Race Summary

My duathlon race was yesterday, and I thought I would summarize the whole thing while it's still fresh in my mind....sort of as a way of remembering things I want to remember.  Before that though, I have to give a BIG thank you to my husband, John.  He sacrificed basically his whole Saturday and most of his Sunday so that I could be out busy with other things.  He took the kids to parks on Saturday, packed them up and got them to the race on Sunday, and took the BEST race pictures I've ever had!  Thank you!

I was gone all day on Saturday for a workshop with a local non-profit group I volunteer with.  I was there from 8:30 - 4:30...with an 1 1/2 break where I went to pick up my race day packet and attend a race talk where they go over tips and info about race day.  So I was kind of beat come Saturday night and had no trouble falling asleep.

I woke up around 5:15 Sunday morning, dressed, had breakfast, and spent some time re-packing my bags to make sure I had everything.  Here's what I brought along:

Transition Bag (Bag that stayed with my bike in transition area...had things I might need as I switch from run to bike to run)
- Towel to lay things on
- Banana
- Extra water bottle
- Extra nutrition bar
- bike helmet
- sunglasses

Extra bag I carried with me before race started....and then got stashed in the bushes with hopes it would still be there when I got back:
- sweatshirt I wore pre-race
- sweatpants I wore pre-race
- water bottle
- 2 nutrition bars (depending on what I felt like eating later)
- gloves
- $5.....again, just in case

I left the house, bike pre-loaded, at 5:50 am.  I was able to eat breakfast, drink some orange juice, and didn't feel very nervous - just excited.  That it, until I got to the parking garage near the race and saw the HUGE line of cars waiting to get in and park.  Then I got nervous, and frustrated that I didn't leave the house earlier.  Actually, it wasn't that bad, and I was parked and on my way to the race area by about 6:15, just as it started to RAIN.  It was pitch black, so you couldn't tell if it was really cloudy or just a random shower.  Soon enough it stopped, and I decided it was just Mother Nature's blessing of the event.  I made it into the transition area and got my bike "racked" by 6:30.  I was SO relieved to see both of my friends right away.  One had her bike racked 6 rows away, and the other was right next to me.  (It goes by your race number)  Given that there were just under 1500 participants, I think I got very lucky!

So, it's just after 6:30....race starts at 7:30, and my wave started at 8:00.  LOTS of time to stand around, visit the bathroom, etc.  There were lots of porta-potties, but really long lines.  We found a secret treasure of a bathroom....hardly any line....but no doors on the stalls....so, you just suck it up and get to know people real quick.

Soon enough it came time for my wave to start and again, I was lucky that my friend Anne was in my wave.  Our friend Vickie, had already been sent off 10 minutes earlier.  Anne and I paced ourselves pretty well for the first run section.  It was 1 lap around the lake, which was 2 miles.  We both knew we were running fast....but neither wanted to slow down.  We were passing people left and right for a while.  My time for the first 2 miles?  17:11.....that's about 8:35 per mile.  I'm QUITE happy about that leg of the race!!!!!

Now on to the bike.  First of all, I found my bike!  Believe me, when you see a sea of 1500 bikes...you're a little unsure about whether you'll get turned around and lost or not.  I ate 1/2 banana, drank some water, put on my helmet, sunglasses and got my bike unracked.  And I jogged my bike out to the mounting area where we could get on our bikes.  My transition time was 2:07....pretty good for a first timer.  Honestly - I thought about just copping a squat for 15 minutes and then get going.... :)

On to the bike....it felt SO good to sit down after standing for almost 2 hours.  My legs were tired from the run, but now there were doing something different so it wasn't too bad.  It did take me 2-3 miles to really get into a nice groove.  Remember all those people I was passing on the run?  Well, they were passing me right back on the bike.  It's funny because you realize there are "runners" who are doing a running/biking race...and "bikers" who are doing a biking/running race.  :)  There were TONS of fancy schmancy speed bikes....you know the kind where they're practically laying down flat and ZOOMING by you?  I was just glad there was plenty of passing room, and I could just do my own thing.  Don't get me wrong - I did pass people, but certainly was more of a passEE than a passER.  I also enjoyed the Power Beans (jelly beans...with a kick) that I had stashed in my bike bag under my seat.  I had 2-3 on each lap and it was just enough of a treat to keep me motivated. 

So we had to do 2 laps of about 11-12 miles.  There were lots of hills....some quite long and strung out...but it always helped when there was a group of people at the top yelling for you to "put the hammer down!" and  "Get up here!"  I did the first lap in about 52 minutes, and the second lap in about 53 minutes.  Oddly enough, I thought that I really pushed harder the first time around, and took it easier the 2nd time around.  Guess not!  Total bike time - 1:45:07.  There WAS a crash on the first lap that was really scary.  When I got there - the ambulance was putting a girl on a board, with a neckbrace - her head was bleeding, but she was awake. 

Got back to the transition area, racked my bike, drank some water, took my helmet off, took long-sleeve shirt off and tied it around my waist...and I was off.  Transition time: 1:51. 

On to the final 2 mile run.  Just as I was heading out of transition area I saw John and the kids.  SOOO happy to see them.  I really did help push me along cuz I knew as soon as I was done with this last lap - I'd see them again.  Remember all those people on bikes who were passing me??  Well, I passed them right back on the run..at least those who had passed me on the second lap. :)  There were SOO many people walking!  Honestly, my legs wouldn't let me walk...they wanted to keep moving.  I couldn't do a normal stride, it was much shorter...but I kept it quick and moving.  And it helped to pass SOO many people. :)  Coming up on the finish line I passed a whole bunch of people because I really didn't want anyone directly in front of me when I crossed the finish line. :)  My second run time: 19:51.  I'm happy with that because I didn't want to go slower than a 10 minute mile. 

Overall, my total race time was 2:26:07.  When I was adding segments up in my head weeks before the race I thought - 20 minute first run, 2 hour bike, 20 minute last run.  That'd be pretty average for me and put me at 2:40:00.  Then as the race got closer, I started thinking about an "ideal goal" time and came up with 2:15:00.  Sooooo, I ended up being closer to my goal time than my average time....and I'd call that a success. 

Another positive would be that I'm not sore today.  I don't feel any different than I would if I would have run 5-6 miles yesterday.  My shoulders are a bit tired and sore from sitting in the bike position for so long, but they're always tired and sore. :)  I was also supposed to go to our church picnic after the race and run their 3k race...but I was too late.  It took forever to get out of the parking garage!  So they had already sent the runners off when I got there. But that's ok. :)  Knowing that I could have done it was good enough for me.