GW Duathlon Smack-Talk Update

Even though Matt's not teaming up with me this year at the Gear West Duathlon, he still has my back.

In yesterday's post, I told how Devon Palmer (a local pro triathlete) called me out for a relay race at the GW Du in May. Pete and I (team "Itchy and Scratchy") don't really stand a chance, because Devon is a KILLER cyclist. So Matt mentioned this:

I don't think Devon will go for that, but I LOVE the idea!

So I had to look back on how Matt and I (AKA "Team Happy Pants") did at the GW Duathlon the 4 times we raced it. Here are our results: (click on the year to go to each year's race report)

2008:
5K Run: 18:55, 6:19 pace (2nd fastest team)
28K Bike: 48:32, 21.0 mph ave (5th fastest team)
4K Run: 17:24, 6:34 pace (2nd fastest team)
2 out of 16 teams
Total: 1:25:55

2009:
5K Run: 18:42, 6:14 (3rd)
28K Bike: 45:45, 22.3 mph (3rd)
4K Run: 17:05, 6:27 (3rd)
2 out of 8 teams
Total: 1:22:41

2010:
5K Run: 18:53, 6:18 pace (1st)
28K Bike: 43:44, 23.3 mph (4th)
4K Run: 16:53, 6:22 pace (1st)
2 out of 12 teams
Total: 1:20:25

2011:
2.83 Mile Run: 16:54, 5:59 pace (1st)
17.4 Mile Bike: 44:15, 23.1 mph (3rd)
2.51 Mile Run: 14:58, 5:58 pace (1st)
1 out of 20 teams
Total: 1:17:08


The first thing I want to point out is LOOK AT MATT'S CONSISTENT IMPROVEMENT! He improved year after year, and then just slowed 0.2 mph (0:29 over a 17+ mile ride) in 2011, but that was a wet year, so a dry year would have been faster. Nice work, bro-in-law!

The second thing I saw was something Matt and I had been pointing out after each race: our overall team time constantly improved year after year. Hells yeah. Go us.

The third thing I saw looking at those numbers was that with the slightly shorter course in 2011 (because of muddy conditions), I FINALLY broke 6 minute pace for BOTH runs. I don't know if that's possible this year, but I'll give it my all. I may have been faster that year because we had a great "come from behind" race - here I am closing in on the 1st place team over half way into the final run:

And this photo from the finish shows that same guy in yellow and blue JUST 13 SECONDS BEHIND ME:

Because of that close race, I actually was in the top 10 for both the first and second runs. Here's my name among a bunch of local rockstar multisport athletes from 2011:

So that hard-fought race led to some speedy splits. I hope to try to do that again this year. And Pete mentioned he hopes to be about Matt's speed, so we'll see what "Itchy and Scratchy" can do this year.

Oh, but here's the final thing I looked up. Here are (new arch nemesis) Devon's INDIVIDUAL results from 2011:

Devon in 2011:
2.83 Mile Run: 17:37, 6:14 pace
17.4 Mile Bike: 39:15, 26.0 mph, 1st overall!
2.51 Mile Run: 16:44, 6:40 pace
Total: 1:14:58


F*ck.

F*ck. F*ck. F*ck. F*ck. F*ck.