I arrived at the race venue with 10 minutes to spare before the start time (whew!). I immediately put on my running shoes, locked the front wheel on my bike, and hurried to the transition area to rack my bike and other stuff.
Found myself near the end of the starting corral as 6am, gun time, arrived. Like any other dua, the pace was fast and furious for the racers as we started Run1. I saw my pace hovering at 5:15/km (too fast!!!!) so I tried to control the pace as originally intended it to be between 6:00-6:30/km. Eventually, Run1 ended at slightly below 6:00/km average.
On the bike, I was surprised with the lack of bike pace as I left the transition. I even thought that I had a flat tire so I kept looking at my rear wheel (the usual culprit). As it turned out, I was traversing a false flat (similar to how I started last year's Unilab Dua). The bike route was going to be a 50% uphill and 50% downhill loop done 4 times. I managed to keep my effort at around 6-7/10 on the uphills, then compensated on the downhills. Bike pace averaged 26.5kph based on my Cateye.
On Run2, it was a struggle starting it off as I thought that I won't be able to keep my pace on target, a result of my adrenalin rush of pace in Run1. Fortunately, I was still able to keep the pace good, this time a little ABOVE 6:00/km.
I remembered my Coach's tip, "on the last 2-3km, run on empty." Believe me, I ran my heart out on the last 2km. Red-lining on my heart rate, if I wore it that day.
Finished the race at 1:44 and change as per my Garmin. I think my RPE on Run1 and 2 was at 8 to 8.5 of 10. Bike was probably at 6-7 on the uphills and then 7-8.5 on the downhills. I may have been too conservative on the bike as I trudged the uphill section of the loop.
Having been coached since start of Feb, this race result may not be indicative of the new training method that I'm in ---yet. Too early to confirm. But it would be interesting to know how I ranked in my age group, hmmm.
I will probably get a better gauge on how this coaching has improved once the duathlon season comes into full bloom by May, with special focus on my A-races (Unilab Dua in Sept, and Nat'l Dua in Nov).
Yup, Leg2 is on end of May. A lot of time to improve my race plan, and to continually train.
HTFU!
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