First Duathlon of 2012 TODAY!

Much like I did last week, I want to post some thoughts / goals for today. I have this set to publish DURING my race in the hopes that doing so will help me remember what I'm supposed to do. ;)

RUN:

There are two 2-mile runs in the sprint race at the "Cinco 'Du' Mayo" Duathlon today. I want those to be fast. The Cannon Falls Duathlon (which I did in 2009, 10, and 11) starts with a 2 mile run, and I ran those in 11:31, 11:35, and 11:27. I'm hoping to be under 12:00 like that for both of my runs today. I've heard it starts with a bit of an uphill, and then it's mostly downhill on the way back. I'll TRY to keep each mile sub-6, but that might not happen.

I want to go out pretty hard in each run, and then try to "evenly split" them. But again, that might not happen. The first run is easier to predict. The second run is just all about suffering.

BIKE:

Between those two 2-mile runs, there's a 10 mile bike. I don't know all of the roads on the course, but I've ridden out in that area a lot in the past. Here I am on a ride with 2 of my brothers-in-law with the park where the race is being held (Square Lake) right behind me:

And the reason we ride out there is that it's HILLY. I don't expect anything KILLER (I hope I'm not being naive - I've heard there's a decent hill on a side-road to start the ride), but I DO expect lots of "rollers."

Being I haven't been on my bike much this year and biking splits can really be course / weather / wind dependent, I don't know what to expect here. I could be happy or disappointed with an 18 mph average. Or I could be happy or disappointed with a 21 mph average. Who knows. I think I'll really try to ignore the numbers on my bike computer and just try to go hard. Sure, I'll look at those numbers, but I won't think "Oh, I really should be going faster," or "Oh, that's pretty good... I think I can ease up a bit." I'll go 100% by "perceived effort."

And look for the plaid "Pinky and the Brain" shorts again today....

... I'll be rockin' those for 2 weeks in a row!!

Back with maybe a quick photo later this weekend, and then a full report on Monday!