Lined up at the front and let 3-4 guys take the lead at the first turn and up the hill that hits you right in the beginning. At the top of the hill djdavey pulled up alongside me and I thought "oohh...davey is feeling friskey this morning" :) Not much happened the first mile, then my buddy Tom pulled up alongside me. This is the first time we've been that close at the start of a race and we chatted a bit. I saw a 48 year old up ahead of us and wanted to catch him so I put on a surge and Tom fell back a little. Came into T1 feeling OK

Second week in a row with friggin' around with my helmet strap. WTF? That never happens.

Tom caught up to me in transition and we were neck and neck at the bike mount line. I got out of the saddle and climbed the immediate first hill at the start of the course. He passed me on the downhill but then I re-passed him just before the first corner and then never saw him again. Todd Firebaugh (in my AG and guy that I finished 2nd to last year here) passed me looking good and I tried to hang with him. We passed each other 3-4 times in the next 3 miles but at mile 5 he eventually pulled away from me. Pushed pretty hard the rest of the bike and was satisfied with my effort.

Not much

uneventful

Took a little while to get my running legs back. Pushed the hill pretty hard and coasted on the back side until my legs came around. At the next turn I had to take a peek back and couldn't see Tom anywhere so I knew I pretty much had 2nd place AG wrapped up. But, I still managed to push the pace but I knew I didn't feel as fast as I should be.

Got a massage afterward and ate lots of pizza and a hot dog. Grabbed a table with djdavey and my training buddies inside the middle school for the awards ceremony. Mike and I both grabbed 2nd AG and ITU Duathlon Short Course World Championship slots. Worlds are in Concord, NC this September.


No run speedwork this spring. Racing has been my IM speedwork.


Apple is a quality race. Jerry McNeil of Minnesota Tri News poses the possibility that it is the most competitive small field (400) duathlon in the country. There were 3 Worlds slot per AG here so a lot of out of town racers this year.

The past 3 years of racing Apple has me with 3 AG podiums including one win and two 2nd places, plus 2 Worlds slots. I'm gonna have to work on my bike to catch Todd Firebaugh next year. He finished 6th at Worlds last year in our AG in Italy. Minnesota Tri News had a post-race blurb about the race and posed the possibility that Todd is the best 45-49 duathlete in the country ( http://minnesotatrinews.blogspot.com/).