I said Howdy to Howdy Du!

Yesterday I completed the 2009 Howdy Duathlon. It was my first Duathlon, although I had been battling a troubled left hamstring, my training had been pretty solid. I had a few long bike sessions, a couple of short runs and some gym sessions. But I think I still was undercooked and in this report I will explain why.

Having not done a duathlon before, it was hard for me to have a target time. Hence the race preparation was not the best, I didn't really have a strategy. All I told myself was that I will give it my 100%. I wanted to get a good nights sleep, but that didn't happen as I didn't sleep a wink on Saturday night. It was partially the anxiety and too many things playing on my mind. I must have gotten an hour or two of sleep. I was hoping that it wouldn't catch up with me in the race. Drive to the race was fun with Sharanya and Arvind, we got a little lost getting there thanks to the poor roads in TX. It was ridiculous, we could see the road we wanted to be on, but we just couldn't figure out how to get there. It was good that we left early, we reached there with plenty of time to set up transition, body marking, etc. I met a couple of old familiar faces at the race.

Run - 5k (2 * 1.5 mile loop)
I stayed in the front of the park at the start line. The route was a mixture of path, trail and road- mostly under trees. It was quite a nice route, mostly flat. I took off too early, at the first mile my watch read 6.30. I knew I had to slow down a bit, but the adrenaline drove me. I finished my 5k in 23 mins. My fastest 6k ever, and that too without trying hard. I was kind of pleased as I entered transition.

Time = 23 mins

T1 - 1.16 (Small glitch that I dropped the bike while running with it) :)

Bike - 17 miles (2 * 8.5 mile loop)
This transition was not as bad as envisioned it to be. I got on the bike and got my feet moving pretty quickly. I felt pretty good as we left the park and headed to the service roads. We had two tricky hills before we approached the highway feeder, and then it was rolling hills. The ride was absolutely gorgeous, we had fields on either side- the quietness was soothing. Around the 5 mile mark I had a MAJOR problem. I was riding downhill (pretty fast) when my chain came off. Not only did it come off, it got jarred between the gears and the bike frame. I thought I could get it out easily, but little did I know that it was jarred GOOD! In frustration I threw the bike onto the grass and kicked the chain hoping that it was get dislodged. After a few minutes of trying with my hands, I decided to try the spare kit tools, which finally worked. With the added lever length, I was able to dislodge the chains. It must have kicked me back about 5 minutes, the sight of people zooming by me as I tried desperately was rather demoralizing. Of course it could have been quite worse, but thank god it was not. It took me a few minutes to get my stroke back, and then I got right into it. And then the cramps started to bother me. The lack of sleep starting catching up in the form of cramps. First my left calf started cramping, and then the right one also joined in. I had to stand up on the bike and stretch it every so often when I was riding. Second time around the 8.5 mile loop seemed a little easier, mainly due to the fact that I knew what was coming up. I must say, knowing the route was a good thing as I could work my gears in time. The salt tablets helped, but the cramps persisted. I started getting worried about running leg ahead.

Time = 1 hr 07 mins (15.2 mph)

T2 - 1.16 (I spent about 15-20 secs stretching my calves and thighs)

Run - 5k (2 * 1.5 mile loop)
As I started running my legs refused to move. Partially due to the brick effect, and partially due to the cramping. I had to fight it off. I stopped at the closest water stop, gulped down 3 glasses of water and off I went. My short term plan was to start slow, see how the legs felt and then reassess at the halfway stage. After about a mile I started feeling worse. I stopped and stretched some more, which in fact helped quite a bit. I kept a 10 min pace for 2 miles, and I wanted to pick up the pace. But I had absolutely nothing left. I decided to finish at the same pace, which I did. It was a good feeling to finish the race. I knew I gave it all, which is what I wanted to do.

Time = 31.46 mins
Overall = 2.06.29

Summary - All in all an excellent experience. I was pleased with the first run and the bike. I improved my biking speed by 1mph, which I was happy about. I need to build endurance on the bike and continue to improve the speed. I also need to work on overall endurance to make sure I have enough left in the tank to give it a strong push on the 2nd running leg. Having done this format once, I now know how to better prepare myself.

Special thanks to Sha and Arv for the company, congrats to Sha for completing her first Duathlon too.