kimawesomeA couple weeks ago I kicked off my multisport season with the Brands Duathlon.  You may recall I did the exact same race last October and it was not pretty!!  Cold and rainy, it was an experience that I will never forget.  You can read more about it HERE.  So this race is also very close to home, so I got to get up maybe a couple hours b4 the race started, showered, grabbed a bite, and was out the door.

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Pre-race

The weather was actually perfect.  I can’t remember the exact temperature , but the cycling jacket I was prepared to wear I didn’t need to because it was just that nice outside.  Yes I do love me some red!  You can catch a glimpse of Ruby (my bike) behind me with the red helmet hanging off the bars.

I have to say Race Awesome did an amazing job with the set up and organization of this race.  If you look very closely you can see a white sticker on the bike rack.  That sticker had my full name and bib number on it.  I haven’t done that many multisport races, but this is the first time that I’ve seen this and it made for a very non-complicated transition area, so kudos to you Race Awesome for making it easier on your athletes.

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Preparing to mount b4 the bike leg

This Duathlon was Run 1.2 miles, Bike 11 miles, Run 1.2 miles, so fairly short distance wise, but for a newbie a challenge nonetheless.  I felt really good on the run and managed to squeak out a 8:55 mile pace which is pretty good considering I’m running in the mid 9’s right now.

On to the bike.  The bike is my least favorite of the three disciplines.  I would have never thought that biking would be so difficult, but I am still learning and progressing with every ride.  Now I’ve been riding a trainer indoors since February and have been clipping in so I’ve gotten pretty comfy on the bike, but a couple weeks before this race (maybe a week) was the first time I took my tri bike out on the road, and it was not pretty at all!  In fact it was so ugly that I bust my a$$ trying to clip my left foot in.  The fall was so bad a woman came running up to me asking if I was ok.  I was laughing at myself because I fell but I let her know I was fine and got back up and started my ride.  When I got home and took off my tights I realized my knee was busted up a bit and bleeding.  I’m told I have 2 more falls to go until I am a real cyclists!

I go into this story because this fall happened at the exact same park that this Duathlon took place so I was being very cautious as to not wipe out in front of a crowd full of people while mounting my bike!  The mount went well with no falls.  This bike course is fairly easy except for the fact that about a minute or 2 into it you have to climb a small hill.  This means you have to climb this hill on the way back because it is a looped course.  The only thing that I did not like about the bike course was the u turn that has to be made.  The turn is fairly tight, and turns into a one lane turn which can get a bit tricky if the person in front of you basically comes to a complete stop to make the turn.  On my 2nd loop this happened and I had to steer into the dirt which apparently is a big no no on my bike.  I felt like I was about to fall and had to quickly clip out my left foot just in case.  I actually ended up steering into the oncoming bikes which turned out to not be so bad because there were only a few people coming.  I got back in the right lane and shouted out “sorry guys” and someone yelled “well at least you didn’t fall” and I said “thank goodness” laughed and kept going.  That was my only mishap on the bike other than not going into aero (ugh).  I managed to finish the bike in about 44.77.

IMG_7510My feet felt like bricks of course as I prepared to start the last leg.  It takes me a long time, like the first full mile to get my legs back which was not good because that was all I had!  Coming off the bike I was in 3rd place in my division, but finished in 5th so I have much work to do on my run leg.  This run leg was at a 09:51 pace, so almost a full minute slower than the opening mile.  Now when I think about the mini tri where they wrote our ages on our calfs I am wishing we had that in the Du so I could have seen those 30-34 yr olds running by me!  I’ll catch them next time!IMG_7511

Overall another good race in the books.  I wasn’t lying in bed afterwards so my conditioning was pretty good, and all those early morning training sessions feel like they are paying off.  The countdown to Ironman Eagleman continues!

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Ruby and I

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All Womens Tri and Brands Tri Teams

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Medal Pic

 

 

 

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