Shakespeare's race report

Saturday morning I competed in the annual MaxTrax Duathlon in Columbia Missouri. As previously noted in my prior post I was basically looking forward to racing faster this year and had hoped to place well in the clydesdale division though there was no guarantee on how I would place since you never know who might show up. Anyway, I woke up around 4:30 a.m. and left the house around 5:00 a.m. I opted to take off my front tire and place my bike in the back seat rather than use my bike rack since I anticipated some Columbia shopping post-race and didn't want to worry about the safety of my tri-bike in the parking lot.


I arrived in Columbia around 6:45 a.m. and went to get my race packet. This was the first race I have needed to present my USAT card and it was nice to have remembered to bring it with me this time along with my ID. I picked up the packet along with my t-shirt for the race. I was kind of mystified when the girl handing out the packet said they had run out of xl shirts and she offered to mail me one or I could take a Large. I opted for the Large since I didn't want to wait, and I wouldn't mind a somewhat tighter shirt for my workouts since I have lost a bit of weight and some of my XL shirts hang off my body very loosely these days.



I racked my bike and was chatting with some friends until race time approached. The race organizers let the short course athletes start first and we waited about 15 minutes for the long course start. I was so busy talking to friends I almost missed getting closer to the front of the pack to start the race.



The gun went off and I basically tried to go out in a decent clip without pushing too hard. I looked down a few time at my Garmin 305 and my pace was usually between about 6:45 and 7:30 for the first mile and then I stopped looking. I quickly got into a rhythm and settled into a pace I could maintain. The first run was over before I knew it and I entered into the transition area at around 20 minutes. I opted to place my extra tubes, tire levels, and pump in the back of my cycling jersey which I wore for whole race. It took a few seconds to do so but I didn't mind since my rear seat back didn't fit on my tri bike (or I wasn't smart enough to figure out how to put it on without my legs hitting it on each pedal stroke).



I had racked my bike nearest to the bike out side of the transition area and had a short walk to jump on the bike and take off. I was out of the parking lot quickly and though I had forgotten to check my gearing (needed to downshift when I started). I picked off three riders almost immediately going up a major hill within the first 800 meters. The seat on the bike still felt off even without the bottle holder though it wasn't that big of a deal on such a short distance race and I now think it might be because it slants downward rather than the level type I am accustomed to.

Anyway, the bike course was two loops of a seven mile course. I felt pretty fast on the first loop since I was turning over the legs well and gradually gaining ground on cyclists ahead of me. I finished the first bike loop around 23 minutes and started the second and final loop on the bike course. The second loop I could tell my legs were tired and I just didn't have that zip I possessed on the first lap when going up a hill or trying to pass someone. Overall, my bike time was 48.33 or so (second loop 25 minutes) and that averaged out to 18.5 mph. I was pleased that my time improved dramatically over last year on the bike--I was over ten minutes faster this year though I would have preferred a more even bike split on the two loops. I ended up riding next to a guy (Dennis) on a very tricked out bike with aero disk rear wheels and we switched places on the course a couple of times on the second loop. I met him through a mutual friend post race so that was interesting because from outward appearances he spares no expense in his triathlon endeavors and I was able to keep up with him. Most guys last year on such bikes would blow by me without much effort, so this was proof positive that my cycling skills, though not great, are improving.

I racked my bike and pulled out all the stuff I took with me in my rear cycling jersey pockets and of course switched into running shoes. I took off on the run and surprisingly my legs didn't feel like jelly this year. Granted, I could tell they had been working and weren't fresh but they responded surprisingly well to my efforts to run around 8 minute mile pace. I just tried to maintain my pace and though some runners caught me in the final mile I was able to sprint in to the finish and ended up nabbing one or two runners (including Dennis) right before the chute. I was 46 seconds slower on my second 2.5 mile run (pretty good in my opinion) and finished that run in 20:26 with an overall time of 131:26.

In terms of placing with the clydesdale's I ended up in sixth place with the guys finishing in 3rd, 4th, and 5th all finishing in 129 something so while I would have preferred to be top 3, I am actually pretty close already, and a close 6th isn't bad at all in my mind. The first guy who finished as a clydesdale had a time of 119:04 which I find bizarrely fast....I would like some kind of proof he is actual 200 lbs or more since I think that time would place him as the 10th overall finisher on the men's side and I think the excess weight should have slowed him down more than it did.

After the race I grabbed a few slices of pizza and took some race photos with my camera after rehydrating a bit. I didn't do any kind of cooldown (bad!) but did check out the race results and drop off my entry for the Trizou race May 3rd with the race director. The organizers handed out awards and though I didn't win one officially they had some wine left over so they let anyone who finished the race take home a bottle until they were gone. Needless to say, I snagged myself one. I was quite pleased with a dramatic improvement from 145 to 131 in one years time. This race was confirmation that my self coaching is helping me progress and I did manage to best the average finishing time of 138 minutes quite handily.

Post race I of course had lunch at the Sub shop with my usual meatball sub, chips and a soda with multiple (3-4) refills on the drink. After lunch I drove by all the running, biking and triathlon related stores in town but didn't buy anything before jumping on the highway for the drive back home. I have some pictures from the race though they aren't with me at the moment, I will either edit this post or start a new one to include some.