Monday, June 19, 2017

Duathlon #2 - Baddeck 2017

So it is always good to keep checking on the dates of races.What was originally slated to be in August of this year was moved to June due to the cancellation of another race. I almost missed the Baddeck Duathlon! But I didn't.

So now in June (in its second year), the Baddeck Duathlon is a great event hosted in a great place. Big Baddeck offers a 22 km paved loop for the bike portion and a tough gravel run for the run portion. The loop is open to cars, but I saw maybe 3 or 4 the whole race.

This year we had a few less people than the first year, but we gained some even tougher competitors up front.  I was looking around and instantly figured I would be racing for 5th place, maybe 6th depending on conditions. And speaking of conditions, what could have been a rain soaked crazy fest, turned into a perfect temperature, low wind, great day to race.

So after all the bike setup, chats and race briefing, we lined up ready to race. Last year I won the first run portion with a rather fast 18:33 5K. I consider it fast because the first 1.2 km is straight uphill. While I hoped to get the fastest first run again, with Corey there, it seemed unlikely. Instead of killing myself, I decided to play things safe and after the start tucked in behind Andreas, who seems to be of a similar speed to me.

We ran up the hill and I felt okay as Corey pulled away. We were in second and third place and I was having no issues keeping up. In fact when there were little dips I had to slow a little bit to stay with Andreas. At the turn around we were still together, having dropped fourth through sixth. Playing my cards, I figured I had a good ability to pull away into second by myself on the final downhill of this run and when we hit the crest of the hill I started off. By the timing mat I had a clear lead over third by 7 seconds. I finished with a 19:13 this time. Looking at last years race, the first run this year was a little long and the first run last year was a little short. My pace was quite similar in both races. I would also say this year's pace might be a little slower due to the road being freshly graded and therefore covered in loose gravel and some areas of soft sand.


I grabbed my bike and headed out quickly (with the second fastest T1). I knew I wouldn't be able to hold off those guys behind me for too long, but I wanted to get a bit into the ride before being overwhelmed.

At about 5km Andreas passed me, then at around 7 km Allan did. I didn't let up and pushed hard, though the first section is all up hill and I waited for the next couple of riders to scream past. But all of a sudden I was approaching the 10km mark (which was also a stop and turn). I dared a look back and maybe 1/2 km behind me was 5th place. Knowing how far ahead I was on the run, I figured this pass was happening soon. But id didn't. I really started to push through the kilometers, knowing that the longer I could hold out, the better my chance of using the second run to repass. But the pass from (what turned out to be Daniel) never came. I rode into T2 in 40:18, just hitting thew 1 hour mark.  This was slightly faster then last year but darn close. 32.1 km / hr average pace and a nice 60.1 km/hr top speed.


I wasted no time in T2, for fear that Daniel (now right behind me) had been saving his legs for the final 2.5km run. A 30 second T2 (second fastest of the day) meant I was out and running fast. But man did my legs feel like hell. 


Straight to that big hill climb. The second run was basically, up then right back down. I pushed hard last year to catch and pass Kevin at this point. I pushed hard this year to keep my spot. I knew second and third were too far up the road. At the top I hit the turn around (whew) and knew all my downhill run fast experience was going to be needed. I finally saw Daniel in 5th at this point and I had a couple 100 meters on him. I felt secure but didn't let up. 

Soon the finish line loomed, I pushed through and crossed in almost exactly the same time as last year, 1:10. My final run was done in 9:59, 1 second faster than last year. I finished 4th overall, last year was 3rd. But what a great group of guys to fight with. That was all I had in me that day, and I feel good about it. Also I feel like I am finally recovering from the Bluenose Half marathon, which has left me feeling dead.

I have a trail race coming up, then a rest. Back to coaching some great people as well.




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