Sunday, 5/12/2013 to Saturday, 5/18/2013 - Dirt Cheap #2 and Spring Classic Duathalon

I ran 6 times this week, 24.33 miles
I biked 3 times this week, 37.9 miles

Sunday, 5/12/2013: run 12.4 miles, 1:49:50, 8:51 pace, sunny, light rain, lots of wind, sunny, stops for gel and clothing changes

Garmin Connect Activity for Meandering to the Lake and back

I really, really needed a long run after not running since Tuesday. I had trouble motivating myself at 8AM when I saw that the temperature was 41F and heard the howling wind outside. I gave Christine her Mother's Day present along with a cuddle. Then ... I got dressed and got out. I am glad that I picked warm tech because I needed it. I struck up a nice and easy, long distance lope and just kept going. The weather changed a couple of times while I was out there. First sun, then a light rain, then sun along with lots of wind so I took off my jacket once, put it back on for the light rain and then took it back off afterward. I eventually got down to Lake Ontario and back. I was definitely slower on the way back as usual ... but I was glad I went out.

I woke up Christine when I got back and we soon enjoyed our coffee, bagel and the Sunday Democrat and Chronicle as per our usual Sunday habit. Later we ended out to the East Ridge Diner for a Mother Day's day dinner. I had a 1/2 rack of baby back ribs and Christine had steak ... Mmm! We both enjoyed our first visit ... we will be back!

Christine rented Lincoln from Redbox. But we couldn't view it because of tech not working. We tried 4 DVD players. My laptop, Christine's DVD player and both mine and were denied. My laptop had trouble with the sound. Christine's DVD player had blue screens. One of my DVD players still has a DVD stuck in it and the other doesn't recognize any DVD. We are all set if we want to play VHS tape though. Seriously, I think a new Blu-Ray player is in our future as long as it has a component video output for our old TV.

Monday, 5/13/2013: Rest night ... moving on.

Tuesday, 5/14/2013: bike 17.9 miles, 1:28:20, 12.2 mph, 55F, partly cloudy, calm, 1 stop.

Garmin Connect Activity for Both banks of the Genesee River

I needed some exercise. I chose the bike since I have Dirt Cheap #2 tomorrow. I chose my usual bike route on both banks of the Genesee with some additional loops. I went a bit faster and chose to pump up the hills rather than just ride slowly up them. A nice ride! I had a bit of trouble walking after the ride until I got my legs back ... sweet!

Wednesday, 5/15/2013: 2 runs of 1.5 and 5.43 miles, 76F, sunny, windy

What a weird day of Rochester weather! It was 50F when I woke up. A severe thunderstorm moved through at 8:30AM and produced heavy rain, pea sized hail in some areas and high winds. It was 79F and still windy by 3:30PM. So it was a hot Dirt Cheap 2.

Christine and I got out to the new location of Dirt Cheap 2 at the corner of Holt and Lake out in Webster around 5:40PM in plenty of time for the 6:30PM start. This location has plenty of parking so a new course soon ensued. My darling wife went off the Kohls to shop and New Nails for ... well, a new set of shorter nails while I prepped for the race.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before Dirt Cheap 2

I had enough time for a nice 1.5 mile warmup run at 9:04 pace before the race to get the blood flowing in my legs. I sampled the beginning 0.75 mile and last 0.25 mile of the new course. The last 0.25 mile included a new steep uphill to the finish which is longer and steeper than the uphill finish to Stewart Lodge out at Mendon Ponds Park for the Dirt Cheap Stage Race.



Soon, it was 6:30PM and time to hit the trails with all the men. The women started 8 minutes after us.

I settled into a nice trail pace on the longest race of the Dirt Cheap series. I concentrated on stretching out on the long flats while I kept an eye out for roots, rocks, branches, pricker bushes and logs plus the occasional horse droppings. We entered the creek for about 100 yards at mile 2.5. Its cold ankle deep water washed a bit of trail mud off. I soon found more mud. It was a bit hard to get back up to speed with 2 trail shoes full of water ... it took about a mile. The long part of the race ensued ... I just kept going. I could hear Ellen yelling at the finish from about a mile away but there were more than a few hills in betweeen. Then the last hill was in sight ... I dug up it and broke the finish line at 49:05, 9:03 , done!

Gritting my teeth like usual!

I did OK. I was 71st out of 316, link here. I was 3rd out of 14 in my M55-59 age group, 3 full minutes behind Bill Beyerbach's first place effort. Soon I was chowing down on the usual Dirt Cheap fare ... hot dogs cooked up by Marilee, bananas, cookies, pretzel, carrots and cucumbers. Good post race fuel!

Thursday, 5/16/2013: Rest day.

Friday, 5/17/2013: Prep day before the weekend.

Christine and I stopped off at Fleet Feet in Brighton where I signed up for tomorrow's Spring Classic Duathalon at Mendon Ponds Park. I also bought a Zoots Tri Short. I also bought a Moving Comfort capri pants and a Spibelt with pink stitching for Christine. We also signed up for GRTC's Boilermaker bus. We went to bed early but both of us didn't sleep well. Christine was congested so she snored and I had pre-race jitters.

Saturday, 5/18/2013: Spring Class Duathlon

Saturday morning came early with the alarm going off at 5:50AM ... but I was awake anyway. We had lots of time and got underway at 7:30AM. I did struggle a bit with attaching the bike carrier to the car. No worries ... the race didn't start until 8:30AM. I had plenty of time to get my Trek FX 7.2 into transition, situate my stuff and get my timing chip. I had sighed for the Formula 1 race: 2 miles run, 10 mile bike, 1 mile run, 10 mile bike and 2 mile run. I was excited ... my first duathlon!

Sean Hendrick directed me into transition and gave me some pointers.

Soon I was off with 63 other duathletes!

I knew I had to pace myself. I did the first two mile trail run in 16:00, a nice 8:00 pace. I spent 1:55 in transition 1 (T1). I had some water and a gel. Christine was standing outside of transition giving me encouragement. I put on my helmet and jacket and ran my bike out of transition to the mount line.

Running my bike out of T1 for my first 10 mile ride.

Off I went on my bike for a 10 mile ride! It went pretty well ... a lot of people passed me though. I soon kept my front gear in the third slot and cycled through the back gears as needed. There were some short ups and some great downs. The first 10 mile bike time was 39:33. I spent 1:40 in T2 while I took my jacket off, had some water and a gel before I ran out for a mile run, 8:45. That was kind of slow but I was sluggish.

Coming down toward transition after the 1 mile run

I spent 1:33 in T3 for some water and my last gel. I was warm so I didn't put on my jacket before I headed back out of my second 10 mile ride. The course was familiar now so I concentrated on going faster on this loop. I caught and passed 2 women on this loop. My bike time was 39:39. I was in T4 for 1:10 before I headed back out for my final 2 mile run. I was feeling pretty good and having fun! I motored at a good run pace and was back in 16:13, 8:07 pace. It was nice to head to a downhill finish!

This pic was taken just minutes after the finish.

Standing next to my trusty stead!

My total time was 2:06:27, 49th out of 64, link here. I was 5th out of 6 in my M55-59 age group, link here. Some mistakes ... I didn't set my Garmin between run and bike. I left it on run for the entire race. I spent too much time in transition but hey ... it was my first time! I wanted to make sure to hydrate and put some nutrition in me before heading back out. All in all, it was a great morning! It was nice to hear Ellen announcing me as I entered and exiting transition. I had fun in a new sport!