I jumped into the Seahorse Challenge Duathlon this weekend as a tune-up for Nationals. It was a short event today: 5K run, 20K bike, 5K run. I'm not optimally tapered for next weekend yet, so my legs are pretty tired, and I'm still fighting off a slight chest cold... so I knew that this race was going to be tough. Matt picked me up at 6:00 AM and we headed out to Kalamazoo.

There were six other Cadence Cycle teammates at the Seahorse Challenge, but they were all competing in either the sprint- or Olympic-distance triathlons. I racked my bike and prepared for battle, and before long it was time to go. There were only about 30 people in the duathlon, and I knew my only challenge would come from Tom Linck, a great rider who I narrowly beat at Nankin Mills two weeks ago.

I led out the opening run leg, going through the first mile in about five minutes. That was probably the best part of the race, as the pace started to slow almost from the start. The temperature was pushing 80 degrees at the start at 9:15 AM, and kept climbing. I came into the first transition just shy of 18 minutes for the first leg - slower than I had hoped for - and seconds later, I launched myself onto the bike and struck out down the road.

There were a few Olympic-distance athletes on the course already, having started 15 minutes before the duathlon, so I had people to chase - a big mental boost. I took it out pretty hard in the beginning, but despite my efforts, Tom caught me at the halfway point of the ride, and I just couldn't keep pace. The bike leg was pretty challenging, with lots of elevation changes and a stiff crosswind in places, and as I neared T2, I backed off the intensity a bit to save a little energy for the second run. Tom had about a minute lead on me, a lead I was willing to let him keep as I assessed my condition on the climb out of T2.

The unusually high heat - 91 degrees at noon - took a lot out of me, and I fought against heat exhaustion as the temperature continued to rise. I melted down during a sluggish second run, posting a 5K time over 20 minutes, and found myself in difficulty after the finish, cooling off in the car and rehydrating just in time. This was not exactly what I had in mind for a tune-up race, but even with the heat, I wasn't too far behind Tom and I can be happy taking second place in a tough race. It's taper time now, resting and recovering for next Sunday's short-course Duathlon Nationals.