Capital City Biathlon

Saturday May 29th was the Capital City Biathlon in Springfield, IL. Instead of the traditional Run-Bike-Run duathlon, the format for this race is Run-Bike. I'd never raced this format before and I was looking forward to being able to ride all-out on the bike without having to worry about a second run.

I've raced this course before as part of various Springfield races...Iron Horse, Iron Abe, and Stoneman Sprint. The race director is Bill Winberg, same as for the other Springfield events, and he does a very thorough job. I like the professional touches, like assigned spaces on the bike racks. It helps to keep the transition area well organized.

The race started on time at 7:30. We were split into three waves starting on 3 minute intervals. The first wave consisted of teams, clydesdales, and athenas. The second wave was all men, and the last wave was all women.

I started off at what I thought was a comfortable run pace and was very surprised at the one mile mark to see seven minutes just tick over. I normally run slower than that, but have run this pace or faster in shorter duathlon runs. Into the second mile a runner just a ahead of me dropped one of his bike gloves and I stopped to pick it up thinking I would give it back to him if I caught up to him or saw him after the turnaround. I never caught up and didn't recognize him coming back the other way, so I carried the stupid glove with me for the whole run.

My second mile split was 7:35 and I was starting to get pretty hot. I could tell I was slowing a bit and I ran the last 1.1 miles in around 9 minutes. My total for the run was 23:43. I was happy with that as my goal time was 24 minutes for the 5K.

I hit the transition area and was on my bike in under a minute.

The bike course is relatively flat. There are some rolling hills, but we're in Central Illinois, so they don't last long. My goal was to maintain a 20mph pace on the bike and come in around 1:10 for the entire race.

The park road out to the bike course was bumpy and pretty torn up, but I was getting my speed up and shifted up onto the big ring. My legs felt fresh even after the run, so I started to push a little bit harder and my speedometer was showing 22, 23, 24 mph for parts of the first miles of the ride.

I started to pass a few people, then a few more as I got into a good pedaling rhythm.

There was a little bit of a headwind that blew for the last couple of miles before the bike turnaround, but I knew it would help on the return trip.

I was counting down the miles to go as they ticked by on my cycle computer. I tried to give just a little bit more each time I saw my speed. I knew that I could ride as hard as I wanted and when I was done with the ride, I was done with the race.

As I hit the last turn and headed back into the park I could tell that I was well within my goal time. I could see the finish and gave one last extra effort through to the line. I stopped my watch and saw 1:08:06, which I was satisfied with. I was hoping to finish at least in the middle of my age group, and ended up 6th out of 24, and was 32nd overall out of about 200 who started the race.

I bettered my overall goal by almost two minutes, beat my run goal and managed a 20.7mph average on the bike - all in all a satisfying result.


Photos courtesy of HardyBreed

My Xterra Race Map

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Xterra Utah is a goal.

I Bought Some New Feet

I spent $75 on some new feet.

Lemme 'splain. I wanted to run barefoot, so I got some shoes that look just like feet, except they're blacker and rubber-ier than my permanent feet.

I was just going to take off my shoes and socks and run in my naked feet. But here's the thing. I'm a gear geek, and there's no gear involved in actual barefoot running. Where's the fun in that? I need to buy something to engage in any activity, right?

I've run a few times in my new feet, and I like them a lot. I have gotten some pretty icky blisters though. I have blisters on my feet and sore calves. You're supposed to take it slow when first starting with these things, but I don't do that - so I suffer.

In fact, on my last "barefoot" run I could feel those blister-prone spots heating up, so I stopped and took off the Five Fingers, bared my soles, and ran. It was ok for a bit, but then I started hitting those tiny little sharp pebbles and OUCH. Those little things hurt. I finished up the run with the Five Fingers and continued to blister. I'm hoping my real feet toughen up soon.

I really do like running in these feet. It forces good form, and I run a little faster in them too. I've got a 5 mile trail run this weekend and I'm planning on running it in the Five Fingers. Blisters be damned.