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.

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2011 Year-End Totals

Here's what I have in my training log:

- Swim: 76,731.45 yards (43.60 miles, 1.76 mph ave)
- Bike: 516.66 miles (19.39 mph ave)
- Run: 748.23 miles (7:02 / mile ave)
- Bike Trainer: 13 hours, 38 minutes (all in the first months of 2011)
- Strength / Core: 110 hours, 26 minutes
- Elliptical Trainer: 1 hour, 10 minutes (all at the end of 2011)
- Aqua Jogging: 50 minutes
- Walking: 38 hours, 57 minutes (mostly with Henry)
- Weight: 155.0 start, 154.6 end, 159.2 high (Jan), 150.2 low (Sept), 154.47 average
- Body Fat: (monthly ave) 14.06% high (Mar), 11.90% low (Oct), 13.04% average

No spin classes and no mountain biking.


SOME NOTES ON THOSE NUMBERS:

- Swim: about 50% less than 2010, but just a bit more than 2009. In 2010, I swam a lot with swimming buddy Julia, which got those numbers up. In 2011, I didn't swim for about 3 months after my last tri!

- Bike: Lowest. Year. Ever. I only logged bike miles April - August. I just don't care for "training" on my bike (I don't mind casual rides around town). Gotta work on that in 2012. Maybe.

- Run: about 160 miles less than last year, but I can't complain. This year, I spent all of February injured, and I only logged 8 miles that month (and then only 22 miles in March). And I hurt my foot in July, and laid off the running a bit. Then I went on to log more miles the last half of this year than the first half (300 vs 447) EVEN with little Henry around - thankfully, he LOVES running in his stroller and we had a warm December! In fact, December was my second highest run-mileage month! In January, I logged 91 miles, and last month, I logged 88 miles (42 were with Henry!).

- Strength / Core: about 70% more than last year! That's partially due to doing a lot of PT work on my legs about 10 months ago. (I MAY have sometimes done my PT prescribed leg exercises in my office during my highly under-utilized office hours.)

- Weight: a bit better than last year! About a pound lower on average, after gaining a little weight in 2010.

- Body Fat: Only 4 of my monthly averages this year were lower than my highest single monthly average last year. Damn.


RACE COUNT:

- Duathlons: 4 total (2 individually, 2 as a relay)
- Triathlons: 3 total (all sprints)
- Half Marathons: 1
- 10 Mile: 1
- 5K: 2 (both indoor on a 200 meter track)
- Other: 2: a 1 mile (on a 200 meter track) and a "kitten" mile


HIGHLIGHTS:
(There are 5 for 2011)

- 1 mile PR in January (4:49.53 - a PR of 3.48 seconds from a month before!).
- Won my first "Apple" at the Apple Duathlon in May by placing 2nd in my AG (one of my first multi-sport goals from 2006).

- Matt and I won BOTH of our duathlon relays as "Team Happy Pants" (both were races where we've come in 2nd or 3rd in the past, but never 1st), and both wins were come-from-behind!

At the wet and chilly Oakdale Duathlon


At the muddy Gear West Duathlon

- Missed my only Oly tri of the year because my wife was giving birth!

6 hour old Henry

- In the 5 multi-sport races where I raced INDIVIDUALLY (2 duathlons and 3 sprint triathlons), I placed in my age group in 3 of them! That's a great percentage (in my book). Here's my age group placement:

      - 4th out of 13 at the Falls Duathlon
      - 2nd out of 21 at the Apple Duathlon
      - 5th out of 49 at the Life Time Fitness Triathlon
      - 2nd out of 17 at the Waseca Triathlon
      - 3rd out of 20 at the Lake Marion Triathlon


RANDOM NOTES:

- For the second year in a row, I ran more than I biked. I just don't care for biking. I've dealt with that. By not biking.

- I feel SO lucky that Nov and Dec were so nice! I logged over 74 running miles with Henry between those 2 months (out of the 158 that I ran total).

- My strength work slowed down after Henry was born, but I still try to bang out 20 minutes here-or-there if I have a moment. I've gotten good at doing that. I miss the "long, slow burn" of a longer workout, but I just have to live with the quick intense workouts that I have time for now.

- Last year was my first year since I started doing triathlons (2006) that did NOT contain an Oly or longer! All sprints! I'm OK with that! I'd like to do an Oly this year, but nothing longer.

- My "yearly race count" is going down. That helped out a LOT in 2010 to keep me injury free when I was trying to be smart. But I'd like to race a BIT more this year. If you add up my running and multisport races listed above for 2011, you get 13; in 2010 it was 15; in 2009 it was 19; and in 2008 it was 21.


Back in a bit with my goals for 2012, and how I did achieving my 4 goals for 2011 (short answer: not well). And if you missed Henry's "year in review" post from Monday, click here to check that out.

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The Gear West Duathlon

Or, "'Team Happy Pants' Goes For Two in a Row."

Or, "A Romp in the Mud."

Matt, Angela, Pharmie, and I headed out to the Gear West Duathlon yesterday. Matt and I were coming off our come-from-behind win at the Oakdale Duathlon a week ago. We were going for another relay win: we've placed 2nd the last 3 years in a row, and we were HOPING for a win ONE of these times!!

Matt and I (Team Happy Pants) pre-race


Me and 37-weeks pregnant Pharmie!

We got a LOT of rain in the 2 days before the race, so the normally "cross country" run was going to be NASTY. It was the talk of transition pre-race.

We chatted with a TON of old race buddies, and worked our way to the starting line. Wave one was the male and female elites:

The "team" wave was wave 2, and I liked that. The elites had a 2 minute lead, and I knew I'd be able to chase some of them down on the first run. They'd be a good "pull" for me out there. One of my goals for the race was to GO OUT HARD. And chasing those elites would help me to go HARD.

"ON YOUR MARK, GET SET,..... GO!"

5K RUN:

I took off with a "guy who looked like a runner" right on my tail:

I chatted with the runner in the yellow tank for the short stretch down the road. He said he just wanted to keep me in sight on the first run because he wasn't sure about all the twists and turns. We ran past transition to a few people shouting "GO HAPPY PANTS!!"

After some time on the road, we turned onto gravel. It was "puddle-y" and a bit nasty. Then we hit the grass which had BIGGER puddles. Nasty. The other runner was on my tail. I missed the first mile marker, but I hit mile 2 in 11:42 - I was pretty happy with that considering the squishy, muddy, uneven conditions.

I started catching some elites just after mile 1. I ran past a lot of females that I knew, and that was fun! I said "HI" to those who I could. And I tried not to splash any mud their way.

I pushed it into T1, and I realized that the new run course was a little short. (Well, not "new," just "adjusted" because of the horrible conditions.) If the run wasn't short, I ran a 5:12 for the last 1.1 miles in with poor footing. Nope. Short. But I'm not complaining.

T1:

I was the first relay team into T1, and the other runner was only about 30 seconds back. I came storming through T1 towards Matt:

Sweaty boobs running towards Matt


Matt taking the timing chip


Matt heading off on the bike


The 2nd place relay team heading out after Matt
(with Suzie and Kortney throwing on their helmets)

17.4 MILE BIKE:

Matt was out there working. He said he got caught by the biker in the last photo after a few miles, but then Matt passed him right back after a few miles. They went back-and-forth a bit.

I was back in transition talking with my wife and some friends. I had to get a photo of my sweaty boobs:

With mud-splattered arms


And a muddy and sweaty back

I jogged JUST a LITTLE, stretched a bit, drank some Gu Brew, and tried to stay loose. We watched the first 2 elites come into T2 just 2 seconds apart!

Patrick Parish and Dan Hedgecock

Just a few minutes later, the biker of the OTHER team came riding in! AND MATT WAS JUST 10 SECONDS BEHIND!! IT WAS GOING TO BE A RACE!!

Ready to dismount

T2:

Here's kind of an awkward photo, but it shows what was going on at that moment: The first place team is changing chips to the far left, Matt's girlfriend Angela is watching him run into T2 in the middle, and I'm taking his split while waiting for him to run up to me:

Grabbing Matt's chip

I took off HARD after that other team!!

4K RUN:

Last weekend, I caught the runner that Matt and I were behind within the first mile. I went out to get THIS runner as soon as I could! I ran the first run faster than the other team, but maybe he saved TOO much for this final run and was going to SMOKE me. I needed to reel him in QUICK.

I took off down the 400 meters of paved road before we hit the gravel, and Nick was at the bottom of that hill to grab a photo:

I turned onto the gravel, and counted that I was about 7 seconds behind the first place relay. Every time I tried to "surge" to gain on him, it seemed like he surged too. I hit mile 1 in 5:44, and just had to GO. At this point I was about 3 seconds behind him, and I knew he could hear me breathing.

I was able to pull up along side of the first place relay runner as we looped through the grassy sections near the swamp. Tiffany may have gotten a photo of that. But then the other runner pulled ahead again. He went thought THEE puddle near the swamp, and he went DEEP. I didn't know where else I could go to make it easier, so I just followed him.

Finally, before the last loop through the trees, I passed him on a gravel section. I was really afraid that he'd be able to out-kick me, so I tried to put as much space between him and me as possible! I ran slick, uneven, and soupy mile 2 in 6:11. I came up the nasty gut-busting hill, and then had to do 1 lap around a gravel track before heading to the finish. (We had to do that loop at the end of the first run too.) I was WORKING HARD! Here I am with about 500 meters to go:

The other relay runner JUST behind me

I tried SOOOOOO hard to NOT look over my shoulder to check where he was, but I gave in at the far end of the track with about 300 meters to go. He wasn't far back, and I knew I still needed to "dig deep." Here I am coming off the track, and you can see him back there:

Trying to hold off the relay team in yellow!


Pushing to the line!


Hitting the line


Feeling dead, congratulating the other team
(there's lots of carnage in this photo)


Hannah watching me not puke

"Team Happy Pants" had FINALLY done it! WE FINALLY HAD A RELAY WIN AT THE GEAR WEST DUATHLON!! And only by 13 seconds!!

Results:

Team Happy Pants = Steve Stenzel & Matt Linder
2.83 mile run: 16:54 (5:59 pace), 1st team overall, 7th individual
T1: 0:31, 1st team overall
17.4 mile bike: 44:15 (23.1 mph), 3rd fastest team, 25th individual
T2: 0:32, 2nd fastest team
2.51 mile run: 14:58 (5:58 pace), 1st team overall, 4th individual

Total: 1:17:08
1st out of 8 "male / male" teams
1st out of 20 teams overall

Note: the race was listed as having 5K and 4K runs, but the results had the "correct" distances listed, which were 2.83 and 2.51 miles.

Pharmie grabbed a photo of me chatting with Charlie while covered in mud:

Muddy butt


Nasty shoes


Kerry walking through transition post-race.
I love the line where his chip was!


Nasty socks once I took off my shoes

Oh, and regarding THEE puddle that I mentioned earlier..... yeah, a few people completely wiped out in that puddle. My racing buddy Chad fell on his hands. A few people lost their shoes. Seriously. And this guy fell and landed face-first. Well, more like "everything-first:"

I put up 2 slideshows of photos that Pharmie and I took at the Gear West Duathlon. CLICK HERE for the first slideshow (that goes through T2), and CLICK HERE for the second slideshow from the finish.

Thanks for reading everyone! Have a great week!! (Oh, and scroll down to Friday's post to enter a giveaway if you'd like.)

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Oakdale Duathlon Photos

Sorry guys, I promised a giveaway today. Well, the "giver" is working out some kinks on their end, but I promise I'll have it for you as soon as I get the green light. It's pretty cool, so stay tuned...

I just saw all the official photos from Saturday's Oakdale Duathlon taken by Minnefota Moments. Here are some of Matt and I from the day:

Start: Kevin, Matthew, and Ross to the left, Brendon and me to the right




The leaders almost 1 mile into the run, and I'm at the FAR left in 8th


That damn pinky.....

So I hate to show this next photo to my teammate and brother-in-law Matt. While he was out biking in the wet and cold, I was chatting with friends while standing under an umbrella near transition. Here I am in the background under the yellow and black umbrella:

Don't hate me Matt....


Kathryn smiling at me cheering for her in T1


Matt working the bike


Matt nearing the end of the bike.
Notice how his socks were white in the last photo, but gray in this one...


Hammering on the bike


Friendly tall-guy Kyle finishing with me 10 seconds behind him
(see that dot back there?)


Hitting the finish


Awkward slowing-down photo with a bit of a moose-knuckle

Oh, and in the race photos, I noticed a lot of "battle cries" on the bike:

BATTLE CRY!!


BATTLE CRY!!


BATTLE CRY!! (Nice work, Kevin!)


BATTLE C... Oh, guess not...


BATTL.... Oh... well "peace to you," too...


Uhhh...... I'm leaving this one alone.....

Click here if you missed my Oakdale Duathlon Race Report. Matt and I ("Team Happy Pants") are back in action this Sunday at the Gear West Duathlon! It's RACE SEASON, people!!! ;)

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