Today I came in first in my age group (60+). Yippee!
My very first Du and to be able to pull this off. Yippee! Guess all my running and biking has trained me better than I thought.
Now I need to start planning and training for bigger and better duathlons. This one was a small one, with two 2 mile runs, plus 10 miles on the bike. The next one in this series is two 3.1 miles and an 18 mile bike ride.
I had gotten Yankz! to put on my running shoes in preparation for the event. These are stretchable shoe laces that allow you to slip your running shoes on and off during the race. I also got a big orange Homer bucket from Home Depot to hold my shoes and helmet at the transition area. Plus it was really handy for transporting things!
Some of the things I need to think about getting in the future:
- A lighter weight jersey, perhaps even a sleeveless one. (The one I used was hot and it covered the numbers they had marked on my arm.)
- Nipple guards to make things more comfortable during and post-race.
Some of the things I need to do to make the race better:
- Go out and drive or preferably ride or run the course.
- Practice my transitions.
- Do some brick work outs.
- Go someplace where we can practice with long stretches of road way.
It all started off on a sour note. On Saturday I rode my Cannondale bike down to Jack and Adams to get my package of race day things. My numbers, tee shirt, and instructions on how to get to the event. Of course I wore my Garmin – I wear it for any exercise – and it worked flawlessly. When I got home, it had been about a twenty mile trip. I connected it to the computer to download the route. Motionbased kept telling me that it could not connect to my Garmin. I tried several times testing to make sure the Garmin was in the cradle, changed where the USB connector was plugged, finally rebooting the computer. All to no avail.
About this time I noticed that the text that is normally displayed was not on the screen. So I tried to power up the unit and it would not power up. At this point I was pretty bummed! I was counting on using it during the DU, to pace myself and record all the details of my first duathalon.
I talked to Marilyn and she reminded me that I had got the Garmin at REI just over a month ago. So we took the Garmin back downtown to the REI store. They exchanged it with no problems, since we had bought it with our membership card. To say that I was very relieved was an understatement.
This morning started on a much better note. I set my alarm for 4:30, and then I woke up several times in the night just to make sure that 4:30 had not already passed. When at 4:30 the alarm went off, I quickly started getting ready. The first order of business, of course, was coffee followed by my oatmeal mix.
I planned to leave at 5:30 to arrive at 6 AM. However, I was about 15 minutes late in getting off.
When I got there I was very happy to see Andrea, Daniel’s wife, there. It’s good to have someone who knows the ropes in helping you get set up and ready. She is in serious training for the Sacramento Marathon so she was not going to do this race. She was there simply as our cheering section, picture taker, and support crew. I am not sure how many triathlons she has done, but she is quite experienced. She has been training with some of the best athletic training programs in the city. It was really nice of her to come out and lend support to us newbies. Thank you, Andrea!
At 7:15 we had the pre-race talk, where the officials explained the route, the rules and introduce various people. At 7:30 they start the people who were doing the Double Du, and five minutes later the people who were doing the Du.
Daniel and I ran together for the first two mile run. Then at the first transition he got ahead of me and slowly pulled away on the bike. I probably should have reeled him in on the first hill, but there was several people I was jockeying with and I lost track of him.
When I got back in from the bike ride I was feeling pretty good. I probably should have pushed harder. But this is where having ridden the course ahead of time would have helped. I never really knew what was ahead or how much more to expect.
The second two mile run was a different story from the first. I don’t think I had run over a quarter of a mile when my legs became dead weights. My feet did not want to turn over but I plodded on. The only time I stopped to walk was at the turn-around and at the water stations.
Finally, about a quarter mile from the end I heard them announce that Daniel had crossed the finish line. A few minutes later I crossed the finish line.
We hung around and ate breakfast and a short time later they posted the results of the race. Andrea noticed that I had finished first in my age group and Daniel was fourth in his age group. So I hung around for the awards ceremony. I don’t get many awards.
Yippee!
Here is what my Garmin recorded. Unfortunately I did not get the last running leg and I did not change to biking mode until I had gone for about half a mile on the bike.
Run
Bike
Time: 01:27:09
Chip Time: 01:27:09
Bib: 144
Place: 49
Name: Gary Pickens
Gender: M
Age: 61
City: Austin
Class: M 60-64
Event: Dad’s Sprint Du
Class Pos: 1
Gender Pos: 33
Run 2 Mile Rank: 48
Run 2 Mile Time: 21:42
Run 2 Mile Pace: 10:52/M
T1 Time: 01:58
Bike 10 Mile Rank: 45
Bike 10 Mile Time: 40:14
Bike 10 Mile Pace: 14.9mph
T2 Time: 01:28
Run 2 Mile Pace: 10:51/M