July 15, 2013

Maryland Olympic Duathlon recap

So this was my first Duathlon and let me say it was very freaking HARD. My friend J and I initially signed up for this race a couple months back not really expecting it to be that hilly. Her friend who had also signed up said it just had a couple hills & the run portion was short (6 miles). I think the short run portion is what sold us on registering. We went about training & agreed to go on a few long rides in the hills of Prince William Forest along with some practice long runs in between.

The race started at 7am so we agreed to get on the road by 5am, this would allow us plenty of time to pick up our packets & rack our bikes. Race morning went pretty smoothly. I got up & had my usual pre race meal of toast, peanut butter with sliced bananas and was out the door by 4:40. We both met up at her house at 5am and made the 45+  minute ride to Western Regional Park in Woodbine, Maryland.
Here is a heads up if you ever have to travel through parts of Maryland. As we were driving the GPS had us go through various towns and we noticed a couple of flashes. After the 2nd flash it dawned on us that we were caught by the speed light cameras. UGH !!

We both also took notice as to how the landscape changed from an occasional hill to a rolling countryside as far as the eye could see. All we could do was laugh and cross our fingers & hope that we finish the race in 1 piece.
The race started in waves with the Elites going first. We were grouped in waves based on age and gender. We took a couple pre race pictures & headed to the corral.




The start was very easy & the run portion was very easy. We both finished in 20 minutes.

Transition 1 was easy but a lot of time was wasted it took (5 mins).


Elevation showing how hilly it was

The ride was a looped course each loop was 13 miles. It started out going up a small hill & at the top you turned right and it's a nice long down hill for about 3 miles then the remainder of the course is up down, up down, etc... After climbing the first hill I decided my strategy would be to take full advantage of the downhill's and go as fast as I could. Miles 4, 7, 12 & 17 I clocked 18-20 mph according to Garmin. I was in trouble when I drank all my water after mile 18. I do not know what the hell I was thinking carrying only 1 water bottle especially when the high was going to be 90+ degrees with 94% humidity. Lesson learned for sure & thank goodness I was almost done. I finished the 26 miles in 1:55:25 which averaged out to 13.5 mph.

Transition 2 was again spent wasting time (4:58 min).

The final 4 mile run was a very strange feeling. I never practiced any brick workouts (run bike transition training) prior to this race so I was totally thrown off by this weird feeling. To me, it was like learning to walk again, I cannot explain it but it took me a good 3/4 of a mile before running felt semi "normal". All I remember is that it was really HOT & when I saw the first water station I grabbed 2 Gatorades & 2 cups of water. I downed both Gatorades, 1 cup of water & poured the other water over my head. The rest was a blur until about the last 1/4 mile when I was running up the hill toward the finish I saw Paul (J's friend) waving at me. I crossed the finish & was so relieved and somewhat in disbelief that I actually finished.


Until next time.....:D