On May 9 I did my first duathlon! It was the Guthrie Super Sprint Du-1.5mi run, 14mi bike, and a 1.5mi run. We had a very busy week in terms of weather, with lots of flooding and tornadoes (the sirens went off 17 times on Wednesday alone. SEVENTEEN.) Luckily today the weather held out. While it didn't rain, the humidity was 92%, and that sucked. The race started at 7:30, but packet pickup opened at 5:30. I didn't want to be late and get stuck in a crowd, so my bff and I left at 5:15 this morning. I packed my car and we were on our way.
We found parking very easily, and I went over to packet pickup. I thought it went really well, but I found out later that it didn't (more on that later, lol). I told them that it was my first time, and the nice lady at the table explained to me how to put the number on my bike. I got body marked (btw, sharpie doesn't come off easily), and went back to the car to get my stuff for the transition.
A man at the transition area helped me set up my bike since it was my first time. The rack spaces were assigned, thankfully. My bike is a 44", so it's pretty much an extra small. Most people hung their bikes by the seat, but the wind moved mine around too much. So we hung it by the shifters (that made me so nervous!). I laid out a towel to make it easy to find my bike. I laid out my shoes and gel flask and helmet. I had planned to set my gloves inside my helmet, but since it was windy, I fasted them onto the helmet straps just to be safe. Here's my transition set up in all of it's newbie glory:
It was sort of cold, so we went back to the car to wait for the race to start. I heard some of the announcements, but mostly it was just the RD yelling at people to re-rack their bikes, so I didn't pay attention. Finally, it was time to go line up.
I wore my triathlon shorts that I bought roughly 2 years ago for spin class and a cannondale tri top that I bought last year. I bought a bib belt and some lock laces so that my shoes would be easier to slip off. I actually really like them, so they may stay on my shoes.
Anyway, the race started. I could totally tell that I'm primarily a runner, because it confused me that there was no starting line timing strip to cross, nor were there pace markers. I lined up with a nice lady who had randomly chatted with me in the transition area, and we were off. The 1.5mi run approached and went around the masonic temple and back to the transition. I was determined not to have to walk in that first leg of the race. Unfortunately, that meant that I ran a 9:15 mile, lol. Add that to 92% humidity, and it was rough. I could not catch my breath! My garmin says that it took me 13:07 to do the first running leg. I got through it, and got into the transition. I made sure to put my helmet on first thing-they will DQ you for not wearing your helmet. I managed to get my garmin started, got my shoes and gloves on, and made it out of transition. You can't mount the bike until you cross a certain line, so I walked out of transition, got on my bike, and off I went.
Now here's the sad and pathetic part. The first half mile of the bike ride was fine. I think I was going on adrenaline at that point. But then I started feeling the effects of the heat and going out too hard in that first run. My stomach started cramping so badly that I didn't know if I could continue. It hurt to pedal. This lasted for about the first 4 miles. I managed to realize what was happening, and got some gatorade and hammer gel into me, but it took a while to work. At one point, I was going 9mph on a flat road with a 13mph tailwind. It doesn't get much more pathetic than that. I'm glad that I didn't see an official at this point, because I would have asked them to pull me. Finally, though, I started feeling better, and was able to speed up and get going. I even managed to pass 2 people on the way back! The bike route was an out-and-back, so that means that the tail wind was a headwind on the second portion. The USATF has very strict rules about drafting, and I was really worried that I would draft by accident. Luckily I didn't. I called out to the 2 cyclists as I passed them, and they both kind of looked at me funny, so I guess it's not normal to do call-outs. But I wanted them to know that I was passing them, because you have to slow down when someone overtakes you. But whatever. I finished the bike ride; I got all excited one block too soon because the intersection was closed and I thought that that was the finish. Nope, I had another block to go, lol. I got off my bike before I reached that magical pink line, and walked into the transition. I had some trouble getting my running shoes back on, but I managed to get going. Garmin says that the bike portion took me 1:01:14 (14.1mph ave).
The second run was a slow shuffle with a lot of walking. My legs were jello, and my stomach still hurt a bit from the cramps on the bike. I made it through it, though, as icky as it was. Garmin says that this one took me 16:11, which is an 11:15/mile pace. I'm surprised that it was that fast, lol.
I managed to finish, and the girl at the finish line asked for my timing chip. I didn't have one, and said as much, but I didn't think about it much because I was focused on the food at the finish line. I took the happy face pic to show how happy I was to be done, and the sad face pic because that bike part sucked. I got some food, loaded up my stuff, and went home.
Now, the sad (and somewhat embarrassing) part. When I got home and got cleaned up, I went online to check the race results. I couldn't find my name! I messaged a guy that I sort of know on fb and who was at the race, and asked if I had missed something. Since it was my first duathlon, I thought that maybe I had forgotten to check in at some mandatory after-race meeting or something. After a chat with him and with the race director, I realized that I did not pick up my timing chip with my bib and bike number. I sort of assumed that it was on my bib. The RD said that they made several announcements about it, but since we sat in the car, I had a hard time hearing the announcements. The ones I did hear were all about re-racking bikes anyway. If I had heard it, I think that it is likely that I would have thought that I was fine because I had my bib and bike number. So I didn't get an official time for my efforts today. Luckily, I have my garmin data, so I can estimate times, but as far as athlinks is concerned, I didn't do the race. I got a finisher's medal though, and the t-shirt fits, so that's good. These are my estimated times and placings, assuming that I was the only person who forgot to get their chip.
1st run: 7:29am, 13:07, ~7:42am
~T1: ~2 min
Bike: 7:44am, 1:01:14, 8:45am
~T2: ~2min
2nd run: 8:47am, 16:11, 9:03am
Approx total time: 1:34
5 people finished after me (yay for not being last!)
69/74 Overall
28/32 Females
6/6 F30-34
