The Endurance Pig: Paper Discovery Duathlon

This was the 9th running of the Paper Discovery Duathlon and my 6th. This always has been a race I try to do every year and usually can because it's pretty easy to work into my race schedule with it being early in the season. Since 2007, I have done this race every year except 2011, the year I ran the Boston Marathon in mid April. I remember my first couple time running it back when it used to be in Appleton at the Paper Discovery Museum - hence the name. It used to be a much longer event as a 5k run, 22 mile bike, and a 5k run. The issue was that there were several train tracks on the bike course and one of them was very active which lead to people being held up by long trains during the bike. Also, there was a significant portion of the bike route which was done on a rather busy road, even for a Sunday morning. Since then, they have been doing the race in Neenah from Riverside Park, which is a beautiful park on Lake Winnebago in the heart of Neenah. The run is done all within the park and is approximately 2 miles. The bike is done mostly out on relatively quite county highways and is approximately 19 miles. After coming back in the final run leg is just a repeat of the first 2 mile route within Riverside Park.

2009 was the first year they ran it out of Neenah with the 2-19-2, run-bike-run format. Since 2009 I have run this race three times; finishing 25th in 1:16:56 in 2009, 16th in 1:16:26 in 2010, and 22nd in 1:16:55 in 2012. So, you can see that I have been rather consistent with my race times and overall placing. Being the analytically person I am, my hypothesis to having these consistent time the previous 3 attempts is that I am usually in the same relative state of fitness when I have run the race. By this I mean that the race is always run the first Sunday in May, therefore, I am usually only able to get the same amount of training in leading up to the race, especially with riding the bike outdoors. However, after this race, as the weather becomes consistently warmer, my training has varied year to year, leading to differing race times in various races (i.e. 2010 being my best year of racing and 2012 being a so-so year - even though my race times in the Duathlon were relatively similar). At about a week out from the race I began looking at my previous years data and the overall results from past races to try and come up with a realistic, yet challenging race day goal. I struggled to come up with a concrete time goal, and settled with a general goal of setting a course PR and beating my previous best time from 2010 of 1:16:26. However, when racing multisport events where a significant portion of the race times comes from the bike leg, setting specific time goals becomes difficult. This is because simple everyday variables can adversely effect your bike time, such as wind. To take this example to the extremes, imagine a race with a steady 20mph wind with gusts over 35mph. That will GREATLY effect bike times adding several minutes to everyone's bike time and therefore your overall race time. With this thought in mind, I also set a goal of placing in the top 20 overall and placing in the top 3 in my age group.

The weather on race day was absolutely gorgeous for an early May race. The predicted high for the day was 70* with light and variable winds. Temperatures at the start of the race were just below 50* and mostly sunny. Compared to the race in 2011 where is started to rain in the first few miles of the bike leg and continued to rain throughout the race, the conditions this year were the best I can recall.

Training Plan

I would consider this race to be a "B" race. Which, to me, means that I will make some very minor adjustments to my training schedule to fit the race in and then race the event hard. It is not a high priority race, where I will strive to go into the event completely rested and take proper measures to fully recover before and after the race, but train right up to the day before, but with less intensity. The race fell day 2 of 9 for me, which means it was not on an off day of mine. However, I did take the night off before to allow me to sleep at night on Saturday. Also, it allowed me to take advantage of my 3 previous off days to get a bulk of my high mileage work in a day or two before the race. On Thursday, I did my weekly long bike ride of 60 miles; Friday was my weekly long run which was a 12 mile race pace run; and on Saturday, I did a swim/bike brick workout. I was carrying over some fatigue and soreness into Saturday's workout from my bike ride and run and debated riding in the basement on the trainer to avoid compounding the fatigue the day before the race. I did my 3,300 meter swim at the Y and felt pretty good afterward. The weather was too nice to pass up riding outside and suited up at home and headed out the door for a 20 mile bike ride. I tried to ride at a relatively easy pace with a higher cadence to keep my legs fresh. I was glad I did, because the weather was great and my legs felt great after the ride.

Day/Night Before the Race

With all the rain and sun the last week had, our lawn was beginning to look like a small wildlife sanctuary, so I needed to mow the lawn after my bike ride. After mowing, it was a quick shower and off to the packet pick-up to get my race bib and timing chip. With the weather being so nice, I felt bad for our dog, Bella. Instead of locking her up indoors, I decided to spoil her and bring her along to get some fresh air - she was so excited to come along! For dinner, I had my standard meal of sauteed peppers with pasta with a side salad. This is a meal that I always have the night before any race that I plan on taking longer than 60 minutes. It's a simple dinner with sauteed peppers, garlic, walnuts, red onion, and parsley tossed in with penne pasta. There is no meat, no sauce, just the nuts, veggies, pasta, and olive oil. It has always sat well with my stomach and therefore has become my traditional prerace dinner. After dinner, I wanted to soak in a hot tub with Epsom Salt to try and freshen up my legs and alleviate any soreness I had been carrying over from the past 3-4 days of training. I soaked for about 15-25 minutes before hopping out and went straight to bed with my alarm set for 4:40am.

Getting to the Start Line

My prerace breakfast

I hit snooze a time or two and was out of bed around 4:50am. I was not planning on using anything other than water during the race, so I wanted to eat a small prerace meal to top off my glycogen stores. I have been trying something new this year as opposed to my usual two pieces of toast with peanut butter and honey and a banana. I have been eating a baked sweet potato topped with honey and a Hammer Bar (or other similar gluten free, whole foods bar). I ate just the sweet potato and honey just before 5:30am with a cup or two of plain black coffee and was out the door to get to the race around 5:45am. The race was scheduled to start at 7:30am. I was at the race shortly after 6:00am, which left me plenty of time to set up my transition area without all the crowds in my immediate area. Setting up for a duathlon is MUCH more simple compared to a triathlon, which is pretty obvious with one less discipline to set out gear for. After setting up my area to my liking, I had about an hour before the start of the race. I ate my Hammer Bar with a few sips of water at 6:30am to complete my prerace meal and gave myself 15-20 minutes to allow it to settle. I started my warm up routine at about 6:45am. I did a light jog of about 1 mile and then worked in some fluid dynamic stretching exercises and finished with about another mile of light jogging with 6-10 sprint pick ups to get my legs used to a high leg turnover. At 7:15am they shut down and close the transition area, so I quick went in to double check my area and grab and final gear and then I was off to get to the start line. On my way to the start line, I was able to find Sarah, my two daughters, my sister-in-law, and Sarah's parents. It's great whenever I'm able to see them before the start of the race, it makes me feel spoiled and fortunate all in one, and gives me that last little boost of adrenaline right before the start of the race.

2 Mile Run

My plan for the start of race was to go "balls to the wall" and try to hang with the lead guys for as long as I could during the run. At this point in my racing career, I know damn well that running is my strength and there is no arguing that fact. So, I figured, if I want any chance to beat my previous years times, or place in my age group I had to make up as much time on the run, because, I know that I will inevitably lose time on the bike. When the race started, I was hanging right with the lead pack, which started to pull away after the first quarter mile. I did my best to stick close to them, but lost a little ground in the first mile. I was able to make up quite a bit of ground in the second mile, due to majority of the guys in front of me going out too fast. I finished the first 2 mile run in 10:45 (5:22/mile pace) which left me in 4th place overall (the 4th fastest run time too) going into T1.

Paper Discovery Duathlon Run 1 - Details

Run-to-Bike Transition (T1)

My transition went nearly flawless, which was quite a surprise seeing how I have not practiced my transitions as I usually try to do. I did lose a second or two in just trying to get my cleats clipped into my bike pedals as I attempted to mount my bike. My T1 time was 0:41.26, the 17th fastest.

19 Mile Bike

My strategy on the bike was to ride as hard as I comfortably could. As I said before, my bike is my weakest link in my duathlon/triathlon racing. I wanted to keep a cadence in the range of 92-97 rpms throughout the entire bike leg and made it a goal to try to not stop moving my pedals. I was passed by a handful of guys during the bike, all of who had bikes I would trade up for in a heart beat. During every race, I am always left dreaming of riding a bike like those, and fantasizing of how much better of a biker I would be. Granted, I do realize that it probably wouldn't make that much of a difference, but I guarantee that if you ask ANY triathlete if they would like to upgrade their bike, they'd answer "Hell Yea!" - Yes, even the guy with the best bike at the race would say that! There was a slight Northeast wind which was helpful for the first half of the ride. But the final 10 miles or so, it became a slight headwind. My average speed dropped a little, but I kept telling myself that "this wind is effecting everyone - not just me - so suck it up, stay aero, and keep hammering!" I finished the bike with a time of 0:49:46 (21.7mph average), which was the 19th fastest bike split. According to my GPS, the course was 18.64 miles and I averaged 22.4mph.

Paper Discovery Duathlon Bike - Details

Bike-to-Run Transition (T2)

Coming in off the bike, my fingers were not necessarily numb, but my dexterity was definitely effected. I realized this when I attempted to take off my helmet and my thumb and index finger could not work together properly to unbuckle my helmet. I guess that's what I get for taking off my gloves before the bike and riding 19 miles in 50 degree weather. I eventually was able to get my helmet unbuckled and was out of transition in 0:37.18 the 30th fastest T2 time.

2 Mile Run

My legs felt surprisingly good for really giving 'er on the bike. Coming out of T2 I was neck and neck with one other guy and had another guy about a quarter mile ahead. I immediately made it a goal to pass the guy that came out of T2 with me and keep him behind me and attempt to catch the other guy who was pretty far ahead. I passed the first guy within the first tenth of a mile and didn't see him again. However, I just wasn't able to catch the guy who was ahead of me. I know I gained a significant amount of distance, but just wasn't able to get within striking distance. I finished the second run leg with a time of 0:11:42 (5:52/mile pace) which was the 6th fast second run split.

Paper Discovery Duathlon Run 2 - Details

Post Race

I finished the race with a cumulative race time of 1:13:32 in 12th place overall (485 finishers) and 3rd in the 25-29 age group (31 finishers). I met both of my prerace goals, which I was ecstatic about. I beat my previous course PR by nearly 3 minutes and placed in my age group. Right up there with achieving both of my goals was seeing the excitement on both of my daughters faces as I came across the finish line to see them. They both ran up to me to give me a big hug - it made my day complete. After taking a few post race photos, I brought Maya along with me to the post race meal, which had the usual fruit and bagels along with hot french toast and yogurt and granola. I grabbed Maya and Delaney a few treats and then we grabbed a picnic table in the sun and just relaxed until the award ceremony.

Other Notes

I honestly do not have any additional notes that I can think of. Other than the fact of how nice the weather was for this event. I truly made the day that much more enjoyable for everyone involved. Also, as I mentioned above the race is held in Riverside Park which is a great setting right on Lake Winnebago, which offers some great views of the lake on the run along with some of the nicest homes (mansions) in the Fox Valley that are set right on the sores of Lake Winnebago. Another benefit is the playground at the park. We were able to bring the girls to the park after the race and let them burn off some energy after the race. The race is well run at a great location, which is probably one of the reasons I come back to this race each year.

Lessons for the Future

I learned that I am able to race a lot harder than I previously thought in a race like this, which is comprised of these three relatively shorter distances when taken individually. I do not need to be so concerned with conserving energy for the final run leg. I also learned that if I really want to become competitive in the sport of multisport racing, I need to give a little in my run training and focus on my bike training. The fact that both my run splits were in the top 6 of all participants, but my bike split was 30th, says something about my bike fitness compared to my run fitness. Now granted, I am in my peak run shape as I have been spending the past 4 months preparing for the Green Bay Marathon, but still, my bike splits need to improve, if I want to improve overall.

Looking Forward

With that all being said, regarding my relative bike fitness, it is officially Marathon taper time! I now have 13 days until the Green Bay Marathon (as of May 6th). My bike volume will take a definite hit the next 13 days, in hopes to go into the Marathon close to, if not fully recovered and rested. I am still eyeing the elusive sub 3 hour marathon and have been training my ass off the past 4-5 months to run a sub 3. I have been hitting all my marks in all my key workouts and races up to this point, now it's just a matter of going into my marathon taper smart and taking care of myself. I'll admit that given my current state of fitness, running a sub 3 will be just as much mental as it will by a physical challenge - if not more of a mental battle. I have had 2 attempts at breaking 3 hours since running a marathon PR of 3:03 and all 2 have fallen short with times of 3:17, 3:12. With my recent "failures" (I use that term loosely and relatively) I am left wondering if I will ever be able to break 3 hours. I have also began to question my strategies on running a sub 3 marathon. I wonder if I should be try running negative splits, or if I should run a faster first half and set myself up with a cushion for the second half, or if I should just try to run even splits throughout. I have also even debated running with no watch and just running based on feel and not stressing about my time and splits. Yes, on the front, running a marathon is literally just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other many many times until you reach the finish line. But realistically, there is a lot of strategy and planning that goes into finishing a marathon, even if you plan on finishing in over 6 hours. Ask any marathon finisher and they'll say the same thing, its more than just running for 26.2 miles, much more.