This coming Saturday I have the Cinco Du Mayo duathlon out at Square Lake Park. I raced it last year and was the second overall male in the short course race, which consists of a 2 mile run – 10 mile bike – 2 mile run. Out of the three disciplines in triathlons I am the weakest at running, so duathlons are a little bit out of my comfort zone. However, I’ve become a much stronger runner since I started this year’s training in February so I am really excited to race and see how much I can better last year’s time by!
A quick, really sweet, side note before I share my race strategy: Minnesotatrinews.com predicted me to podium and possibly win the sprint event this year, so I’m going to give it all I’ve got to help not make them look stupid!
Run 1: Depends on the competition. I’ll either A) Just stick with the fastest person, keep focused, and pretend it’s only a 2 mile race. Or if I’m leading B) hold 5:50-5:55 miles.
T1: Be quick.
Bike: If I’m riding solo, just push it and keep in my mind that this race matters for me getting a Junior of the Year nomination by Minnesotatrinews.com. If I come into T1 with someone, then I’ll ride with them for about a mile or two. After that, I’ll try to drop them on a hill. I don’t know where I’d do this yet, but Square Lake Park isn’t far from my house so I’ll scope out the course on my way home from school on Friday. This is gutsy but worth a shot.
T2: Be quicker.
Run 2: Don’t go too hard on the hill out of the park. Drop the hammer on the slight downhill towards the turnaround, then just run like my life depends on it for the last mile. I’d be very happy if my average for these last two miles was sub-6:15.
It should be a fun race and I’m looking forward to racing in my Team USA kit from worlds last year. Wish me luck!
Mitchell Clayton Triathlon 