Sunday, June 01, 2008

National Duathlon Festival, Richmond, VA, April 27, 2008

I write this with heavy heart. Since this race I have become injured and have only run once and it was painful. I would have had this posted earlier, but have been dealing with the injury. But, I will leave that for another post and talk about the Duathlon.

Since coming off the marathon, I thought I could just kind of coast through and do well at the duathlon. I didn't do any heavy bike training during marathon prep, but I was on my bike 1-2x a week as cross training. I naively thought this would be enough prep. Just b/c you are well trained in one discipline doesn't mean you can do well in another.

Plus, having run the "Muddy Pit 10 miler" a week post marathon and then trying to get in some harder bike efforts to be prepared for the Du, I did everything I would tell my runners not to do. I lined up fatigued.

My main objective for this race was to see my good friend Susan. We went out the night before and had a glass of wine and some pasta. The wine isn't something I usually do, and won't again. Not b/c of my lack of performance but I think it may have contributed to stomach problems that morning.

The morning started rough. I woke up late! I had set up for a wake up call which didn't come! What a mess. That combined with stomach issues, I called to tell Susan I would have to meet her there. You don't want to feel rushed when your stomach hurts. Since I had taken lightly to the importance of this race, I was ill prepared. Luckily Susan had some Immodium in your transition bag that I was grateful for!


Though the day before had been very sunny, hot and humid for the off roaders, today was cooler, cloudy and drizzled with rain. Perfect conditions if we were only running. Biking on slick roads can be tricky. And this was certainly the case as I have never seen so many people wipe out, have flats or other biking disasters.

Although duathlons may seem like an easier sport then triathlons, the opposite is actually true. I find that duathlons offer a whole different and more difficult challenge then triathlons. Running first is the kicker. Learning to pace that first one can be tough.

With my transition set up, I do my usual running warmup and a few extra stops at the port-a-potties. Susan and I line up. She had tried to cancel on me a couple weeks ago, but I wouldn't let her. I knew her 50 year old butt would kick every one elses! And I was right. She ended up qualifying for World's!

The first run, a 10k, felt real sluggish for me. I had no plan and no expectations really. The course was rolling with short hills. Lots of twists and turns. I decided to just try to keep Susan in my sites. Well, that plan didn't last too long. I came in at 51:36, frankly a little embarrassed.
T1 was 1:18. Not bad since I felt like I was moving in slow motion.

The bike was tricky. The wet roads, windy conditions and hilly ass course made my thighs cry for mercy. The bad thing was that it was a 10k loop, so we got to revisit those monster hills a few times. There were also a few hairpin turns and tight turns. One guy wiped out right in front of me. My husband, Porter, and kids, Addie and Thomas, saw a really bad one-man accident at dismount. He ended up in the ER.


I managed the bike, although admittedly with caution for a good portion of it. I tried to open up on the downhills to make up for it, but the wind on the bridge, coming back, was a killer! I finished the 40k in 1:33.09, a 16 mph average.


I walked into T2 with my bike. I wasn't about to run yet. I was feeling pretty darn beat up at this point, so I figured what the heck. Somehow, and I have no clue how this happened, this transition was faster then the first! 1:11. I can never really figure out where the transition time starts and ends. Maybe it started later then I thought and the walk with my bike was included in the bike ride leg?? I don't know.









Run two was the same as run one but only one loop to make it a 5k. Mentally I wasn't really fighting anymore. Just wanted to finish and eat something, like a big fat doughnut. That's not to say I didn't put some effort into this last run, I did, it just didn't show itself as such. I finished the run in 26:40. Blah!

I would like to try to do well in a Duathlon one of these days. I'd consider going back to this one, but it'll be right after Boston next year. Below are my official results:

Christine Hinton #1236

Clock Time: 2:53:51
Overall Place: 231 / 284
Gender Place: 60 / 87
Division Place:11 / 13
Divtotal: 14
Sextotal: 94

Run1Time: 51:36
Run1Pace: 8:19
Run1Place: 238

Tran1: 1:18


Biketime: 1:33:09
Bikemph: 16.0
Bikeplace: 248


Tran2: 1:11


Run2Time: 26:40
Run2Pace: 8:35
Run2Place: 203