Opelousas Rotary Sunrise Duathlon - Duathlon


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Opelousas, Louisiana
United States
lafayettefitness.org
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 50m 26s
Overall Rank = 34/39
Age Group = F 20-24
Age Group Rank = 1/1
Pre-race routine:

This was my first multisport race, and my first race with my bike. I was not really nervous - I am liking this whole thing where I am not really that nervous at races.

woke up at 4.30 out of bed at 4.50 John was at my house for 5.15 packed my bags checked my list (good thing I wrote "breakfast" down - I almost forgot it) brought dry Vanilla Almond Special K and blue gatorade for the ride up there for breakfast.

1 hour ride to the race site. Read up on my new garmin so that it could work for my race - It worked great except for the HR - the strap was too big to stay around me.
Event warmup:

We got to the T area and immediately saw MamaBear - I figured TheBear knows what he's doing more than me so Trytotri and I set up shop on the same rack as them. I need to start warming up before races - I haven't done this and I'm using the first half mile of my races as a warm up and that's just stupid.

Shot a gel right before the race start - started at the back b/c I don't like to get ran over.
Run
  • 27m 49s
  • 2 miles
  • 13m 55s  min/mile
Comments:

Mama Bear and I did the first run together nice to do that too. Laurie would have liked this race.

I also must say that BT really held it down - Me, Mama Bear and Rugbykid were officially the 3 slowest runners of the day - Man I wish I were a faster runner....
What would you do differently?:

Not use the first 5 minutes of the RACE as a WARMUP.
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

t1 was okay - I will say that it was a bit disheartening to come into t1 and only see 2 other bikes - not a good way to start a race (i'm okay with the swim so i'm hoping my tri will be better) At least my bike was VERY easy to find though, right?

got into my shoes fine. put my sweatband on my forehead and pulled my helmet on and the sweatband just pushes down my face. I didn't feel like readjusting so I just pushed it up a bit into the helmet.

Also I did not fall down trying to get on.
What would you do differently?:

nothing really - I felt that my t1 went smoothly
Bike
  • 58m 30s
  • 16 miles
  • 16.41 mile/hr
Comments:

Well - let me just say that even though this was super hard and it had a couple of very tough (for me) hills - I still averaged 16.4, which is higher than my previous high of 14.9. I also haven't ridden more than 10 miles in months. So I am happy with my performance and I know that I can do better. Although - the 5 minutes that I spent trying to balance a gel in one hand a water bottle in the other, while trying to hold myself and my bike steady going UP a hill was not fun and probably slowed down my average. That was....interesting.

Although I came in 2nd to last in the first run - I did pass a few people on the bike. when I first got out on the bike the front racers were starting their second lap so I got to enjoy the push of them going fast. Then I started slowly passing people and boy I loved that. Then I started to pass a few guys and I really got motivated then. I think I probably passed about 7 or 8 people. I didn't really count but man that felt good. The best part though was going down those hills and throwing it into a really really low gear and just cranking away and going very fast down the hills. I LOVED that.
What would you do differently?:

Ride more in training - and I need to build a base on the bike - (which I just bought the base builder spinervals dvd so I'm working on that)

Drink more water
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

Let me JUST say that you KNOW that you are slow when you are pulling into T2 and almost EVERYONE is finished the race already - again NOT a good feeling. Not a very friendly crowd either I must say. Not sure if that is normal tri/duathlon crowds but not very encouraging.

Good T2 as well - I dismounted early but i knew that I would b/c I was nervous about not being able to unclip on time. I was running up to my rack and there I have The Bear flashing a camera and I see Trytotri in front of me he had just finished the race. I racked my bike with no problems - very surprising. Switched out my gear, got about 4 steps when I remembered my tubes/CO2 was all in my back pockets so I turned around to throw those back into my T area.
What would you do differently?:

become more comfortable with getting on and off the bike at a faster pace
Run
  • 24m 5s
  • 2 miles
  • 12m 02s  min/mile
Comments:

Like I said, most people were finished by the time I even went out for the run and they were not exactly the most supportive of the bunch (it's okay just an observation - it just almost felt like they were looking at me thinking "you are the slow poke we have to wait for before we can take our bikes out of the t-area for" besides - this slowpoke got some sweet hardware and most of them didn't)

Got out on the run and almost immediately my left knee starting hurting. Now, those of you who know me know that I have had knee pain in the past - but here's the thing - in the past it was always my right knee and my right knee was PERFECT the whole race. So I'm not sure what is going on with that. I switched sides of the street thinking it may be the incline. I just ignored it the rest of the race as it was pissing me off. I tried to stay faster on this run than I did on the first and it paid off by nearly 2min/miles.

Passed one guy on the run and I was coming up to him and I said "we are looking good" He says "I keep telling myself at least I'm out here, I could be sitting at home on the couch." I said absolutely - and kept on running. He looked like the kind of guy that need a little encouragement and with the not too friendly crowd I found it my place to provide it. I noticed that no one really thanked the cops from what I saw....
What would you do differently?:

not suck at running - that would help alot
Post race
Warm down:

Ahhh....the warmdown

Ran to T-area to get my AminoVital and ran back to the finishline to wait for MamaBear and Rugbykid. It was MamaBear's first multisport too and she did great. I know that Rugbykid didn't do as well as he had planned, but at this point, ANYONE that wakes up that early in the morning puts on spandex and drives an hour to put themselves though such a mental and physical test is awesome, so Chris I think you did great :)

Ate some, stuck around to win a door prize and to find out that I won 1st in my AG (i was the only one since the other girl who 2nd overall - go Ms. Ripple)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

1. I suck at the run
2. I suck at the run

Event comments:

I would and probably will do this race again next year.




Last updated: 2006-02-15 12:00 AM
Running
00:27:49 | 02 miles | 13m 55s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/1
Overall: 0/39
Performance: Average
Course: The Bear said this run course was about 0.2 miles longer than stated and I would have to concur.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
T1
Time: 00:00
Overall: Average
Run with bike? Below average
Jump on bike? Below average
Getting up to speed and into shoes: Average
Biking
00:58:30 | 16 miles | 16.41 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/1
Overall: 0/39
Performance:
Wind:
Course: Hills
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Bad Cornering: Bad
Gear changes: Average Hills: Below average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:24:05 | 02 miles | 12m 02s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/1
Overall: 0/39
Performance: Average
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]