Time to DU it again - Esprit Duathlon Race Report

I added the Esprit Duathlon to my race calendar after the Worlds here in Ottawa as I felt I needed to redeem myself. Sonia and I had talked about Spain for next year's Worlds and decided that we'd put that chat off until we saw IF I could qualify in Montreal, as it turns out, we won't need to have that chat.

Going into the race, I was unsure if my back would hold-up after the spasms I had in the Olympic last week so I decided the plan would be to race at perceived effort and rarely looked at my Garmin save to make sure I was on the right lap on the bike.

The stats:
Run 1: 55:29.9
Bike: 1:17:37 (includes both transitions I think as my Garmin showed the bike as 1:11 and some change)
Run 2: 32:42.8
Race total: 2:45:48.9 (PB of just under 5 minutes over Worlds in August)
21/25 M 45-49 (only the top 10 qualify for Worlds)
116/153 Men

Run 1 (10k):
Felt pretty good, my back was not causing any problems and thanks to the fact that there was a mix of age groupers and folks trying to qualify, I was not left in everyone's dust this time.

T1:
Went pretty well, it's a longish transition, but well marked and there were lots of volunteers to guide you.

Bike (40k):
A relatively flat course with some nice tight corners and thankfully DRY when I was out there. Since it is the Gilles Villeneuve race course, I couldn't help but make some F1 noises as I "opened it up" on the straight aways...in my head anyway.  My goal on the bike was to go hard for the first half and then ease up a bit so that I still had some legs left for the second run (learning from my mistake at Worlds). I managed this pretty well and spent the last couple of laps spinning things out. PB for this distance on the bike, and the good news, I didn't feel like I was going to puke.

T2:
Things did not go so smoothly here, it was a long transition off the bike to where the duathletes rack and maybe I pushed harder than I thought because when I got to the rack, I almost knocked the bike next to mine off the rack...a wee bit off balance. Transition took longer than normal for me, almost double, but again maybe that was due to the bike.

Run 2 (5k):
Overall a good run, not quite as fast as at Worlds, but at least I didn't feel like I was going to puke! No back issues which was surprising and a relief. Experienced some stomach issues that may be due to the new sports drink and chews that I am testing out before Chicago or maybe due to having Greek as the pre-race supper the night before (not my regular pre-race supper).

After the race I was feeling a little defeated when I saw that I hadn't qualified, not that I honestly expected to as I knew the calibre of the racers at the world level, but in the back of my mind I still thought I MIGHT have a chance. Two things helped give me perspective and “reset the brain"

1. Seeing other OTC peeps out there enjoying their fitness, racing with a smile (thanks for that hug Annick, you probably didn't realise how much it helped at the time).

2. Meeting up with my friend Isabelle after the race and hearing about her battle with a rare, incurable form of cancer. Isabelle is a runner and has been unable to run due to the effects of her multiple treatments over the last 8 months. She's about to get a break from chemo and IF she's given the green light and has any energy at all, she plans to race, she misses the positivity of the race environment so much that she just HAS to get back out there if she can. We've decided we'll run together and celebrate every step!

Lessons learned:
Perception is not reality, reviewing the stats when I got home was when I realised I had a PB, even though I didn't feel like I went as hard as I had at Worlds.
Slow is relative and I can do something about it.
Nutrition needs work and maybe more thought and planning.