Today is a recovery day. The ripped muscles in my legs are crying out in pain and telling I should have driven to work today, instead of commuting by bike. But with the price of gas and my green intentions, I think a light spin was the right choice.

Yesterday I raced an olympic distance duathlon in picturesque Mont-Tremblant.

I have done a few triathlons and sprint distance duathlons, but I am always amazed with the abilities of multi-sport athletes. So far this year, I have been running consistently, having done a half marathon in April, and kept running at least 2-3 times a week. With a lot of cycling behind me in the last 8 years , good time-trialing abilities, and a reasonable running form, I thought doing olympic distance duathlon (10km run, 40km bike, 5km run) wouldn't be too hard on my body.

This year, my form on the bike has been slow to come around, due to a lack of commitment, but maybe because during the winter I traded the indoor trainer for my running shoes. That showed yesterday because I felt great in both runs, but although I still did fine on the bike, the cycling seemed so much more painful than when I simply do an all out cycling-time trial.

I am just amazed at how the multi-sport althletes find a way to improve their weaknesses in one sport, while working on the strengths in another, and putting it all together on race day. Quite a dilemma that many athletes have mastered. It is hard enough with just two sports, now add the swim into the equation, a triathlete has to juggle three different sports that uses different muscle groups, in such a way to get the best possible combined performance. That's impressive!

About the race yesterday, the pain I'm feeling today did pay off though. I finished first overall, with more than a 7 minute lead, finishing in 2:00:08. I focused on the first run to make it out of the first transition in the lead, and then secured my lead on the bike in the first few kilometers. Like in cycling, I think the "out of sight, out of mind" saying also works in duathlon/triathlon.

Here is Charlie, Chai, and myself recovering after my carb/protein recovery drink.

And the podium picture...