WOW! That's all I can say about my first attempt at a dual sport event. Considering this was only the second time I ran and road in the same day (last Sunday was the first), I'm very pleased with the outcome. Needless to say there were some strong multisport athletes there today laying it down from all over the region, but I think I held my own.
The Peanut Butter Duathlon (formerly the Law Day Duathlon) was held at Rock Cut State Park (Loves Park, IL) and was a 2 mile trail run, 14 mile bike, 2 mile trail run.
Woke up this morning and while I was having my breakfast the rain began. I did not have a good feeling about the day. When I pulled into the Olsen beach parking lot it was raining pretty heavy. I thought that this was going to be really dumb. But after seeing the crowd it reminded me that everyone is competeing in the same condtions and it was time to suck it up. After the pre-race "rituals" it was time to line up.
Run 1:
I had a plan to go out slow and not worry about dropping back. Running was going to be my weakness so I wanted to save some for the bike and try to make up some time there. Because of the rain, the trails were pretty slick, but in suprisingly good shape (minus the mud pit around mile 1). After stepping in a mud hole (twice) my feet were pretty soaked and weighed about 10lbs each. I kept soldiering on and was EXTREMELY suprised when I saw my split time as I approached the first transition (~15:30). Run 1 done, bring on the bike.....
Transition 1:
I was completely clueless when it came to the transition. At one moment I couldn't remember where I hung my bike. That lasted all of about 2 seconds. I approached my bike, ripped my running shoes off, slipped my riding shoes on, strapped the helmet, grabbed my bike, and headed towards the bike leg. My riding shoes are like wearing glass slippers on ice when it is dry out, so the trot (okay fast walk) to the mounting area was SLOW. I have not seen my splits, but I hope I stayed under 2 minutes. argh! On the bike.........
Bike:
The rain must of stopped as soon as I entered the transition area. I train on this road about 3-4 times per week so the rain/water doesn't bother me. I know every pot hole (and there are plenty this year) and every slick spot like my own hand. Shift into my big ring.......doink.......chain drops off the big ring. I have to stop and fix it. I've been having problems with the front derailleur but thought I had it figured out, guess not. Not a good start. I took about 20 seconds to dismount, fix, and get going again. Okay lets do this again. At least 5-10 people went by me in that short period of time, so that was a shot of adrenaline. Once I turned onto the park road and was heading towards the first climb (we call it I-90, cuz it runs along I-90) there was pack of people ahead. I must of passed 10 people going up the climb. That made up for the dropped chain. Put my head down and got down to business. I had a set plan in my head how I was going to treat each lap and each climb. Now if I can stick too it an not get wrapped up in the competition. Today was more about me doing something new and less about competing (YEAH RIGHT!).
At the start of lap two I was about 20 yards behind a guy and decided to pass off of him. I stayed back to not get accused of drafting, but wanted to put enough pressure on him to keep him pushing and in turn that would push me. As we approached the Damn (please no Damn pictures), another rider went by me going down the hill to the damn bridge. The bridge is wooden with metal plates for automobile tire tracks. Add rain water and you might as well spread oil across the thing. Sure enough the "guy in blue" panic'd when he was on the wood and tried to cross over to the metal.......BAM!!!....down he went. I stayed calm and avoided him to the let. I later found out there were several crashes on that bridge today, in fact one was a girl that we know from the gym that is an accomplished long distance athlete. Her leg looked like ground beef when I saw her at the finish.
Lap three was business as usual. I was able to catch and pass a few more riders and still had my "pacer' about 20 yards ahead of me. I think my plan was working, cuz he spent allot of time looking back to see if I was still there. That was fun. I caught him as we approached the second transition and now it was time to see how my legs would hold up.
Transition 2:
Just as slow if not slower than the first time. Note to self....it would be faster next time to take your shoes off as soon as you dismount the bike. The road bike waddle was not very efficient.
Run 2:
My legs were moving, but it felt like I was going backwards. And to add insult to injury, as I approached the trail the leader was crossing the finish line. I was 2 MILES behind the overall winner. OUCH! My pacer was still in front of me, but he looked like he was hurting. I like to think I had something to do with that, but my guess is he doesn't do these very often either. New goal, pull up to him, say some kind words and try to pick up the pace. I said "hello" and "Not sure if you knew it, but there was a huge crash on the bridge right behind you", he acknowledged me and I knew right then that I won't have a problem with him passing me back. My legs began to wake up around mile 1. And honestly I really started to feel good. THEN, a female (I passed her on the 3rd lap on the bike) passed me with less than a half mile to go. She looked like this wasn't her first dually. Very strong runner and it took everything to keep a 20 yard gap between us (her in front of course). I pushed it hard over the last 400 meters and came across the line at 1:17.30ish.
My goal was 1:20.00 so I accomplished that, but TRULY feel I had some left in the bag. My goal for next years Peanut Butter is to be a stronger runner and try to get closer to 1 hr. All in all it was a fun event and the rain really wasn't a problem.
Recent Comments