BlogMarch 3, 2009 Good times at the Desert Du The Tri-Sports Desert Duathlon was this past weekend and I figured it was about time to do a blog, so here goes... The field was tough, lots of fast guys showed up, this had me inspired. I spent most of the winter focusing on swimming and resting so I wasn't overly confident in my ability but I figured the race pays seven-deep so why not give it a go? Among those I was worried about going too fast for me prior to the race were David Thompson, Chris Foster, Tim Deboom, Armand Van Der Smisson, Greg Remaly, Jozef Major, and Ben Hoffman. There were other fast guys there but those named were certainly going to be quick! The first run went out fast as usual. I entered the desert single-track after a half mile in fifth or sixth. Foster (former 4:01 miler) was hammering and Major and Thompson popped off the back. I quickly passed these two guys and locked onto Armand Van Der Smisson (two-time world Duathlon champ I believe). For the next three miles Armand and I ran together and I entered transition with him in 4th. Foster, now about a minute ahead, was leaving transition as we entered. The two guys between myself and Foster, well I'd never raced them before but I was impressed with their first run! Onto the bike, Thompson passed me quickly in the first mile... As we rode up the hill out of transition I found it easy to hold his pace so I re-passed Thompson and went to work on the three ahead. I caught the two guys in front of me and now I was in second chasing Foster, but I couldn't even see him! Out near the bike turnaround a flying Jozef Major (Ironman Arizona 2008 champ) caught and passed me. I was able to stay near Joe (~5 seconds back) all the way until about half way up the climb back in the park near the finish. At that point, my lack of miles caught up to me and Joe pulled away. I rode steadily, and started the run in third having Major in my sights. On the second and final run I wasn't able to catch major but I didn't lose any time to him. Foster continued to pull away and with a mile to go I figured I would get third. Right about then Joshua Merrick (top duathlete I think!) came flying by me and I couldn't hold his pace. He ran the second run in 14:00 minutes setting a course record for that leg. My time on the second run was solid so I'm not too upset with getting passed, although now looking back I would have loved to make it onto the podium! One year I plan on coming in fit enough to win this race, I've been doing it now since I was 21 (my first ever pro race! Finished third) and have been on the podium countless times but have never been able to pull off the big win. (Though being within seconds a couple times!) The next major race for me will be the California 70.3 on April 4th, I couldn't be more excited for this event! It will be a tough field, but I seem to usually do well there and I have a good feeling about this year. Thanks to Phoenix Tri club and TriSports.com for putting on the Desert Du for another year, you guys are awesome! Stay tuned to my blog, I promise to update more frequently. It seems I may have some exciting sponsorship news coming very soon! Cheers, Lewis « Back to Blogs |
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