Today was the first race of the season. I did the TriSports.com Desert Classic Duathlon which consisted of a 3.5 mile run/21 mile bike/2.7 mile run. The race was one of two qualifiers for the Duathlon World Championships so the competition was fast and deep. The first run starts off with a fast slightly downhill paved road for about 1/2 mile then turns off onto a twisting narrow technical trail. Everyone goes out hard to get good positioning before the trail section. I was in the lead group and stayed there as some of the others began to fall of the pace. Had a fast transition and then headed off on the bike. The bike course is an out and back with no flat areas...you are either going up or going down! I maintained my position give or take a spot or two and was feeling pretty good. Oh yea, forgot to mention the wind was picking up also...it was a near perfect 73 degrees out (gotta love Arizona winters). Had another quick transition and headed out for the second run. The second run starts off with about 1/2 mile of pavement which then turns to gravel and the turns onto another trail. This trail is full of twists and turns and then goes up a short but steep hill. Oh how that hill hurts...the sad part is the downhill is even steeper and hurts nearly as much. Then it is back to the gravel section and onto the road for the last fast part to the finish. I finished in 1:40 which was good enough for 5th in my age group (in a stacked field). I was 5 minutes faster than last year and PR'd by 1 minute!
Special thanks go out to Victor (VCamilo) for the great hospitality and a couch to crash out on!
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i started training for my first triathlon this month, its not for a while but i figure i should get started soon and i may even be able to be competitive in it
