Starkermann TT and Du

This past weekend I had the Starkermann 40k Time Trial and Duathlon (5k/30k/5k). I did very well and placed in both races. For the TT I placed 1st in my AG, and in the Du I placed 2nd in my AG.

Race Reports on BeginnerTriathlete.com:
40k Time Trial
Duathlon

This was a lot of fun and challenged me physically and mentally. The hills were shear pain... That's it, pain. Part of the TT involved climbing what is locally called the "Big Nasty" hill, it's part of the Tree Tops Resort ski hills.

During the TT I had more than 1100 ft of climbing and for the bike portion of the Du there was more than 660 ft of climbing. The runs for the DU were the same out and back course that entailed more than 100 ft of climbs.

I did hit 46 mph on my bike during 1 portion (downhill, of course). That was just plain insane!!

All in all I had a good time. I will consider this event in the future. Today I'm pretty sore, so I went for a very easy trail run at Sleepy Hollow State Park (MI). Nice trails and lots of mud. Put in an hour and covered about 4 miles.

Here's a photo of one of the hills, not the 'Big Nasty'


2 weeks out from now is Hawk Island Sprint Triathlon. I'm so excited for this race because I know I'll hit the bike and run hard. I feel very confident that I'll do well. I'm still leary about the swim, but I've spent some good time in the water over the last few months. I need more time in the water and need to practice some open water swims over the next two weeks. But I am expecting good things. My goal will be to finish in under 1 hour. Last year I finished in 1 hour and 9 minutes. Since the course is pretty flat and I've done this before, I should do well.

Starkermann Epic Challenge Coming This Weekend

This coming weekend will be the Starkermann Epic Challenge. I will only be competing in 2 of the 4 events. Saturday night will be a 40k Time Trial and then Sunday morning will be the Duathlon. I'm excited.

While I feel prepared, I feel lame doing the whole 'taper' thing. This week will be easy in terms of training so that I avoid possible injury and overtraining. I did strength training with the kettlbells yesterday and did a fairly difficult incline treadmill jog.

So wish me luck and speed for Saturday night and Sunday morning. After this I'll have 2 weeks off and then my first triathlon of the year.

Steelcase Grand Duathlon

Sunday (4/26/09) I ran my first multisport event this year. It was the Steelcase Grand Duathlon. It was a 5k run, 30k bike and a second 5k run. I feel like I rocked it!

I've spent a lot of time on my bike this year, both outside and on the rollers. In fact I've put out over 650 miles on the bike alone. I've been running about 40 miles per month in hopes of hitting the 600 mile mark this year.

For the Steelcase Du I planned to race the first 5k as a race in itself. I've felt strong in training doing bike/run bricks. So pre-race I went near the front of the group... not in the front, near the front. The gun went off and I took off. I felt strong, looked at my FR305 and found my pace to be sub 6min/mile... Wow! My first mile was 5:46. I had to slow down or my heart was going to pop out of my chest. I hit the turn around and took another quick sprint. I was able to keep my eye on the front runners, so I knew I was in good pace.

A quick side note: I've had great anticipation of running a sub 21min/5k. I didn't think it was within my reach this year as I've been focused on my biking.

As I neared transition 1 I saw the clock - 20:56! I crossed the chip mat into T1 at 21:03. I was so excited about my time that my fingers were shaking! I actually had a hard time putting on my biking shoes. Grabbed my bike and I was out of T1 in 55 seconds.

The wind was a cross/head wind for most of the route. Good thing I spent some windy days on my bike charging into the wind. I faltered climbing some of the hills. The course didn't have huge climbs, but with the wind I did have to stand up a few times. I was only passed once on the bike, by another Cervelo owner, he deserved to pass me as he was flying. My fastest speed on the bike was only about 34mph. We never really got a tailwind. As I neared T2 I started to get my feet out of my shoes so I could hop off the bike and run into T2. I had a hard time getting my left foot out of the shoe and I actually had to unclip, stop and dismount and carry my left shoe into T2. My time for the 30k was 53:20. Not outstanding at an avg speed of 21mph.

I still ran into T2, racked my bike, donned my running shoes and I was out like a bandit in 33 seconds. Yeah!

As I rounded the first turn on the run I felt slow. I looked at my FR and realized that I left it on my bike, no big deal, I just wouldn't be able to tell my pace and heart rate (2 keys I use to help me run and finish stronger). I do normally feel slow running after my biking. So I figured that I was about an 8ish pace per mile. I could feel my calves were a bit sore, nothing bad, but I could feel them getting tight. I didn't want to bomb my second 5k as it would prove that I went too hard on the first run. I pushed on. There was a group of 3 guys just ahead of me, I couldn't catch up to them, but I figured that if I could keep the distance between myself and them that I would be ok. As I neared the finish I started to sprint again. I heard the announcer call out "Jeremy Hagerman of Saint Johns with the RACING GREYHOUNDS finishing strong!"

After first round of results were posted I saw my overall time of 1 hour and 38 minutes. I was pretty stoked. I thought that I surely medaled. Nope, the 30-34 age group is hardcore! The third place finisher in my AG finished more than 12 minutes ahead of me. Wow! I'm still excited. My previous fastest 5k time was 23:54, so I broke that by more than 2 minutes.

Steelcase was a fun race with a good course. The run was on a totally closed course. The bike was good and the intersections were well covered by the police. I had a lot of fun and will plan to run this race again!