Saturday morning, we got up and piled into my little Rav 4 to head to the race. About half of us were doing the du and have the tri.
Michael dropped us at transition 2 (this was a point to point race, so you had to leave stuff in two locations) and then we took the shuttle to the start/transition 1. (Truthfully, not my favorite way to run a race since we also had to figure out how to get home and get all the stuff home too!)
I was excited that I didn't have to swim with this one or worry about a wet suit and all that other gear. Our race also started at 9:40am. The course was a 2 mile run followed by a 17 mile bike ride and then capped off with a 4.3 mile run.
The first run was awesome! It was downhill the first mile (my pace was 8:55) and the second mile was essentially back up that same hill. My average pace for both miles was 9:30min/mile. According to my Garmin the run was actually longer than 2 miles (Mary's said the same thing) and I ended up running both miles in 20:24. Then off to the bike where it was a pretty quick transition (1:25) and off to the ride.
The ride was tough, but didn't feel as tough as last year as I recall. I did pretty well on the uphills and really rode fast on the downhills. I didn't have my Garmin set for pace on the bike, but rather percentage grade of the hills-- I believe the toughest one was 17%. According to the official time, the bike took me 1:17:34 and I had a decent transition to the second run as well (2:34). I took a little more time on this transition and I was utterly annoyed with the transition volunteers who were really too close to my bike rack and in my face offering other racers water and Gatorade while I was trying to get my second set of gym shoes on!
The second run- if I can even call it that- was insane! Out of transition, we ran on grass in a field up a little bump that to us flat-landers, was a hill! To a MOUNTAIN. The first mile was entirely uphill. When I rode into transition, everyone on the hill at that time was walking up it. It was brutal- no exaggeration. I just walked and pumped my arms and trotted a bit when my body felt okay or when it seemed to slightly flatten out. As you can imagine, after riding for an hour and then walking straight up a hill, it was tough to get moving again. I ended up doing a run/walk combo for the second run and my average was about 11:25min/mile.
I suppose I was happy with trying this duathlon, but I expected to finish better. I was 81 out of 114 out of all the athletes which is kind of pathetic but after doing some thinking, I suppose I have done better in triathlons because of the swimming, not in spite of it, like other athletes. I was 33 of 52 for all the women.
Check it off the bucket list, I suppose.
Michael dropped us at transition 2 (this was a point to point race, so you had to leave stuff in two locations) and then we took the shuttle to the start/transition 1. (Truthfully, not my favorite way to run a race since we also had to figure out how to get home and get all the stuff home too!)
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| 2013 Way Finder's Race Guide |
I was excited that I didn't have to swim with this one or worry about a wet suit and all that other gear. Our race also started at 9:40am. The course was a 2 mile run followed by a 17 mile bike ride and then capped off with a 4.3 mile run.
The first run was awesome! It was downhill the first mile (my pace was 8:55) and the second mile was essentially back up that same hill. My average pace for both miles was 9:30min/mile. According to my Garmin the run was actually longer than 2 miles (Mary's said the same thing) and I ended up running both miles in 20:24. Then off to the bike where it was a pretty quick transition (1:25) and off to the ride.
The ride was tough, but didn't feel as tough as last year as I recall. I did pretty well on the uphills and really rode fast on the downhills. I didn't have my Garmin set for pace on the bike, but rather percentage grade of the hills-- I believe the toughest one was 17%. According to the official time, the bike took me 1:17:34 and I had a decent transition to the second run as well (2:34). I took a little more time on this transition and I was utterly annoyed with the transition volunteers who were really too close to my bike rack and in my face offering other racers water and Gatorade while I was trying to get my second set of gym shoes on!
The second run- if I can even call it that- was insane! Out of transition, we ran on grass in a field up a little bump that to us flat-landers, was a hill! To a MOUNTAIN. The first mile was entirely uphill. When I rode into transition, everyone on the hill at that time was walking up it. It was brutal- no exaggeration. I just walked and pumped my arms and trotted a bit when my body felt okay or when it seemed to slightly flatten out. As you can imagine, after riding for an hour and then walking straight up a hill, it was tough to get moving again. I ended up doing a run/walk combo for the second run and my average was about 11:25min/mile.
I suppose I was happy with trying this duathlon, but I expected to finish better. I was 81 out of 114 out of all the athletes which is kind of pathetic but after doing some thinking, I suppose I have done better in triathlons because of the swimming, not in spite of it, like other athletes. I was 33 of 52 for all the women.
Check it off the bucket list, I suppose.
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| Max Multisport Athletes |
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