This Biathlon is in Preston which is small but it gets about 80 people each year mostly from Logan and around Cache valley. It has a 5k run on an out and back course then a 14 mile bike out and back also. Last year I finished in 1:01:30. I was Hoping to go under an hour or even better under 59 min.
I started on the 5k with a 6:04 first mile. I have a habit of getting behind someone thats going the pace I like then getting to comfortable and not realizing they have slowed. I checked my garmin about .25 into the 2nd mile and my lap pace for that mile read 6:38. I was hoping to stay below 6:05 so I picked it up and finished mile 2 [which included the 180 deg turn] in 6:10. This course is a bit long. I've checked it a couple times with my bike computer and get 3.14. My garmin said 3.15. I finished the last 1.15 at 5:54 pace going by my garmin. I averaged 6:03 overall pace for the run [18:45 for 3.1]. I finished 6th in the run. I felt very good with this run and had plenty left at the end for the bike. It's probably my best 5k [being on an out and back course] even though I didn't give it everything.
My transition took 1:22 .On the bike I was only passed by 3 riders. I passed 4. One of them was a guy that had passed me earlier. I averaged 22.5 MPH and finished in 37:15. The bike I rode made a big difference. At least 2 minutes faster than my bike. My finish time was 57:41 good for 4th place individual and was only beat by one team. Unfortunately the best triathlete in Cache valley [Keith Anderson] is in my age group. He took first overall so I didn't even win my age group. I was very happy with this race and was able to hold off a few cyclists that are much better than me by getting a big enough lead in the run and then maintaining enough speed on the bike to keep from getting caught. I would have been very happy with a sub 59 time so I was very happy with 57:41 nearly a 4 min. improvement over last
Went for a 25 mile bike ride before I had to return the bike. | 