes to web apps and useful tools. I am also not always the first to jump on the its so cool bandwagon. But often I do get there. Anyway I just picked up 3 useful things lately.

1. Chrome Web Browser from Google. Why another web browser? Well I use a lot of Google products (search, mail, calendar, blog, photos....) and this browser runs them all very well. Also it is super fast compared to the latest offering from Firefox. And I can move the tabs around on the top of the browser to reorganize things. Sure it is a bare bones look, the style just isn't there yet. But I suspect it will be soon. And I hope they get some sort of add blocking app for it as well. For that reason Firefox will stay on my computer.

2. Twitter. Okay so I do Facebook already, I don't own a smart phone (nor do I make many cell phone calls) and do people really care if I just went for a swim (see my 4th Twitter post). Well maybe I don't need Twitter, but if is growing in popularity, it is free, and I thought I should grab my user name of choice prior to it going away. And while I was at it I might as well have a few posts added for good looks. Will I keep up the Twittering (or Tweeting)? Maybe, but as they say, if a tree falls in the forest....

3. stuffwhitepeoplelike.com Yeah I know. Everyone else already knows about this site. Well I did too but just never went there. Finally did. Good for a chuckle. I do like satire (see: The Onion)and this site is full of it. But mostly I like reading some of the comments on this blog, as so many people don't seem to understand satire at all and take this a a truth giving site. Oh my.......

Second Running Race of the Season - Success

Well I did the Bedford 5K in support of Cancer Research this past weekend. The day was overcast and a little foggy. But the course was fast and I impressed myself with a personal best of 19:06. I managed 7th place out of 225 people. My previous best 5 K was from a duathlon segment in which I managed 23 minutes. I must say that my running is coming a long way and I look forward to seeing how far I can take it. My main goal is still the duathlons and cycling, but running sure is a fun addition to my sports repertoire.

My wife also ran in the same race and she managed a personal best as well. She knocked 3 minutes off of her 5K time from the Bluenose Marathon event and came in at 32 minutes. A great result.

Third Duathlon of the Season Completed

Well, my Duathlon season is almost over. With only 4 events to do (or is it Du?) I knew it would come and go quickly. But this last event was pretty nice. The turn out for the Du was small, only about 14 people or so in total but that was to be expected as the Triathlons are in swing now and that is where people seem to want to turn their attention. I guess Du's just aren't as sexy.

Anyway, I was happy with my result. 5th overall and first in my age class with a time of 1:15. The distances were 3.5K/20K/5K. It was a great test for me with running being so new. These short distances can be killer as the regulars can sprint these much better than I can. But I managed to keep as close as possoble on the first run and then went all out on the bike, which was great.

I have lots of room for improvement, but the final event isn't until Octobre, so that is fine. I have my new Aerobars on order and look forward to really getting my bike setup for these short distance sprints.

Next weekend I have a 5K running race in support of Lung Cancer Research and my wife will be joining me. I look forward to it.