The Road to DuaWorlds Mini Series: Part 2

Hello again!

Below is the second installment in my 4-Part Mini Series, The Road to DuaWorlds. Again, disregard any and all dates, for these are entries over the last several weeks. Enjoy!

The Road to DuaWorlds, Part 2

Over the last several days, I have really shelved the swim and have focused much more on cycling and running. On Tuesday, I found myself setting up my bike trainer at the UCLA track in preparation for a multiple-round BRICK workout. The workout: 3 x (12min bike, off and run 1,200 for time) - descend the 1,200s. Each 12 minute bike session consisted of a variation of hard-effort intervals. For example, 6 min strong, 1 min easy, 5 min strong. The purpose was to try and simulate the volatile pacing that goes on in a pack in a draft-legal race.

Amidst the fellow track goers, there were the entire UCLA cross country team and home run king, Barry Bonds. Particularly due to the presence of the X-country team, I really had to show them what this veteran could do, and that I did!

I popped off a 3:32 for the first 1,200 (just outside of 4:40 mile pace) and felt pretty good despite some tight calves from the 5k two days prior. Because this was a workout for a duathlon, I hopped right back on the bike and into round 2. On the next 1,200 I hit 3:30 (right on 4:40 mile pace) and still felt good. By this time, I had the attention of not only the cross country team but also Mr. Bonds. Onto the final round, I was starting to feel the late morning heat and the pressure of trying to descend lower than 3:30! I hit the last 1,200 surprisingly fresh and with about 200 to go, I received some words of encouragement from BLB himself - "come on now, push it! Pick it up!" I stopped the watch at 3:26, right in front of the Bruins. While they couldn't see the time on my watch, they knew I was moving and frankly, I saw a little intimidation in their eyes...not really, but maybe...!

I was really pleased at the result of this workout because that's about as close to a duathlon as I can get and even on the third 1,200 I still had some juice in the ol' pistons!

Today, I found myself in the Orange County Great Park for the Kevin Cook "5k". Quotations are needed because it was more in the range of 2.93 to 2.99 miles, as opposed to 3.1, according to the race director. The gun went off and immediately a three-man group was formed up front. The mile markers were a bit ambiguous so we didn't exactly know quite how fast we were going. With about a half-mile to go, the pace picked up significantly and before I knew it we were into our final sprint in what was a very odd, S-bend finishing shoot - a sharp turn to the right and then a sharp turn to the left.. They could've just gone straight. Seriously, the grounds permitted it! In any event, I was able to out-kick one guy and narrowly missed the other. I think the biggest thing was that he got around the last turn first and therefore had the upper hand. He and I crossed the line within the same second, 13:53. Because the course fell in the 2.95 mile range, the mileage averaged out to about 4:43s! I knew we were rolling but not quite that fast!

My running legs are slowly starting to appear..! Looking forward to continued progress on the Road to DuaWorlds!

Part 3 will come some time in the next couple of days and the final Part of this mini series will follow my last tune-up race in Huntington Beach on Saturday.

Thanks for checking in, talk soon!

-HH