Keuka Lake Duathlon

After a decent week of taper, I was ready for my first attempt at the Keuka Lake Duathlon. Nice weather today, about 65 at the start overcast, but the sun came out mid-race. Not too much wind, overall mostly ideal.

5K run, 22K bike, 5K run.

My plan today was to stay in the 6:45/mile pace for the first 5K, hammer the bike hard and empty the tank in the 2nd run, hoping for the best.

The run course was a mostly flat out and back. I was able to hang in there with a 20:35/6:37 and entered transition in 4th place. The leader was about 2 minutes ahead of me at this point. T1 time: 55sec. Not that great.

Once, I got on the bike it was on! I felt like I was flying and I passed the 3rd place and 2nd place runners shortly into the bike leg. The course had a couple of decent climbs and nice, fast descents. I averaged 22.5mph and entered T2 in 2nd place. After a 44 second transition, I set out on the final run, with the leader in sight. I was about :50 behind and gaining! We hit the final turn and I was about 30 seconds or so behind. Then he turned on the afterburners and left me in the dust. Ugh! That combined with my rapidly slowing pace, ended up finishing with a 2 minute deficit. Still good enough to hold on solidly for 2nd place.

Overall, I was satisfied with my efforts. My bike was strong and my second run is getting better. I still need to get my run down in both the 1st and 2nd legs, but I guess this will come with training. I can also use some improvement in my transitions, maybe leave my shoes attached to the bike? Seeing the victory in front of my eyes, only to let it run away, is only going to serve to motivate me train harder and dig deeper.