At 109 years old collectively, with many multisport races and several overall wins for her (me, zero), the wife of 3 weeks Pam and I signed up at last minute for Powerman Alabama, my first ever (planned) duathlon. Distance 10k/60k/10k. Not sure why I've never done a du, as swimming is a limiter for me.
So race morning comes, 8:30 start time and transition opens at 7! How cool is that!. So we arrive fashionably late to a rural park near Foley Alabama with 2 Cavalier King Charles spaniels Lexie and Isabelle along for the trip, perfect weather for them to stay in the truck in kennel. Forecast high 53 with a 20mph north wind, clear skies. Brrr, glad we didn't have to swim.
So quick race check in, rack the bikes, and head to the start line. I look around and size up the competition, and there's not a whole ton of folks apparently signed up for the full Powerman distance, and comment to Pam (for all to hear) that today just might be my day to finally take an overall victory! But then I notice this one guy...bigger than me, younger, definitely better looking, chiseled, confident, etc. Great looking kit too. So I'm hoping he's a poser. However when the gun goes off, he takes off like a bullet, opens up a lead of about 50m within the first 100m. Ha, well, okay I guess I'll try for second.
So the trailing group of us by a half mile in settles into a 6:30 pace on the all off road run course, flat with a few mud puddles to dodge. I remind Pam that we have to bike in the wind and do this again, so she drops back a bit. Couple of guys gap me by a few hundred yards, but I'm hitting easy 7:10 pace and feel good and pass one of them back at mile 5. Hopefully will be able to catch the other on the bike. Running into T1, they announce that "Chris Lee is at the 5k mark on the bike"...hmmm...ah HAH, Chris LEGH! ok well he's racing elite. So there's a chance!
So heading out onto the flat bike, the first leg was upwind and the second leg was screaming fast, dead downwind. Really fast and fun, like almost-out-of-gear fast. Bikers were sparse even with the sprint distance folks mixed in, so no drafting or pacing going on. I was able to catch up to the one guy ahead of me the second time thru the 2 loop course, passed him where the turn went downwind, and put a good bit of time on him by the finish, which I figured I needed since he ran first run 2 minutes faster than me.
Okay so getting off the bike, my quads were screaming, and I was thinking I might have to stop and walk. Difficulty hitting 8:30 pace. I eventually did loosen up and get down to 7:30 pace but was surprised how demanding the second run was. Was never challenged and crossed the finish as first age grouper by 5 minutes. Saw the wife on run and had time to go get the dogs so they could greet her at the finish. And she not surprisingly won by a large margin!
Hats off to the Powerman folks for putting on a great race. Venue was perfect, and lots of awesome volunteers. Roads mostly closed to traffic on the bike (we had our own coned off lane). Post race food was good. And Chris Legh gave out all the awards and stuck around to chat and take pics. Turns out he is a week out from racing IM Malaysia in 9 hours, which is why I was within 20 minutes, ha.
It's interesting how few people race duathlon, when there's so much less stress about swimming conditions, weather, wetsuits, parking, signing up a year in advance, being there days before, etc. It's great off season training at a small price. And it's racing.
Coach at KonaCoach Multisport
So race morning comes, 8:30 start time and transition opens at 7! How cool is that!. So we arrive fashionably late to a rural park near Foley Alabama with 2 Cavalier King Charles spaniels Lexie and Isabelle along for the trip, perfect weather for them to stay in the truck in kennel. Forecast high 53 with a 20mph north wind, clear skies. Brrr, glad we didn't have to swim.
So quick race check in, rack the bikes, and head to the start line. I look around and size up the competition, and there's not a whole ton of folks apparently signed up for the full Powerman distance, and comment to Pam (for all to hear) that today just might be my day to finally take an overall victory! But then I notice this one guy...bigger than me, younger, definitely better looking, chiseled, confident, etc. Great looking kit too. So I'm hoping he's a poser. However when the gun goes off, he takes off like a bullet, opens up a lead of about 50m within the first 100m. Ha, well, okay I guess I'll try for second.
So the trailing group of us by a half mile in settles into a 6:30 pace on the all off road run course, flat with a few mud puddles to dodge. I remind Pam that we have to bike in the wind and do this again, so she drops back a bit. Couple of guys gap me by a few hundred yards, but I'm hitting easy 7:10 pace and feel good and pass one of them back at mile 5. Hopefully will be able to catch the other on the bike. Running into T1, they announce that "Chris Lee is at the 5k mark on the bike"...hmmm...ah HAH, Chris LEGH! ok well he's racing elite. So there's a chance!
So heading out onto the flat bike, the first leg was upwind and the second leg was screaming fast, dead downwind. Really fast and fun, like almost-out-of-gear fast. Bikers were sparse even with the sprint distance folks mixed in, so no drafting or pacing going on. I was able to catch up to the one guy ahead of me the second time thru the 2 loop course, passed him where the turn went downwind, and put a good bit of time on him by the finish, which I figured I needed since he ran first run 2 minutes faster than me.
Okay so getting off the bike, my quads were screaming, and I was thinking I might have to stop and walk. Difficulty hitting 8:30 pace. I eventually did loosen up and get down to 7:30 pace but was surprised how demanding the second run was. Was never challenged and crossed the finish as first age grouper by 5 minutes. Saw the wife on run and had time to go get the dogs so they could greet her at the finish. And she not surprisingly won by a large margin!
Hats off to the Powerman folks for putting on a great race. Venue was perfect, and lots of awesome volunteers. Roads mostly closed to traffic on the bike (we had our own coned off lane). Post race food was good. And Chris Legh gave out all the awards and stuck around to chat and take pics. Turns out he is a week out from racing IM Malaysia in 9 hours, which is why I was within 20 minutes, ha.
It's interesting how few people race duathlon, when there's so much less stress about swimming conditions, weather, wetsuits, parking, signing up a year in advance, being there days before, etc. It's great off season training at a small price. And it's racing.
Coach at KonaCoach Multisport