After a 2023 duathlon racing year full of incredible memories, it was time to kick off the 2024 year at the Great Clermont Triathlon where I competed in the Olympic distance duathlon Sunday morning. Here I’ll share my experience from the day.
Last year, I started training a month earlier due to when the National Championships were held. Going into this day, I felt my run was in pretty good shape, my bike considerably behind last year as just starting hard training a few weeks ago, and I’m heavier than I intend to be. My goals were to beat my paces and power from last year even though I’m a bit behind.
This race falls on the weekend when we move the clocks forward so my wakeup call being 2:50 AM felt like 1:50 AM. I loaded up and headed to Clermont for the just under two hour drive in a light rain. About five minutes from the race location I almost hit an eight foot alligator crossing the road from one lake to another. Better in the truck than the bike…
After meeting up with friends also racing and warming up, it was time to go. This race consisted of a 5k run – 24.5 mile bike – 10k run. The weather was great, about 67 degrees at the start and moved into the mid-70s and sunny by the time the race was over. We did experience a significant wind but nothing extreme.
The 5k run went as expected as I hit my target pace exactly at 6:36 per mile (20:31 – 5k). I worked for it and maybe a little more than I wanted to but I knew I had the cooler temperatures in hand to be ok with it. I hopped on the bike and ventured out on the unforgiving full of numerous climbs and technical turns. As the miles built I felt stronger and stronger however which was great to feel with the little amount of bike miles I have in my training so far this year. I just exceeded my power output goal by five watts so that was a nice mini win. I entered and exited transition for the final 10k. I actually felt pretty darn good. The first 5k split was right on my target pace and then it slid slightly missing my goal by seven seconds. My overall time slightly beat last year’s race and I finished first overall.
I’m pretty pleased with what I accomplished on this day. I attribute the bike gain to a new strength training program I started in December as again, I don’t have the cycling miles in me yet. I think the lack of those bike miles impacted the final run however but no excuses, I have to get better. I did get better on this day from an overall fitness perspective and still have significant work ahead of me before the National Championship in June.
After the race I was able to cheer Heidi Pickering, racing her first Olympic triathlon and she crushed it! She out ran a lady in her age group by six minutes during the final 10k to finish 2nd. I also connected with fellow duathlete, Ed Vasquez, who was starting his training year off and what a way to do it in those hills! It was great to hang with these great people and Heidi’s family was there cheering us on throughout the race. I could hear every single one of them! I’m very fortunate to have these great people in my life.
Back to a big training week and I can’t wait! Next up is the Space Coast Triathlon in two weeks where I’ll be competing in the sprint duathlon.
– Add Health to Your Life
The Healthy Giraffe 
Leave a comment