shakespeare's duathlon

Well, the Shakespeare's duathlon is set for tomorrow, Saturday April 11, 2009 in Columbia, Missouri. I am looking forward to the race although current weather conditions in St. Louis of 50 degrees with rain coming down leave me worried about racing well in similar conditions tomorrow. The forecast for Saturday calls for 63 degree temperature but at race time (8:30 a.m.) will probably be in the 50's or maybe below. I competed in this race last year and recall it being cold and dreary so I guess maybe I should expect a repeat of those conditions.

However, the major difference between last year and this year would be the fact that last year I knew practically none of my fellow competitors whereas this year I will probably know upwards of twenty or more of those competing. So, out on the course I expect to either pass or be passed by athletes I have trained with. The good side of getting passed by those who you know is that you can gauge whether you are having a bad day or not. Plus it is nice to urge my friends to do well out on the course if I finish ahead of some of them.

I finally removed the rear bottle cage holder on my triathlon bike since I won't need it tomorrow and on the few rides on this bike I have been on, that holder has really bothered me since it tends to push my butt closer to the front of the seat than I would like. I guess the holder was designed for those with little to no fat in their rear which is certainly not me. I will post a picture of the bottle holder I removed since those not familar with triathlon training likely have no idea what I am talking about.

In terms of goals for the race I would just like to finish faster than I did last year and I will be happy. My final time last year was just under 1 hour and 45 minutes and unfortunately my splits were messed up for the final run leg though I know I ran my first leg at 8:14 mile pace and rode the bike at 15.5 mph pace. I think I am faster than last year so those averages should fall by the wayside in 2009. A secondary goal would be to place within the top 3 of the under 39 clydesdales and receive an award for doing so. This is sort of out of my control though since I have no idea who will show up to this year's race and how fast they might be though I did finish 5th out of 8th in 2008 with awards going to the top three clydesdales. Still, I will go out and do the best I can do and see what happens. If history is any guide, they will be giving out wine to the top three in each age/weight group so we will see.

The worst part of the race is having to get up at the crack of dawn (around 4:30 a.m.) to drive out to Columbia. I actually drove out to Columbia the night before last year but just didn't feel like doing that again this year. Plus, I think I ended up sleeping in and not taking the race seriously enough since I barely felt awake by the start time in 2008. So, this year I will probably have been awake for 3-4 hours by start time and ready to roll. Hopefully I have no mechanical issues and don't crash--knock on wood. So, expect a race report by the end of the weekend.