Kyle Downs (1st) and I (2nd) after the race XTERRA Canmore was dropped and instead I signed up last minute for the inaugural St. Gabriel's Comunity Duathlon. I did know about the race but wasn't considering it until about 10pm the night before. That's when Kyle, the eventual winner of the race, texted me and convinced to participate.
It was a small but pretty well organized event. Registration fee included quality T-shirt and an optional water bottle as well as snack from generous sponsors of the race. It was also nice from the race director to allow me advertise United Tribe's upcoming running events, the Thunderbird Half Marathon and the Powwow 10k where I will be directing rather participating.
After a lengthier warm up the first 3k of the race felt like a cold shower in the morning. I haven't ran at those speeds in a race for a long time. We covered the 3k in less, than 10 minutes so in sub 5:20 pace. He entered transition with a sizeable lead but that was downsized with my faster transition. Then, onto the 13 mile bike leg Kyle's initial lead was still within striking distance. However it was a lot more difficult to chip away from that lead of his than I thought it would be. That one time when I finally caught him and passed him he overtook me again in just 20 seconds. About half a mile from the turn around point I passed him again and put the hammer down to increase the gap as much as I can. It didn't really happen. Just as we turn off Highway 10 and onto the McDowell Dam road on the uphill he came out of nowhere and took lead again. I didn't want to respond to that as it would have just drained my already low energy reserves. It took me a lot of effort coming back and seemingly that all was for nothing. My transition, however, was far faster than his thus I took back the No1 spot, even for temporarily. I knew he was close. At times I would hold me breath back to see if I could hear his footsteps or breathing but only the passing bikers encouragement in plural tense revealed his placement behind me. He was close. I held him off through the turn around at the bottom of the hill and a little more but than he passed for first again. I fought my tiring legs really hard to maintain his pace. Eventually he grew his lead to 20 seconds by the finish line. If you could keep up you'll see that we passed each other 6 times throughout the race. How's that for a close battle?
I am satisfied. Though it's always tough for a competitive mind to handle getting beat but I know I worked hard during the race and my current fitness level, that's still plagued by the cold, was only enough for this much.
Good job to all the competitors out there. It was a nice day and it seems everyone had fun.
I was lucky enough to win a Specialized pump at the post-race raffle so I didn't leave without metal.
Next race is the XTERRA Iron Creek just south of Spearfish, SD on August 17. It'll be very likely my last triathlon before the USA Championships in Ogden, UT on September 21.
It was a small but pretty well organized event. Registration fee included quality T-shirt and an optional water bottle as well as snack from generous sponsors of the race. It was also nice from the race director to allow me advertise United Tribe's upcoming running events, the Thunderbird Half Marathon and the Powwow 10k where I will be directing rather participating.
After a lengthier warm up the first 3k of the race felt like a cold shower in the morning. I haven't ran at those speeds in a race for a long time. We covered the 3k in less, than 10 minutes so in sub 5:20 pace. He entered transition with a sizeable lead but that was downsized with my faster transition. Then, onto the 13 mile bike leg Kyle's initial lead was still within striking distance. However it was a lot more difficult to chip away from that lead of his than I thought it would be. That one time when I finally caught him and passed him he overtook me again in just 20 seconds. About half a mile from the turn around point I passed him again and put the hammer down to increase the gap as much as I can. It didn't really happen. Just as we turn off Highway 10 and onto the McDowell Dam road on the uphill he came out of nowhere and took lead again. I didn't want to respond to that as it would have just drained my already low energy reserves. It took me a lot of effort coming back and seemingly that all was for nothing. My transition, however, was far faster than his thus I took back the No1 spot, even for temporarily. I knew he was close. At times I would hold me breath back to see if I could hear his footsteps or breathing but only the passing bikers encouragement in plural tense revealed his placement behind me. He was close. I held him off through the turn around at the bottom of the hill and a little more but than he passed for first again. I fought my tiring legs really hard to maintain his pace. Eventually he grew his lead to 20 seconds by the finish line. If you could keep up you'll see that we passed each other 6 times throughout the race. How's that for a close battle?
I am satisfied. Though it's always tough for a competitive mind to handle getting beat but I know I worked hard during the race and my current fitness level, that's still plagued by the cold, was only enough for this much.
Good job to all the competitors out there. It was a nice day and it seems everyone had fun.
I was lucky enough to win a Specialized pump at the post-race raffle so I didn't leave without metal.
Next race is the XTERRA Iron Creek just south of Spearfish, SD on August 17. It'll be very likely my last triathlon before the USA Championships in Ogden, UT on September 21.
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