Triathletes for Transformation

BikeSource Duathlon/Triathlon
May 16, 2010
Heritage Park
16050 Pflumm Road, Olathe, KS

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Run 1 Place

Run1 Time

Run1 Pace

T1 Place

T1 Time

Bike Place

Bike Time

Bike Pace

T2 Place

T2 Time

Run2 Place

Run2 Time

Run2 Pace

104

15:13

7:37

99

1:29

115

41:39

14.4

84

1:17

106

25:19

8:27

Overall Place	Gender Place	Age Place	Overall Time
130	107	???	1:24:55

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To think that it almost didn’t happen…

Days before the race was scheduled I checked the forecast to see what kind of elements would be adding to the normal challenge of a multisport race. Put in the ZIP code for Heritage park at weather.com and saw Rain, Rain, and more Rain. My first reaction was to be bummed because I have been looking forward to the start of triathlon season for months now. However, having been so busy, I haven’t gotten the training in that I would’ve liked, so the reaction that follow shortly after was a bit of relief thinking the race could be cancelled – I know, it’s a terrible attitude. My reason for mispreparation continued when I received an email Friday saying that the Triathlon would now be a Duathlon. They were gonna keep us out of the water probably to avoid the risks that lightning could be in the area Sunday morning, not to mention all the rain certainly driving the lake temperature way down.

I drove down to Heritage Park for packet pickup on the Saturday before the race and it rained pretty heavily on me the entire time. I figured I’d get my packet with a few freebies anyway. The volunteers and race director under the tent didn’t seem in the highest spirits. The weather was ‘raining on their parade’ quite literally.

“I really hope it’s dry enough tomorrow,” was the race directors response when I made small talk while they fetched my bag.

Personally, my mental preparation for the race was getting more lazy as the rain continued to pour down. It let up for a few hours that evening, as the forecast said it would, but picked up later and I figured it was the start of what the forecast said would be rain through the night and entire day Sunday.

Race Day

The hours of sleep I got between a bedtime that was a little too late and 5am were not as restful as I would’ve hoped especially when I checked my email to find that there was no “Race Cancelled” notification waiting. So I rubbed my eyes and tried to shake life into my limbs as I scurried around to gather all my gear being thankful that I didn’t have to worry about my swim gear since the race would now just be Run, Bike, Run. Certain I was forgetting something, I walked out the door anyway so as not to miss check-in. (I knew I was missing my Aero Bottle, but wasn’t too concerned)

The morning temperature was chilly, but not freezing and the precipitation was surprisingly only a steady and very light mist. The parking and transition area was already packed with people when we arrived at 6:30am. I walked my bike in as my girlfriend helped me with some gear and keep my dog close on the leash. All three of us were still waking up a little I think, but a Verve and some race excitement was carrying me through.

Auto-pilot

When we approached the bike racks, I began to feel very comfortable and the nervousness went away for a bit as I went into auto-pilot and set up my transition area. I felt good that I had time to relax a bit before the race began, but really it was a short time of body marking, chip pick-up, a long wait in the Johnny-on-the-spot line and a warm up run and it was time to head to the start line. That’s when I started to feel a bit nervous again, afraid of my lack of training and how much it might add to the difficulty of the race. Uncertain of how a Duathlon would differ from the Triathlons I was used to. But I closed my eyes, took some deep breaths, my girlfriend prayed for me on the way to start and it was time.

The Race

Can’t say it was by best race by any means, but I didn’t walk, ha ha. Believe it or not that was motivation for me at a few places, “Just don’t walk, just keep running, you’re fine.” The first run wasn’t so bad, it was a good warm-up if nothing else. Got on the bike and took off. It felt good to be moving so fast and smooth after the first run. The bike course was nice. Started with a 3 tiered hill that took some pumping, but once we got to the top it was pretty flat or downhill back around to the transition… but it was 3 laps. I couldn’t remember how many laps so I was trying to do the distance math as I was wearing down on the second lap… then I saw the sign, “After 3rd Lap Exit Left” – Dang it.

Zoomed through the cheering crowd at the transition area and took another lap. Saw a lot of flat tires unfortunately along the way.  I think I finally started to catch some of the Duathlete racers on my 3rd lap (Duathlon registrants started 20 minutes before Triathlete registrants). Came into transition for my exit, unclipped from my pedals and promptly almost fell over because my left clip apparently didn’t entirely unclip. It’s ok, I saved myself from the embarrassment of completely falling over and having a bleeding knee for the entire run leg (yes, it’s happened before.) Did the post-bike waddle to my transition spot and switched shoes and got on my way. I hate waiting for my legs to re-adjust to running.

All in all, my first duathlon wasn’t half bad and it sure did break me in for the season. Next up – Kansas City Triathlon 2010!