My First Duathlon- I DID IT!!!!

Here I am right after I completed my first Duathlon (2 mile run, 10 mile bike, 3 mile run).

What an amazing experience it was. I pushed myself further than I have ever pushed myself before. I completed the race in just under 2hrs...and I mean just under. My official score was 1hr 59min and some seconds which I don't remember. So now I have my base time that I need to beat for my next one...did I just really say that?

So here is my experience to the best I can describe it:
Had a rough night sleep with crazy dreams about the race. One dream I remember is that I parked my car and then after the race I couldn't find it and was stranded....weird...I know!

Anyway the day started at 5:30am of which I rolled out of bed just before 6am. Loaded up all my stuff and headed to the race. I got there about 7am and it was packed. I think there were a little over 300 participants for this race.

I sign in,  get my number, my packet and set up my bike station. 7:30am they had the pre-race meeting and at 8am the race started. The crazy thing is I wasn't nervous....I think at this point ignorance is bliss.



So the run begins and luckily I friended a lady (Kathy) that ran my speed and most of the way we ran together until my calf’s started to tighten up. (Lesson 1, Do a warm up run and stretch before the race begins) So I stopped to walk and stretch out my calf’s and Kathy pushed forward. My calf’s finally loosened up and I started to run again.

Coming around the corner, I see Kathy on her bike and she yelled for me to catch up to her. OK, I can sure try. So I picked up my pace and crossed the blue mats and ran to my bike. Got on my bike and headed up the hill (to give you a visual, we start the race at the bottom of a hill next to the lake. So the first 500 meters is all up hill).

This is the bike station and that is my bike and number:)

The bike course was extremely hilly and the section that I thought was straight was more like a 3 mile incline. (Lesson 2, if the course is hilly, train on hills! This is where my training failed me because I had only trained on flat surfaces. Next year I’m training on the hills.) This was a tough course. About 2 miles into the ride I was extremely happy I decided to purchase an actual road bike…not sure I would have fared to well on my mountain bike.

Coming up to mile 4 I started to question why I wanted to do this in the first place. My stomach was getting nauseated and at one point I felt like I was going to throw up (Lesson 3, Stay hydrated!!!) I sucked in as much air as I could to preventing me from tossing my cookies. Coming up to mile 5 there was a couple sitting in front of their house playing their banjos. I loved that! It was music and gave me that extra push I needed to finish getting up that stupid incline.

I past the Mile 5 mark and it was almost all down hill from there.  It was such a relief! The five miles back didn’t seem to take as long as it did getting to the five mile mark. About Mile 8 I past Kathy. She apparently didn’t train at all on the bike so this was her weakest part. I pedaled right past her and she cheered me on.

I pass over the blue mats to the transition area and my legs were just not working. I knew this was going to be a tough transition so I walked my bike to my station and took a little bit of time to let my legs adjust. As I was ready to take off for my final run, Kathy entered the transition station. I waved and moved on.

So up the hill I go again. This time I decided to walk up the hill and then run at the top of the hill. Kathy caught up to me and decided to walk up the hill with me. During the walk my side started to cramp and I was having a hard time catching my breath. I took several deep breaths and finally got the cramping to go away. Kathy took off once we reached the top of the hill I continued to walk until I was better.

Finally when the cramping stopped I started to run again. (Lesson 4, train harder on the running AKA actually work on running a straight 3 miles instead of run/walking!!!) My legs were aching, my feet hurt and then the nausua hit again. The water sloshing around in my stomach was not doing so well. (Back to Lesson 3, stay hydrated!!) I took in too much water at the transition station and now the water was sloshing around in my stomach and made me feel sick.

Once everything finally adjusted I tried to run again but I think my body was angry with me and refused to listen so I was stuck walking.  I noticed two other girls walking ahead of me so I picked up speed and caught up to them and started to chat. I enjoyed the talking but at mile 2 I decided to take  off running again. I picked up my pace and went all out.

When I saw that finish line I dug down deep and push as hard as I possibly could and crossed over the finish line to a cheering crowd. I didn’t know anyone but it still felt good.
 
I caught up with Kathy and we congratulated each other. Then I hung around to watch the other lady I talked to cross over the finish line. I was able to meet her husband and 4 kids. It was a really fun day over all. Now I’m excited about trying my first Triathlon.

I learned a lot of lessons that day but the most important is to stay hydrated. I ended up getting an insane headache when I got home and the nausea came back. I didn’t realize what was causing it until I talked to my mom. After many glasses of water and a 2hr nap I was back to normal by night.

I should have drank water/sport drink before the race and I should have drank more during the race. Silly me, I didn’t realize the impact a two hour race can have on my body. I now know better for next time.

At the end of the day I received a shirt, a participation medal and a little boost to my pride!

UPDATE:
Here is a picture of me crossing the finish line. I'm glad they had someone there taking pictures. I have to laugh at this picture because if you look close enough I have the most stupid smile on my face. I have to say it is difficult to put on a full blown smile after 2hours of killing yourself. But I tried and no matter how dorky I look I'm very proud that I finished this course. Next year I'm planning on doing the tri instead of the dua.

My Life List

My Life List….it was a crazy list that I put together right after my Divorce about 8 years ago. It was a time in my life when I was trying to rediscover myself and find where I fit in.  It was all those crazy items that I had always dreamed of doing but never could for one reason or another. Over the past 8 years I have been working on my list and it has really dwindled down to almost nothing. 

And as I speak, in less than a month I will remove one more item from that list. The sprint Triathlon! To be honest this was one of those items that I never thought I would ever do. I figured it was something that I could put on there and just let sit. You know, the untouchable dream. But here I am now, already signed up and have been training for it. 

People say it’s about the journey but really its about the journey and the accomplishments . I have a hard time sitting back and looking at a journey that led to failure and saying “well at least I enjoyed the journey”. Just not going to happen for me…we all tick a little differently. 

So what made me do it…to sign up. This whole thing came around when I started running with a friend and after a few conversation about different things we could sign up for she suggested we do a sprint triathlon. Then of course, I blurted out “Oh that is something that I’ve always wanted to do”. So she smiled and said let’s do it. 

I found one, however the swimming part was in a lake. I used to be a strong swimmer but now in my old age I’m not so confident and doing my first tri in a lake just didn’t sit well. However they had a Duathlon (2mile run, 10 mile bike, 3mile run) at the same time. So I thought that would be a good first start to see if I even liked doing anything like this. I signed up. My friend did not.

So tomorrow, I am about to venture into the world of Tri’s and Du’s by myself. No coach, no friends and no family to cheer me on or scream congratulation when I cross over the finish line for the first time I complete a Duathlon. Yes, it is pathetic but I was kinda hoping someone would be there just to experience the moment with me. OK…all sappiness aside.

Then just a week ago I was talking to a coworker and she said she just signed up for a Tri in Sept and the swim is in a pool. So I told my friend and we both signed up for it. So when I do my first sprint triathlon my friend will be there suffering along side me and experiencing the moment with me. I’m totally excited about the Tri!

So this year I will have completed my first Duathlon and Sprint Triathlon within one month of each other. Can’t wait to see where this craziness leads to.

PS... I’m hoping they have people that will help you to your car after the race:)