Never new that a sprint duathlon can be this exhausting, but it’s the morning after the race and I feel worse then Clearwater in November.
All started with a nervous warm up about an hour before the race, as this was the first ride on my new Quintana Roo and the new Hawk Racing wheels. With this long and hard winter I havent really had a chance to try the new ride, as all of the few training rides were on the road bike in preparation for German Nationals in three weeks. However, the first 15 minutes on the bike felt great, good position, awesome sound and my run performance over the last weeks improved regularly.
So, right at 2 pm started the race over 5k/20k/5k with a lap on the track, then turning more into a cross country course through and around the country side of Scheeßel. I placed myself in the lead group, next to Andreas Reinert, last year’s winner and most likely this year’s favorite. After the first two kilometers it was five of us in the lead group, with both, last year’s winner and runner up in the pack. We came back to transition and I was able to clock the fastest run split as none of the others seemed to be the one taking the lead on the following bike segment.
My transition was horrible and I had a tough time closing my helmet, felt like Chris McCormack at Ironman Hawaii 2007, so that I started the bike in fourth position. It didn’t take long to pick up the pace and charge for the lead on this short 20k, but windy and slow course. Just a few kilometers into the race it was Reinert, Reimann (last year’s runner up and 41st at Ironman Hawaii) and myself pushing for the lead. None of us were able to breakaway, even though Reimann pushed the pace on the second loop.
Therefore, it was three of us coming back into T2 chasing for the lead on the final 5k run. Reinert changed the quickest and pushed for the lead, followed by myself and Reimann. Once we passed the 1k mark it was only two of us left, as Reinert dropped the pace - settling for third place. Coming down to the last 3k it was Reimann and myself running shoulder on shoulder until I was able to get in front with about 500m to go. Reimann stayed right behind and it came to an exciting finish over the sandy last 100 meters. At end I was super exhausted, but very happy - finishing just 5 seconds in front!
Great motivational boost, which should help to focus on the upcoming Duathlon Nationals in 3 weeks!
http://www.stgk.info/Ergebnisse/2010/15/Duathlon-gesamt.pdf
