Well, I finally get to post my race report from this weekend! I was having technical difficulties with my computer, so, unfortunately, it took me a while to post the couple of race pictures that I took prior to the start. Note how cloudy it is. The wind was really strong on Sunday.
I woke up early, had a few delusions of grandeur with my coffee (see post below), and was off to the race. I luckily convinced my husband to join me, so I was able to skip bike detail, and he pumped the tires, loaded the bikes and water bottles, and we were off!
It was a cold morning, and pretty windy. It wasn’t raining though, so I didn’t mind. The race was held at a local community college, and the race course was a 2 mile loop around the college. It was pretty much a closed course, so I was psyched – no dealing with traffic. The crowd was small, and ranged from the weekend warrior type (there was also an inline skate, biathlon, and 4 mile run being held, as well) to the “Fancy Bike Guy” type. When we pulled in, we parked next to 2 guys with souped-up Trek bikes, and they looked to be serious cyclists. After eyeing up everyone else’s hardware, we picked our spot on the bike racks, and set up camp. It wasn’t until then that I realized I forgot my biking gloves. It worried me just a little, because it was so windy, but I couldn’t do anything about it at that point.
We jogged around a little to warm up, and then lined up for the race. For the Du, we would do 2 laps of the loop, come into the transition area, bike out, and do 6 laps of the loop, bike in and run one last lap. They didn’t supply chips, so there was a lap counter dude strategically placed on the course, and he kept track of everyone’s laps.
I have to say right off that this wasn’t my best race. The first mile split was 8:29, and I felt like I was running through molasses. My left ankle was doing something weird, because it HURT, and my ankles usually never hurt! Knees, yes. Ankles, no. I lost track of my splits after that, because my ankle was really bothering me. I came into the transition area before 40 minutes though. I was never so glad to see my bike! The first part of the 2 mile loop was nice. It was through a wooded area, and the wind was minimal. As you came around out of the wooded area, the wind was STRONG! It felt like I was the only sled dog pulling a 500 pound sled in the Iditarod! Six cold and windy laps later, I was walked out of the transition area. It was 1:33. My husband, who finished way before me called after me to “Run!” I continued to shuffle out. Picture the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz. That is what my knees and ankles felt like. I figured the pace I was going was about 10 minutes/mile, and I was pretty close, because my finish time was 1:52:22. I got second in my age group; don’t get excited, though. I was second out of two. My husband posted a respectable time of 1:24:46.
All in all, an ok race for my first duathlon. They had hot chocolate and coffee after the race, and candy bars, bagels and cream cheese. Good stuff. I also got a little trophy for my 2nd place. I would do another. I just hope it isn’t as windy next time. Next stop: half-marathon in November...
