2009 Raptor duathlon race report

Today, March 15th 2009 was the Raptor duathlon. It's a 5k run & a 30k bike on a very flat & fast course. This morning was a real treat because the race director hooked it up so that I could stay on the military base. I woke up 100 yards from the race sight. Usually when I stay in Alamogordo I have to wake up @ 4:30am to make it through the military's front gate & to the race sight on time. Today I woke up at 6am & still was at the race sight earlier than when I stayed in Alamogordo! Happy happy joy joy!

Today there were some smoking fast athletes who showed for this. I fellow by the name of Dirk won it in 1:05. 2nd place was retired pro-cyclist & endurance endeavors owner James Webster. Jason Atkinson was winning & flatted with 3 miles to go. Fellow Outlaws Paul & Mark were 3rd & 4th overall. Smoking fast triathletes!!!

I was disappointed to see that Jason McClure was not there at the race today. Of course since he is faster than me it was actually better for my standing in the series that he didn't show up, but I do love racing against him because the level of competition he brings makes me a better racer.

My first assumption since he wasn't there was that there would probably only be one or 2 Clydesdales at the Raptor du. The Raptor usually isn't well attended by Clydes. But I found out right before the start of the race that there were 7 Clydes there today!!! Oh boy, not good news for me because I'm running slower than I have in over 5 years. My cycling has gotten a tad bit faster for short course racing, but not nearly enough to make up for my run.

I started the run & felt pretty decent the first mile. I was a little faster than I thought I'd be. About 8 minutes for the first mile. After the initial mile I ran about what I thought I'd run, 8:15- 8:30 minutes per mile. I don't mean to beat a dead horse here, but I raced today at the same weight that I did for nearly 4 years when I averaged about 7 minutes per mile. 1 minute 15 seconds per mile is a bunch of time to lose when most races have a run of 3.2- 6.4 miles long.


A dream race situation today would of been a shorter run & a bit longer of a bike. Thankfully that was exactly what happened. They shorted the run by quite a bit. I finished the shorter than 5k run at the 25:45 mark.

I had a relatively average bike split for my normal time at the Raptor du. Finishing with a total time of 1:19:40. Now I have a vastly superior bike & a brand new disk/tri spoke wheel set than the other years I've done this race. Same time with faster set up equals a slower engine.

I could get down on myself for being slower in both disciplines at the same weight I normally race at, but I'm actually pretty excited. Here's my thinking: I'm at rock bottom as far as speed goes with no where to go but faster. Today I got a 1st place finish at a race where I raced quite slowly. I recieved another 1st place for the South West Challenge series because of the lack of competition showing to the Raptor! Perhaps I'll be able to get back to my usual speeds in time to hang on to my slight SW series lead- a 3 point lead to be exact. I have 29 points from two 1st place victories & one 2nd place, Jason McClure has 26 points. I have a mere 3 point lead on a power house of an athlete.

I have not been able to figure out why I've been running so slowly & why my breathing has been my limiter. Used to be when I ran I pushed myself to the point where my legs were SCREAMING but my breathing never really got out of control. Recently my breathing has been my limiter, meaning when I run at 100 percent I'm gasping for breath long before I reach the point where I'm pushing my legs. I had James Webster of Endurance Endeavors explain to me why. Now I know, & knowing is half the battle!

Thanks for tuning in!