Race Report - 2012 Minneapolis Duathlon

On Sunday, August 25th I ran the 2012 Duathlon as a relay with my aunt. A duathlon consists of three legs, Run-Bike-Run. The Minneapolis Duathlon consisted of a 5K run, 15 mile bike, 5K run. I ran, my aunt biked. This was our second year competing together as a team and while our primary goal was to have fun we both hoped to improve over last year.

I was up at 4:30 am on race day (I'm pretty sure the last time I was up at 4:30 am was a year earlier on the day of the 2011 Minneapolis Duathlon). I had packed my race bag, pinned my number to my shirt and prepped my breakfast the night before so there wasn't much I needed to do in the morning - just get up, get dressed and head out the door (much more than I normally do before 5:00 am mind you). I met my aunt at her house at 5:30 to drive to the race. The weather was damp and foggy but it was not actually raining - it was about 70 degrees which was nice but a bit troublesome given the sun wasn't even up yet. The transition area was set up differently than it had been last year but the volunteers were out in full force and were very helpful. We racked our bike, talked through our first transition (which I kind of flubbed up last year) and hit the port-o-potties with plenty of time to spare.

First Leg - 5K (3.1 mile) Run
The race started at 7:00 - we were in the 6th wave which was scheduled to take off at about 7:06. The fog had lifted but it was still cloudy which helped to keep the air cool - pretty perfect running weather, actually.  The first run went well, it's a mostly flat course that starts with a 1.5-ish mile loop and finishes with a 1.5-ish mile out-and-back. There is one noticeable hill just after mile 2 but there is a water stop and the turnaround at the top which was both motivating and rewarding. I finished the first run in 28:14 - 9:05 pace and 42 seconds faster than last year (Yeah!).

Transition 1
One of the benefits of having run this same course the year before was that I remembered how far it was from the end of the run to the transition area.  Like most people I push hard for the last few tenths of a mile in a race which is great unless you are running a duathlon and there is an additional few tenths of a mile to run after you "finish" the race. This year I didn't go all out at the end of the first run and the transition went much more smoothly. My aunt was standing right at the front of the chip-exchange area when I got there and we were able to quickly make the exchange. Before I knew it she was off and biking. We managed to complete the first transition in 1:29 - 11 seconds faster than last year (Yeah!).

Second Leg - 15 mile Bike
While my aunt was out killing it on the bike course I had about an hour to kill. I grabbed my bag and copped a squat on a nice little piece of sidewalk. I entertained myself with stretching, snacks and phone calls for about half an hour. At that point they asked everyone to head to the chip-exchange area and being the rule follower that I am, I did. It was at this point that I realized we had not discussed how we would find each other for the second transition. Laurel finished the closer-to-16-than-15 mile course in 53:22 (Yeah!).

Transition 2
Since we had racked our bike within a few feet of one of the entrances to the chip-exchange area, and she needed to rack her bike again before we could make the exchange, I decided to stand at the entrance and just yell her name when I saw her. I saw her riding in and watched her rack her bike - in a different location than we had started in (crap). I watched her start running toward the chip exchange area and then - I lost her! About 10 seconds later I heard her call my name and turned to find her standing exactly where we had said we would meet for the first transition. I strapped the chip onto my ankle and was off. I always seem to be the weakest link on the transitions. We completed the second transition in 2:36 - 56 seconds slower than last year (Boo).

Third leg - 5K (3.1 mile) Run
The second leg followed the same course as the first leg (with a slight deviation at the finish). I felt good and could tell I was running fast even without looking at my watch. I tried to focus on running a smart race and not burning out. When I hit the 3 mile mark I kicked into high-gear and sprinted to the finish. I finished in 26:58 - 8:40 pace, 47 seconds faster than last year and a personal record (Yeah!).

Overall
Our overall time was 1:52:37. We placed 12th out of 42 teams in our category (2-person, female teams). We improved our overall standing as well as the times for each of our legs (and one of our transitions) as compared to last year!

2012 Results - 12th Place out of 42 teams
Overall - 1:52:37  
Run1 - 28:14   
Tran1 - 1:29
Bike (15.8 miles) - 53:22
Tran2 - 2:36
Run2 - 26:58

2011 Results - 17th out of 35 teams
Overall - 1:59:20
Run1 - 28:56
Tran1 - 1:40
Bike (18 miles) - 59:21
Tran2 - 1:40
Run2 - 27:45