Apple and Auburn Duathlon Race reports

Sunday concluded two consecutive weeks of Duathlons- the Apple Duathlon in Sartnell, Minnesota (a Short Course World Champs qualifier), and the Long Course Duathlon National Championships in Auburn, California.

I am proud to say that as of Sunday May 31st I am the Duathlon Long Course National Champion.

Under great weather I raced a 3k run, 56mi bike, and 13.1mi run. Auburn’s duathlon shared the bike and half marathon course of the half triathlon, which involved 5500 ft of elevation gain on the bike, and over 2500 ft on the run. The bike was as scenic as it was hilly, passing by numerous lakes and rivers. Most of the course took you through pine forests of the Sierra Nevada foothills. The first run (3K) started on Folsom Reservoir, and involved a mix of pavement and narrow single-track. The second run of 13.1mi started from Railhead Park in Auburn (T2/Finish), nearly 1000 ft higher than T1. It was mostly 2 loops of the 10K Olympic course, and was equally scenic.

Joe Thorne, a sub 14-minute 5K athlete from Austin, took the 3K out hard, and we immediately distanced ourselves from the main pack. We entered T1 together, and headed out on the bike neck in neck. At mile 5 of the bike, Joe accidentally led us off course for a couple miles, where we turned around and found ourselves between 20 and 25th place once back on course. The athletes in front of us were from both the Duathlon and long course Triathlon, so it was hard to get an idea of placement between the two separate races as we moved up through the field. I lead most of the climb, but did not put any significant distance on Joe until we started the downhill sections- thanks to the superior aerodynamics of my Blue Competition Triad TT bike and Zipp sub9 disc and 1080 front wheels. I came into the second transition with about a 4-minute lead.

I hit the second run as hard as I could with the first few single-track miles around 5:30 pace, but the hilly terrain later in the run took its toll. I finished up the half marathon in 1:19:20. My Avia bolt racing flats performed well, and offered just enough support for the demanding technical single-track. I took 4 Powergels and 5 Succeed salt tablets during the race, and felt fantastic.

I am very excited to be the Long Course Duathlon National Champion, and I look forward to channeling my early season fitness into more long distance triathlons and duathlons this year, the next being Boise 70.3 June 13th.

Worth note, the weekend before I placed second in the Apple Duathlon in Sartnell Minnesota, against a stellar field of international caliber athletes. I was within 50 seconds of the winner, Dave Thompson- my splits were 15:27, 48:44 and 16:30 for the 5K-33K-5K event. It was a great tune up for the Auburn Duathlon, and was a great sign of early season speed. At this event I qualified as one of 3 professional athletes to represent the US in the ITU Short course Duathlon World Championships September 25th.

Jason Digman of Dig It Triathlon graciously hosted my stay, and also works with analyzing and tracking my cycling power and performance.

Justin