Duke Half 2007 Video

Last September my buddy Jason (see Blogroll, Jason Widstrom) came down to NC to race the Duke Liver Center Half with me. Rebecca taped the race, and just this week edited it all up for a video. Great job Becca! This was right before I started keeping a blog, so I don't have a race report in the archives. I'll paste below what I wrote up for my tri club.

Duke Half Race Report - From September 2007

At the beginning of this season I decided that I should try the Duke Half. For one, its right here in my back yard and I get to sleep in my own bed the night before. Secondly, there were some family bragging rights on the line since my wife Rebecca won her age group at this race in her first attempt at the half iron distance in 2002. I had heard of the toughness of this course from Rebecca and a number of my Sportsplex Tri Club teammates, and got to experience it first hand three weeks prior to the race (on one of my worst training days ever, which made it seem even worse!). To prepare, I took a nice long three week taper, which by the end was very unnerving as I gained weight and felt like I was losing fitness, but I guess that’s what you’re supposed to feel like.

Swim – 35:28
The first good news of the day was that the water was 78, and we’d be legally allowed to wear wetsuits, a definite advantage for the not-so-stellar swimmers (like me!). I started right in the front line of my age group wave, the second wave four minutes behind the elites. The swim was easy until about 400m in, when the chop started getting really bad. At some point right around this time I started rationalizing that it had been a good year for me in triathlon, and I deserved to go easy in this race as a reward. So, I swam easily, not giving a second thought to how far down I might be once we got back to shore. After the turn around things got a lot easier as you could almost ride the waves back to the dock. T1 was uneventful other than a stubbed toe on the boat ramp.

Bike – 2:36:27 (21.5mph)
Once on the bike, I kept the same mindset of going easy. I wore my camelback, a totally dorky thing to do, but it sure keeps you hydrated and you don’t have to stop for water bottles. In the first 5 miles I scrapped back and forth with some guys who came out of the water with me. We got things sorted out by 10 miles and then I was alone for nearly the entirety of the ride. I passed the time by drinking coke/Gatorade and eating Powergel. This was a hilly bike course, so I tried to spare my legs as much as possible by working a high cadence and easy gearing. Toward the end, maybe 52 miles in, I started to catch a couple people, including a guy in my age group. I couldn’t believe how good my legs still felt, and decided rather than slam home the last couple miles of the bike, I’d save it for the run.

Run – 1:36:01 (7:19/mi)
Once I got out of the transition, I felt phenomenal. I saw Rebecca right before the first big climb, and that was a big motivational boost. After climbing the first two hills, I realized I might be low on salt as my quads were beginning to knot up, so I took about 6 salt caps and ate some Clif Shots and kept on plugging away. I was determined to hold whatever position I had, until a guy with “25” written on his calf shot by me at about a 6:00 pace. I later learned that this was pro Tyler Stanfield, who had flatted on the bike and somehow I passed him without knowing it. My pace was constant throughout, only one bad mile of 7:43 (mile 7-8, right up the two bad hills the second time), all others under 7:20. I passed the age group leader (who I then believed was in second) at about 8 miles. He was not doing so well, so I faked like I felt like a million bucks as I passed him just to keep him from getting any ideas. Then, I stepped on the gas hard to finish off the race with a couple miles right at 7:00.

Total Time: 4:50:53
All in all it was a great race for me. I was conservative at all the right times, and it worked out. I ended up winning the age group and getting 22nd overall; a very nice end to my tri season. It was my first AG win, and it felt great. Next year I’ll age up to 30-34, so tougher competition. I definitely recommend this race to anybody who’s done a few halfs and is looking for a tougher course. Now its time to put away the bike and train for shorter road races through the winter.