First off, I didn't reach any goal. I wanted to do a marathon, didn't happen. I wanted to do a century ride, it didn't happen. On a positive, I'm still running and enjoying it.
What events did I do? I raced in the Cary Duathlon and finished with about the same time as in 2012. I really enjoy the multi-discipline events. I still struggle on the second 2.5 mile run though. Don't really eat before event and longer events work me. Total time was 1:55 for 2.5/17.5/2.5 (miles).
I ran the TarHeel 10/4 miler. This was a last minute decision and I ran the 4 miler, you still do the hill challenge and get a medal. I'll do the 10 miles next time, I promise. The stand out of this event was the bomb sniffing dogs. They had them because event was a short time after Boston. Finish time was 36 minutes.
The next event was another last minute thing too, the Tobacco Trail 10 Miler. This was on a very cold day. Seems like the week before it was 80 and boom, 25. I froze until about mile 4. I had a goal of around 1:45, finished in 1:46, kinda slow but that's me, just get to the finish in my time.
The last race of the year was a Turkey Trot 8K in Cary NC. This was the second year I completed this race. Finished in about the same time as most of my 8K, 46 minutes. The hing that stuck out after was another runner said he used me as a pacer because of my bright knit hat (yellow/red).
What does 2014 have in store? Well I'm signed up for the Rock N Roll Raleigh Marathon in April, yes, the whole 26.2 miles. Training hasn't been quite up to par, though I do have a long run over 10 miles every week for a few months now. I have to step it up big soon. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Thursday, January 3, 2013
2013 Goals and a Look Back at 2012
First off 2012 highlights. It was a good year of running. No injuries and I did pick up some speed. Still not fast but did complete a 5K in 25:34 which was way better than 2011 30+. Completed one half marathon, the Tobacco Trail Half in Cary, NC. It's a great event but I have other plans this year. Finished the Krispy Kreme Challenge in the under 1 hour time. Probably my last one of those since I was diagnosed with Celiac. Did a cool little race in So Cal called Wet and Wild 5K, very fun. They should have a race like that at every water park. Ran the Second Empire Fall Series. Finished around 7th in my age group. My age group 40-44 is stacked with motivated life long runners. Most other age groups I place, my luck. Did get an invite to the awards lunch, so I get good food anyway as an award, just no jacket or something cool.
2012 low lights. I had a goal of running my first marathon and put my name into the NYC Marathon lotto, didn't get in, in hindsight that was a good thing since Hurricane Sandy made that whole thing a disaster. Will try again but with a marathon closer to NC.
On to 2013. My initial plans are to run a marathon and do a century bike ride. I'm guessing the century will be easier but I have run 13 miles and have only biked 34 in one outing. Also, I plan to mix in other events to make it interesting and keep me motivated. Will see and I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.
On another subject, trying to get my guitar playing up to snuff. Taking lessons, might even post a video if I improve enough.
2012 low lights. I had a goal of running my first marathon and put my name into the NYC Marathon lotto, didn't get in, in hindsight that was a good thing since Hurricane Sandy made that whole thing a disaster. Will try again but with a marathon closer to NC.
On to 2013. My initial plans are to run a marathon and do a century bike ride. I'm guessing the century will be easier but I have run 13 miles and have only biked 34 in one outing. Also, I plan to mix in other events to make it interesting and keep me motivated. Will see and I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.
On another subject, trying to get my guitar playing up to snuff. Taking lessons, might even post a video if I improve enough.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Magnificent Mile 2012
Well this is an old update but here it goes.
Way back on Sept. 16, 2012 was the Magnificent Mile race in Raleigh, NC. I wasn't expecting much since I have not been, nor ever have run for speed. With me, it's more like can I make it to the end. No worries here, it's only a mile and I regularly run 5. My goal is around 7:30, since that was roughly my time last year.
Onto the race. After they announced the 10 or so elite runners the gun fired. We are off. I settle into a quick for me but manageable pace. As we get near the Capital I notice no quarter splits (they had them the last 2 years), Hopefully, they have the half split. Soon I see that they do, I'm around 3:30 at the half way point. I think for a split second I might go sub 7. I guess the fast cats are sprinting to home. Not me, I slow a tad to catch my breath (and sub 7 vanishes) some as its getting beyond what I want. Anyway, soon I see the finish line and gradually pick things back up and finish pretty strong. I actually passed several people on the home stretch and finish with a chip time of 7:26. Hit my goal, so pretty cool with effort.
A picture from the home stretch.
http://www.magmilerace.com/
http://www.secondempireseries.com/fall/fall-series/
Way back on Sept. 16, 2012 was the Magnificent Mile race in Raleigh, NC. I wasn't expecting much since I have not been, nor ever have run for speed. With me, it's more like can I make it to the end. No worries here, it's only a mile and I regularly run 5. My goal is around 7:30, since that was roughly my time last year.
Onto the race. After they announced the 10 or so elite runners the gun fired. We are off. I settle into a quick for me but manageable pace. As we get near the Capital I notice no quarter splits (they had them the last 2 years), Hopefully, they have the half split. Soon I see that they do, I'm around 3:30 at the half way point. I think for a split second I might go sub 7. I guess the fast cats are sprinting to home. Not me, I slow a tad to catch my breath (and sub 7 vanishes) some as its getting beyond what I want. Anyway, soon I see the finish line and gradually pick things back up and finish pretty strong. I actually passed several people on the home stretch and finish with a chip time of 7:26. Hit my goal, so pretty cool with effort.
A picture from the home stretch.
http://www.magmilerace.com/
http://www.secondempireseries.com/fall/fall-series/
Saturday, July 14, 2012
My Assault on the Col De Lystra
My Assault on the Col De Lystra on 6-30-12. It all started with a search of cycling places in the Raleigh- Durham, NC area. I kept seeing people reference this hill climb in the area. So I researched, located it, and planned my assault.
Before my assault on the Col De Lystra I needed supplies. See I have a Cannondale CAADX (cyclecross) not the best suited steed. I had an easy fix in mind, some decent road tires. Also, it is triple digit weather this weekend so I needed an extra water bottle holder. The Friday before, I installed the extra bottle holder and tires, 125psi, this should roll smoother than the knobbies at 80psi. Went for a quick test spin, nice, this baby just wants to roll now.
The day of the assault is here, I am psyched, and couldn't sleep much due to the excitement. I loaded up the truck and headed over to my start point, a place I park often when I run, a parking area for the American Tobacco Trial. I get there and it was packed, great, hope there is a parking space. I find one! Guess these cats want to beat the heat, they were calling for 106 degrees. I pulled the bike out of the truck, put on the helmet, took a swig of water, started STRAVA (track the details), I'm off!
The Col De Lystra is about 8 miles or so away so I have a bit of peddling to reach the beast. I was going pretty good for awhile and was averaging around 20mph. As I neared the beast I slowed to 15mph to conserve what little peddling engine I have. The turn onto Lystra, another mile and the beast appears, I'm here, let me stop and take a picture of the very start. Not good to stop at the base but this was my first time here.
Turning onto the famed road:
The hill coming into view, it real pitches up around the bend at the far end of view:
The hill itself. As I get going again the hill starts to rise but I don't fully see what I'm up against until I fully get around the bend. This sucker goes up and up fast. My GPS has the grade at 12%, it goes like this for about .3 miles then levels off, maybe even downhill for a couple of ticks, but it's hard to tell after going straight up. There is a second part, great. It might be steeper, I push ahead, gasping for air like there is no oxygen left on earth. I make it to the top. Average grade for the hard part (including the flat part) was 4.6% and I achieved an average speed of 8.7mph. I continued all the way to 15-501 and turned around, the climb up the Col De Lystra was complete! All the uphill of Lystra was 3.2 miles at 11.4mph, now for the ride back down.
Back down the hill was fun and fast. The steep parts I hit 44mph with little effort other than gravity. It was like a free fall and I kept a finger on the breaks just incase, but doubt they would of slowed me up.
Eventually, I made it back near my truck and the Peloton cought me after my epic solo up the Col De Lystra. I have never ridden in a Peloton and with the same effort I gained like 5mph, guess I need to find a group to ride with in the near future. Overall, my ride was 26 miles with a 15.7mph average on a 93 degree morning. NICE!
The profile from STRAVA, the spike in the middle is the Col De Lystra:
Before my assault on the Col De Lystra I needed supplies. See I have a Cannondale CAADX (cyclecross) not the best suited steed. I had an easy fix in mind, some decent road tires. Also, it is triple digit weather this weekend so I needed an extra water bottle holder. The Friday before, I installed the extra bottle holder and tires, 125psi, this should roll smoother than the knobbies at 80psi. Went for a quick test spin, nice, this baby just wants to roll now.
The day of the assault is here, I am psyched, and couldn't sleep much due to the excitement. I loaded up the truck and headed over to my start point, a place I park often when I run, a parking area for the American Tobacco Trial. I get there and it was packed, great, hope there is a parking space. I find one! Guess these cats want to beat the heat, they were calling for 106 degrees. I pulled the bike out of the truck, put on the helmet, took a swig of water, started STRAVA (track the details), I'm off!
The Col De Lystra is about 8 miles or so away so I have a bit of peddling to reach the beast. I was going pretty good for awhile and was averaging around 20mph. As I neared the beast I slowed to 15mph to conserve what little peddling engine I have. The turn onto Lystra, another mile and the beast appears, I'm here, let me stop and take a picture of the very start. Not good to stop at the base but this was my first time here.
Turning onto the famed road:
The hill coming into view, it real pitches up around the bend at the far end of view:
The hill itself. As I get going again the hill starts to rise but I don't fully see what I'm up against until I fully get around the bend. This sucker goes up and up fast. My GPS has the grade at 12%, it goes like this for about .3 miles then levels off, maybe even downhill for a couple of ticks, but it's hard to tell after going straight up. There is a second part, great. It might be steeper, I push ahead, gasping for air like there is no oxygen left on earth. I make it to the top. Average grade for the hard part (including the flat part) was 4.6% and I achieved an average speed of 8.7mph. I continued all the way to 15-501 and turned around, the climb up the Col De Lystra was complete! All the uphill of Lystra was 3.2 miles at 11.4mph, now for the ride back down.
Back down the hill was fun and fast. The steep parts I hit 44mph with little effort other than gravity. It was like a free fall and I kept a finger on the breaks just incase, but doubt they would of slowed me up.
Eventually, I made it back near my truck and the Peloton cought me after my epic solo up the Col De Lystra. I have never ridden in a Peloton and with the same effort I gained like 5mph, guess I need to find a group to ride with in the near future. Overall, my ride was 26 miles with a 15.7mph average on a 93 degree morning. NICE!
The profile from STRAVA, the spike in the middle is the Col De Lystra:
Wet-N-Wild 5K 2012
The Wet-N-Wild 5K in Knott's Berry Farm (California) 6-16-2012. How did I end up doing a race on the west coast you may ask? Well, I was there to visit relatives and wanted to run and thought entering an event would be fun.
What an event I found while doing an internet search. How about a 5K with the last 500 meters in knee deep water. Well this is Southern California and it seemed like a good fun time. Also, this place is 20 minutes up the road from my Aunt's house in Huntington Beach, CA. I checked with my aunt and I signed up.
Race day is here. Well I woke up early, that was easy I was still on east coast time. Once I got onsite, I got my packet, everyone must have arrived at the same time, a bit crowded. I dropped off the stuff from my packet back at the car and headed to starting line to chill for 20 minutes. Eventually, they had some singing and a prayer and then the shotgun was fired to take off. I didn't see the shotgun but the cat on the PA said they were using one. Southern California I expected an uzi or a glock. Once we started running, weaving, and just dodging stuff I settled into a comfortable pace. I knew I wasn't doing a 25 minute 5K since 500 meters would be in the water. This was a pretty relaxed event. The course took us down every street and passed every ride and stand in the amusement park. It was a nice run. I realized I either lined up with the correct crowd or we are faster on the east coast. Eventually, I made it to the water. I just walked thru it as most of the people around me were doing the same. More races should be like this, it was nice being in pool water for a bit. After a few minutes I was out and running the last bit with light legs. Felt like a champ and crossed the line in 31.31, finished 327 out of 2551 finishers.
Overall, I would rate this race as very fun must do race if you live nearby or happen to be nearby while on vacation as I was.
A few pictures:
What an event I found while doing an internet search. How about a 5K with the last 500 meters in knee deep water. Well this is Southern California and it seemed like a good fun time. Also, this place is 20 minutes up the road from my Aunt's house in Huntington Beach, CA. I checked with my aunt and I signed up.
Race day is here. Well I woke up early, that was easy I was still on east coast time. Once I got onsite, I got my packet, everyone must have arrived at the same time, a bit crowded. I dropped off the stuff from my packet back at the car and headed to starting line to chill for 20 minutes. Eventually, they had some singing and a prayer and then the shotgun was fired to take off. I didn't see the shotgun but the cat on the PA said they were using one. Southern California I expected an uzi or a glock. Once we started running, weaving, and just dodging stuff I settled into a comfortable pace. I knew I wasn't doing a 25 minute 5K since 500 meters would be in the water. This was a pretty relaxed event. The course took us down every street and passed every ride and stand in the amusement park. It was a nice run. I realized I either lined up with the correct crowd or we are faster on the east coast. Eventually, I made it to the water. I just walked thru it as most of the people around me were doing the same. More races should be like this, it was nice being in pool water for a bit. After a few minutes I was out and running the last bit with light legs. Felt like a champ and crossed the line in 31.31, finished 327 out of 2551 finishers.
Overall, I would rate this race as very fun must do race if you live nearby or happen to be nearby while on vacation as I was.
A few pictures:
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Run For Hero's 5K and a PR!
Well, I should of updated this a long time ago but I've been a blogging slacker.
The Run For Hero's 5K went down on the way back on April 28, 2012. I'll keep this short and sweet. Last year I did this race in 31 minutes and change, this year I was just looking for sub 28. I'm lighter and run more now. Early on I knew I had a sweet pace for me and did the first mile and a half in 12 minutes and change. After that split, I knew I needed to pace an upcoming hill and just push to the end no matter how tired I was. Boy was I tired after the hill. Anyway, I'll cut to the chase, I ran a 25:34 for a PR big time for me. On another positive, the had Monster Energy and Ice Cream at the finish!
Here is a pic near the end of the race
More info here: http://www.runforourheroes.org/gallery.php
The Run For Hero's 5K went down on the way back on April 28, 2012. I'll keep this short and sweet. Last year I did this race in 31 minutes and change, this year I was just looking for sub 28. I'm lighter and run more now. Early on I knew I had a sweet pace for me and did the first mile and a half in 12 minutes and change. After that split, I knew I needed to pace an upcoming hill and just push to the end no matter how tired I was. Boy was I tired after the hill. Anyway, I'll cut to the chase, I ran a 25:34 for a PR big time for me. On another positive, the had Monster Energy and Ice Cream at the finish!
Here is a pic near the end of the race
More info here: http://www.runforourheroes.org/gallery.php
Friday, April 20, 2012
Cary Short Course Duathlon 2012
Well well well, time for a new event for me. What type of event might that be? Well the Cary Short Course Duathlon. It consists of a 2.5 mile run, a 17.65 mile bike ride and another 2.5 mile run.
How did I get to this point after starting to run 2 years ago for the first time? Well I bought a bike back in January (a Cannondale CAADX) and I'm on the fsseries.com mailing list. See, they have many multi-discipline events. I found one close to home and signed up. I figured I had 4 months to to get okay at riding a bike.
What did my training consist of you may ask? Well I had the running down, I run anywhere from 12 to 20 miles a week, I just had to get the bike thing down. I really didn't work all that hard on the bike but I did put in focused time. I started with a ride a week, usually 15 to 20 miles but I wasn't going all that fast, say 12-13mph. After about a month I got a Kinetic Trainer so I could spin in the house. This worked good as it came with Spinervals 27.0 Suffer and Threshold. This pushed me a bit and seems to of improved my cycling quite a bit.
Packet pickup time as its race weekend, I get to go to IOS Cary, that place always intimidates me but they were very helpful and answered my newbie questions. Here is a pic of my socks, bib, and shirt.
Well onto race day, I know attention spans can be short. April 7, 2012 I woke up, dragged the lady out of bed, after all she was my pit crew/cheering section for the day. Once we arrived, I set my bike up in transition area, knowing nothing about this I chose the worst spot. I was wondering why the cats with super expensive aero bikes were looking around like they stole something as they put their bike into the rack at the other end. Oh well, this is my first Duathlon and I was just soaking it in and learning. Per my research I laid my stuff out on a towel, had my water, a gel (never used it) my sunglasses, and my helmet. My transition was laid out, now time to use the porto a few times (race nerves) and watch the people, Stephanie enjoyed the people watch a little to much.
Putting the finishing touches on my transition zone
What in the heck caught my eye
Oh, the pre-race excitement
Now to the race itself. It started with a pre-race meeting, where the mic died and all the racers basically had a pre-race group hug. The first to go off was the long course group, they said 15 minutes and then we would start, it was only 12, the leader in the long course had already run his 2.5 mile loop and had started his second. So we were off and I settled into a comfortable pace. Since I was a Clydesdale entrant (200lbs+) I scouted the larger people in hopes of putting some hurt in them early. I thought I did a number on one of them as I passed him on the little hill at mile 1.75 and prolly hit transition 30-45 seconds before he did. My run time was 21.27, 8.35 min/m. Now off to transition.
Transition is where you switch disciplines. I don't use clip pedals, as I'm a newbie, so all I had to do was put on my helmet and glasses and drink some water. Well being my first time I gave a race report and took a few pictures and was on my way to the bike. My transition time was 2 minutes. Now time to test my bike training.
Me just relaxing while all those people in the background are frantic
And I'm off
Before actual pedaling you must push your bike to the mount zone and then take off. I knew from what I read, have your bike in an easy gear, so I pedaled away with ease. I later learned from Stephanie many people didn't do this and struggled with their early pedal strokes. Anyway, back to my ride. I wanted my own data so I fiddled with my phone but could not get the app to track my cycling data to start, oh well at least I have a speedometer on my bike. Early on the person I wanted to put hurt in passed me, he was on one of those multi-thousand dollar aero bikes, those things sorta make a whirl sound as they go by. Once I settled into a pace I started picking people off pretty good. After about 8 miles I was on a hill and tried to get water, not I good idea and I about fell over. Also, this hill zapped my energy but I still was going around 20mph when I was on the flats. At this point, it seemed the only people that passed me so far were the ones on the expensive bikes. At about mile 10 I out thought myself and took a wrong turn, just meant I had to re pass people but I was tired and needed to chill for a few anyway so I took my time. About a half mile later (Lake Jordan all around) a truck pulling a large boat and oncoming traffic played chicken, I thought this was the end and I slowed a bit to play defense. Now we are past Lake Jordan and fighting a head wind for the last 5 or so miles. I'm still trying to rest and just follow people I know I can pass. Eventually, I just picked it up and passed the people around me and caught up to another group. About 2 miles out I made a move and passed the one other person I had a chance to pass and put some time on them. All to waste, I had to stop for an ambulance about a 1/4 mile from transition back to run. The person I had passed had better timing and rode pass me as I was starting to get going again. When I got back to transition some cat had fallen and was being placed on a board and being hauled away by that ambulance. My bike time was 1:02:59, 16.8mph.
Transition number two. I unmounted from my bike and re-racked my bike. What do I see, a used gel, I didn't see my gel and was like SOB. My towel had flipped up and covered mine, funny. I took my helmet and glasses off and took a few pictures and was out of transition in 1 minute 49, wow a 11 second improvement, I'm on a roll.
Me rolling into the dismount/transition, the emergency vehicles in the background and the muscle girl that timed it right
Ah, trying to walk post ride
Trying to be cool as I enter transition
I don't feel good, please don't take a picture. In the background ZIPP wheels, that's 2 grand someone spent, of course they beat me back to transition
And I'm off on a run, sorta, check out that calf muscle
The last run, well if you want to call it that. See I didn't really practice bricks and knew from my one practice the weekend before this run was going to be very hard. After about a 1/4 mile my jello legs turned to lead. I was getting tired fast, just no rhythm at all. I made it a mile in, the water stand and started a brief walk. They gave me some weird liquid but I drank it, sure hope it picks me up. I keep chugging away and pass this older cat (age 62 per his leg markings) but as the hill climbs to the next water stand I walk again. Still walking after the water stand the old guy taps me and says its all downhill now, sure it is I think but stay within a few seconds of him till we cross the finish line. What do you know, as I get close to the finish line I get my run legs. I'm done my first Duathlon and I feel pretty darn good about myself. My second run 24.21, 9.41 min/m and my overall finish time was 1:52:40.
Me charging to the line
All finished, literally
Text is sorta small but my race details, I finished 89th, I will top 50 next time at this race
All I can say about my first Duathlon is sign me up for another as I had a blast. I know several ways I can shave significant time and hope next time I will see a nice improvement.
How did I get to this point after starting to run 2 years ago for the first time? Well I bought a bike back in January (a Cannondale CAADX) and I'm on the fsseries.com mailing list. See, they have many multi-discipline events. I found one close to home and signed up. I figured I had 4 months to to get okay at riding a bike.
What did my training consist of you may ask? Well I had the running down, I run anywhere from 12 to 20 miles a week, I just had to get the bike thing down. I really didn't work all that hard on the bike but I did put in focused time. I started with a ride a week, usually 15 to 20 miles but I wasn't going all that fast, say 12-13mph. After about a month I got a Kinetic Trainer so I could spin in the house. This worked good as it came with Spinervals 27.0 Suffer and Threshold. This pushed me a bit and seems to of improved my cycling quite a bit.
Packet pickup time as its race weekend, I get to go to IOS Cary, that place always intimidates me but they were very helpful and answered my newbie questions. Here is a pic of my socks, bib, and shirt.
Well onto race day, I know attention spans can be short. April 7, 2012 I woke up, dragged the lady out of bed, after all she was my pit crew/cheering section for the day. Once we arrived, I set my bike up in transition area, knowing nothing about this I chose the worst spot. I was wondering why the cats with super expensive aero bikes were looking around like they stole something as they put their bike into the rack at the other end. Oh well, this is my first Duathlon and I was just soaking it in and learning. Per my research I laid my stuff out on a towel, had my water, a gel (never used it) my sunglasses, and my helmet. My transition was laid out, now time to use the porto a few times (race nerves) and watch the people, Stephanie enjoyed the people watch a little to much.
Putting the finishing touches on my transition zone
What in the heck caught my eye
My bike all set with everyone else in out rack
Oh, the pre-race excitement
Now to the race itself. It started with a pre-race meeting, where the mic died and all the racers basically had a pre-race group hug. The first to go off was the long course group, they said 15 minutes and then we would start, it was only 12, the leader in the long course had already run his 2.5 mile loop and had started his second. So we were off and I settled into a comfortable pace. Since I was a Clydesdale entrant (200lbs+) I scouted the larger people in hopes of putting some hurt in them early. I thought I did a number on one of them as I passed him on the little hill at mile 1.75 and prolly hit transition 30-45 seconds before he did. My run time was 21.27, 8.35 min/m. Now off to transition.
Transition is where you switch disciplines. I don't use clip pedals, as I'm a newbie, so all I had to do was put on my helmet and glasses and drink some water. Well being my first time I gave a race report and took a few pictures and was on my way to the bike. My transition time was 2 minutes. Now time to test my bike training.
Me just relaxing while all those people in the background are frantic
Before actual pedaling you must push your bike to the mount zone and then take off. I knew from what I read, have your bike in an easy gear, so I pedaled away with ease. I later learned from Stephanie many people didn't do this and struggled with their early pedal strokes. Anyway, back to my ride. I wanted my own data so I fiddled with my phone but could not get the app to track my cycling data to start, oh well at least I have a speedometer on my bike. Early on the person I wanted to put hurt in passed me, he was on one of those multi-thousand dollar aero bikes, those things sorta make a whirl sound as they go by. Once I settled into a pace I started picking people off pretty good. After about 8 miles I was on a hill and tried to get water, not I good idea and I about fell over. Also, this hill zapped my energy but I still was going around 20mph when I was on the flats. At this point, it seemed the only people that passed me so far were the ones on the expensive bikes. At about mile 10 I out thought myself and took a wrong turn, just meant I had to re pass people but I was tired and needed to chill for a few anyway so I took my time. About a half mile later (Lake Jordan all around) a truck pulling a large boat and oncoming traffic played chicken, I thought this was the end and I slowed a bit to play defense. Now we are past Lake Jordan and fighting a head wind for the last 5 or so miles. I'm still trying to rest and just follow people I know I can pass. Eventually, I just picked it up and passed the people around me and caught up to another group. About 2 miles out I made a move and passed the one other person I had a chance to pass and put some time on them. All to waste, I had to stop for an ambulance about a 1/4 mile from transition back to run. The person I had passed had better timing and rode pass me as I was starting to get going again. When I got back to transition some cat had fallen and was being placed on a board and being hauled away by that ambulance. My bike time was 1:02:59, 16.8mph.
Transition number two. I unmounted from my bike and re-racked my bike. What do I see, a used gel, I didn't see my gel and was like SOB. My towel had flipped up and covered mine, funny. I took my helmet and glasses off and took a few pictures and was out of transition in 1 minute 49, wow a 11 second improvement, I'm on a roll.
Me rolling into the dismount/transition, the emergency vehicles in the background and the muscle girl that timed it right
The last run, well if you want to call it that. See I didn't really practice bricks and knew from my one practice the weekend before this run was going to be very hard. After about a 1/4 mile my jello legs turned to lead. I was getting tired fast, just no rhythm at all. I made it a mile in, the water stand and started a brief walk. They gave me some weird liquid but I drank it, sure hope it picks me up. I keep chugging away and pass this older cat (age 62 per his leg markings) but as the hill climbs to the next water stand I walk again. Still walking after the water stand the old guy taps me and says its all downhill now, sure it is I think but stay within a few seconds of him till we cross the finish line. What do you know, as I get close to the finish line I get my run legs. I'm done my first Duathlon and I feel pretty darn good about myself. My second run 24.21, 9.41 min/m and my overall finish time was 1:52:40.
Me charging to the line
All I can say about my first Duathlon is sign me up for another as I had a blast. I know several ways I can shave significant time and hope next time I will see a nice improvement.
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