Chilly Willy 2012 RR

On super bowl Sunday I participated in the Chilly Willy Duathlon that occurred at Ft. Desoto near St. Petersburg, FL for the 3rd straight year! The race consisted of a "5k" run, 10 mile bike, and the same "5k" run. The quotes are for that the distances are not that accurate. Last year, the 5k runs were short by 0.1 mile, but this year my garmin got 3.25 miles for the run, which is a 0.5 mile total increase from 2011....anyways.

As from other posts, I've been focusing a lot more on the bike during the off-season. Putting in 140 mile weeks with power intervals and lifting, so my goal for the race is to see what I can do on the bike. Did my off-season pay off? Did I waste my time?

My goal for the race was to pace the 5K's at 10k pace roughly 5:45 per mile and just HAMMER the bike to see what I have! What about the 2nd 5K? Well, don't really care...I know it will not be stellar but I expect that with very little quality focus on my running. Most of my running consisted of tempo runs, long runs, and occasional 800's with SHS track/XC team.

Race morning went well. Arrived at Ft. Desoto about 90 minutes before race start, which was at 8 am. Got my race packet and started to set-up my trainer for easy 15 minute spin with some pick-ups...found that spinning has helped a lot to get ready for sprint and olympic races. After my spin, I set-up my bike in transition and grabbed my shoes to head out for a 10 minute easy warm up. Checked transition one more time and just relax with some dynamic stretching.

1st 5K Run
8 am start! Ready to roll and find out what this year has in-stored for me. The gun goes off and like most running races, you have a pack of 10-15 that just goes out hard...I understand this because I was one of those runners a few years ago, but realized now that the sooner I can get into my pace the better, so I started out with 5:40-5:45 pace right way and watch getting passed, but as soon as I get to half mile marker I'm just picking people off. Mile 1 comes and I'm at 5:47 (perfect!) and keep picking people off...I think I'm probably 7-8th place. Hit mile 2 at 5:46 split (perfect!), maybe 5-6 place. Mile 3 at 5:47 (perfect!)...then I realized I have a lot more than 0.1 miles left, but oh well, keep up the pace. I come into T1 at 5th place overall with 18:45 for 3.26 miles and I leave T1 at 4th place...have to be good at your transitions!

10 mile Bike
Bike time!! The Ft. Desoto course is always the same for whatever race is at Ft. Desoto. You head south and follow the road to the left and head east. You turn around at the end around a circle and then head back...pretty easy....flat and fast! I didn't have a wattage in mind for the 10 miles. All I wanted to do is go as fast as I can. Last year, Chilly Willy was my first ride with my power meter and ended up at 222 watts with an average of 22 mph. This year, I finished with 277 watts and averaged 25 mph. Finished with 2nd best bike split...mission accomplished. Bike felt the best after 5-6 miles till I got my groove...downside of a sprint race and why I'm a long course kind of guy. Downside of the race was that 1-3 place all had similar bikes therefore coming into T2 at 4th place, but I did put some distance on 5th place.

2nd 5K Run
I didn't have much expectations for my second run. I know I wanted to hammer the bike and there will be a sacrifice of my 2nd 5K. I didn't make up any time on the leaders so I was about 1 minute down from 3rd place who I know is very good runner so motivation was not as high as the bike or run. I ended up after mile 1 at 6:10 pace; therefore my goal at that moment was to negative split the miles and keep up the tempo. Each mile was faster than previous with the last being at 5:55 for a total of 20:00 minute flat for 3.26 so I was happy and stayed at 4th overall with 5th best 1st 5K and 4th best 2nd 5K.

Overall Finish: 4th (3rd in AG)

Overall Finish (2011): 11th (3rd in AG)

I am very pleased of my performance and feel that I'm so far ahead from last year. Now it's time to take my results and build on it with my specific power workouts and say bye-bye to my road bike for awhile. While the run has suffered a little, I don't think I'm significant slower...aka January's Ringling Bridge 4 miler last year was 22:31 and this year 22:38. I'll get my speed back with working with SHS Track team, but I do have a stronger endurance than this time last year with my increase in tempo runs.

Good luck to all in your training!

Next up - Great Clermont Olympic Triathlon on March 25th!

(Very hot day for February…not so chilly!)