Last weekend BB and I traveled to Birmingham, Alabama
to race Powerman. Its a long course duathlon
consisting of an 8K run, 53K bike and then another 8K
run.
We got a bit of a cold blast over the weekend and race
morning was 41 degrees with steady winds out of the
North. I started the race with arm warmers and gloves
and I never regretted that decision.
PMAL was my first race pro race with a pro field.
Powermans tend to bring out the stronger runners in
triathlon as well as the pure duathletes. I had a feel
I was going to get dusted on the first run.
I was right.
The lead pack literally put about 200-300 meters
(being generous to me here) into me by mile one.
Awesome. My legs felt great and fresh, but my race
plan was to simply TT the course at the appropriate
effort and the overall placing after that would be
whatever it would be.
I went through the first run in 28:18, grabbed my bike
and headed out of T1.
The bike course at PMAL has a great road surface and a
solid amount of steady climbing. I was pretty far from
any of the pros in contention so I had an open road to
put my head down and ride hard for the first lap of
the course. I had to navigate my way through the AG
race after the first lap, but I finished the bike
without incidence.
I was pretty psyched when the second run got started.
I was starting to smell the finish line and my legs
were not completely toasted yet. I ran the second run
in 28:59 and finished 8th within the pro field and
11th overall. BB still races AG and had started around
nine minutes behind me. I waited at the finish line
hoping that nine minutes would pass by before he
crossed the line. Well, only 8:30 passed and BB took
the victory in the JDvBB classic.
We both agreed that duathlons are hard, but fun,
races. Powerman Alabama is a first class event managed
by Team Magic. I was impressed by the volunteers, the
host city, the officials, and the overall race
direction. To top it off, they imposed drug testing
for the professional athletes that placed in the
money.
I'm a little late on reporting about this race since I
jumped right back into training this week in Clermont,
but here are a few things BB and I learned over the
weekend:
1. Duathlons are hard.
2. Driving eight hours is not fun, even with two
drivers.
3. Fix your car stereo before you go on long road
trips.
4. Grits and Southern Homeade Biscuits can be
successfully eaten for breakfast the day before a
race.
5. Along the same lines, Taco Bell can be eaten the
night before. I'll let you all contemplate what we
ordered.
6. Having your own coffee and coffee maker on road
trips is the_best_idea_ever.
7. Alabama is a pretty state.
8. Duathlons are hard.
-jd
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