Race Report: Active Health Duathlon

The good:

1. Well-organized
2. Challenging course.
3. Secure transition area.
4. Nice finish area.
5. Bike course on the SCTEX. Nuff said.

For improvement, just one: the Run2 course exceeded by 300m due to the final stretch of the run covered the entrance to Sandbox where the finish area was. Unfortunately had to run against cars on trail road.

MY RACE

I started off well, covering the 6km Run1 course in a little over 36mins which was good for average pace.

After putting on my helmet in T1, I headed off for the bike course with my cleats already clipped on the bike as I hoped for a jump on the bike and just strap my cleats as I rode. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to practice this (ever!) so I messed it up and had to go by the side of the rode to secure my left cleat before heading to the Porac SCTEX toll booth.

The first 40-45km of the bike course went well for me as I was zooming my way along SCTEX. By the last “makunat” climb which was the way back to Porac, I saw myself struggling to keep pace. Speed was only at a miserable 11-12kmh. Everyone was overtaking me. Arrrgghh. I am suspecting that it was because I didn’t follow my nutrition strategy (gel every 30mins) so I basically BONKED at that time. Another possible reason is that upon checking my bike after the race, I saw that one of the front brake pads was hugging the wheel which may have caused my pace to slow down at that last climb. Or, I (still) lacked the training to take on steep climbs on the bike.

My bonked state continued until Run2 (4km) as I was run-walking, which I assumed was because I used up all my energy on the bike. I felt really disappointed at myself then as I had to stop to walk since my thighs were all gassed out from running. Run2 felt like forever as I searched for the finish area. Finishing at 3:30-3:40 target time may be out for me, I thought.

At the last turn, I felt reenergized as I saw the race clock on the finish area. It read 3:29 and change as I ran towards the finish line. Wow.

I was lucky to escape this one. Definitely with a lot of lessons learned.

Hopefully I get myself to prepare better in time for my other A-race, this time in Subic.