Oh Well

I have to admit I was not as excited as I usually am before Turtleman on Saturday. I don't know if it was the weather or the fact that duathlons play to the runners more than the cyclists. However my cycling is much improved since the beginning of the season and my running seems to be coming around.

The day started out as usual other than some rain and being overall gloomy. I chatted with Matt, Patrick, Kevin, Thad Ingersoll, Josh and a few others before the race. The Elite field was deep but there were only about 140 total registered. This made for more of a small race feel even though there was some serious talent there.

I knew I needed to run well and bike fantastic in order to do well. Josh and I have had a blast this year beating each other up on the course and I figured I needed to be within 40 seconds of him coming out of T1. As the race started I took a back seat to the runners and just kept plugging away as best I could. At on point I looked down at my watch expecting to see 3 min based on the pain I was experiencing only to see 6 min. This meant I was running well and felt like I had a lot left in the tank.

I managed to run straight through T1 without needed to catch my breath and left T1 only about 32 seconds behind Josh. The bike felt tough from the beginning but it always does especially in a duathlon. I picked of Bennet Isabella at around mile 6ish. Then I came up on Josh at about mile 10. It was slightly disheartening that Josh had held me off that long and I didn't pass him with as much authority as I thought I needed to put time on him before the second run.

After that I came up on Chad Millner and Kevin OConner. When I passed I figured I would be able to drop them but a few minutes later Chad passed me back. I quickly returned the favor but couldn't put any time on him. We then went around a corner and I almost lost it. I somehow managed to hold it up though and thought I just went too hard on wet pavement. Then I started to think I may have a flat. I started paying attention to how the bike felt and it did feel a little rough and not very responsive on the front end. I looked back again and Chad was still about 5 bike lengths back. As we went into the next turn I went very gingerly and sure enough I still almost lost it. I then slowed down enough to look down and confirm I had a flat. Who knows how long it had been going flat and how much of a difference it was making. I didn't want to risk injury or my $1000 dollar zip 404 so I decided to call it a day.

Fortunately this was my first flat out and it happened in a race that I had no hope of winning or even making the podium. Funny because I had been having problems with the valve on that wheel for the last two races and was going to replace it after this one. One too many I guess.

Next week is St. Paul tri and I'm hoping to have all the kinks worked out by then.