Champions Olympic Du
Saturday March 27, 2010
Distances: 5K Run, 40k Bike, 5K Run
Pre Race Thoughts:
So first of all I have to start out by saying I have NEVER done a du before in my life. I was originally signed up for the Olympic distance Tri, but was seriously freaked out about how cold the water temps were. I know what you are thinking…what a baby…but truly I get cold so easily and I didn’t want people to have to bail me out of the water because I got hypothermia!
So two days before the race, I switched my bib to the du!
I went into the race without tapering. Shawn had said…this is not a race for you, but more of a benchmark at where you are at currently. I have had a rough few month with getting sick with a virus in January and then two weeks later getting hit hard by Strep Throat, so my training was very very low for me. (Most of you would agree I probably needed the rest anyway…so I won’t complain…MUCH!).
Race Day:
Woke up and had my usual pre race meal, English muffin and peanut butter. YUM! Mixed up my Carbo Pro and Gatorade, (yes…I still use Gatorade…unless I can find Pure Sport or some other company to sponsor me…I will stick to old school style Gatorade!)
Placed all stickers and bibs were they were to go and packed up my tri bag and post race bag.
Up until the race it was pretty uneventful. I was VERY glad tho that I had chosen to do the duathlon instead of swimming. It was pretty cold in the morning and the wind was crazy. (I really didn’t know how crazy the wind was until I headed out on the bike…but more on that later.)
Race Start, First 5k
So everyone had said. Duathlons hurt worse than triathlons. Go out conservative on your first 5K….so that is what I did. I passed a couple of girls and then one girl passed me. I am not going to lie…I hate the 5K distance…it just hurts. So as I was running all I could think about was getting on the bike…I can’t believe that crossed my mind especially since I am a true runner at heart! I finished the first 5K keeping a solid 7:30 pace. Not too terribly hard for a flat course, but I knew I was working.
And then the Bike…
I had been riding a lot lately and thought… 25 miles…no big deal. Well…I was so wrong. The wind was brutal!! WOW…but I was like…what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. The first loop…was uneventful. I was taking note in my head about the course so I knew what to expect the second time around. I kept looking at my watch and the time…wondering…why it is taking me so freaking long. I never saw many people on the first loop. Just a few guys would come whizzing past but no girls…so I felt safe!! There was one hill toward the last few miles of the loop that was killer. Straight up hill into the wind. I surely took good note on that one…EEK!
Alright…now onto the second loop!! Going by the transition area was great! The wind was at my back and I could build speed for at least a couple of miles before turning back out into the wind! I saw some of my friends and they were so great!! Yelling and screaming “Go Amie!!” I thought …YES!! Just one more loop and I could run again.” The second loop didn’t seem as bad. Maybe because I knew what to expect! I remember this one guy finally caught up to me. He was on a pink and purple bike. We kept going back and forth and back and forth, him passing me and me him. He looks over at me and says “I guess we are going to dance the whole way!” I couldn’t help but think..I am way stronger than any guy on a pink bike…I am outta here…I took off leaving him behind..and never saw him again! YIPPEE!!
I came around the very last part of the course…there was the hill…not as bad as the first loop, so up I went and quickly headed back to the transition area… ready to run!
…And the Last 5K
Why did I want to run again…OUCH…my legs are fried!! The first ½ mile was just trying to get my legs back under me! I see the first water stop and I grab some water. A bit after that my friend George comes up behind me and starts pushing on my back saying “Thought you were faster than this!” UGH…thanks George! J
The last half mile or so I cramped a bit in my side. I am not sure what it was from, but it did stop me twice, but was able to start again really quickly and it eventually subsided. I finished strong…and felt GREAT at the end! Average run pace for the last 5K 8:30. I had slowed by a minute, but knew it would be slower due to tired legs and cramping!
After Race Thoughts:
I was happy to be done and it was great to have so many of my friends out there to cheer me on. Talie and Hank get extra thanks!!!! I waited a bit for the results. I think that Hank was WAY more excited to see how I did. Ended up 3rd overall female in the Du! Not bad for a training race!! All and all I was super happy and had a blast .
Thank you again to the Red Licorice crew for putting on an amazing race and being so supportive to those of us who race!!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment