Sylvan Beach Du

So last year I did this race as my first road duathlon back to racing.  I really enjoyed the location in Laporte near the water and it brings out a good local crowd. I did have a couple of goals in mind, be faster or even to last year, and hold onto the run at the end. I spent the last few months (10 months) working on my bike. I tried to maintain my run over the period, but it wasn't my focus. 

My newbie "Masters" mistake was racing hard 2 weeks ago with a hard Brick right after. So it took a good 10-12 days to start to feel a bit recovered. It definitely took a bite out of my top end speed.

The race was slightly modified this year with a 1 mile run to open; the same 12.5 mile bike follow by a 3.2 mile run to finish.

The first run felt ok to get started; I just focused on not going to hard. 

Once on the bike I felt in my groove, and then WHAM! I hit an expansion joint, heard a crack and felt my handle bars turn. My steering was off the rest of the race, so I had to just keep the bike under control. After the race I realized my stem had cracked. Whoa, was I lucky to not beef it.

For the Second run, I just got into a rhythm and knocked out the miles. My legs didn't have the kick still, but felt steady.

I was happy with my overall time, a hair faster on the bike, even with the time I gave up slowing down for turns and adjusting my bars on the course. The run overall was good, not slower, not faster.

Time to head over to Shamas  for some bike TLC.