Cary Long Course Duathlon - Duathlon

They played the national anthem and lined up the long course men. The men started right on time at 7:00 and they lined up the women. We started at 7:04. The short course athletes were starting later.

I ran a lap of the USA Baseball parking area and headed out on Green Hope School Road before getting on the greenway. We crossed Morrisville Parkway and passed the first water stop (also the short course turnaround). By the time we got to the first water stop, I started to pass some of the men. We continued on Southbridge Greenway which had some notable hills. At the turnaround, I grabbed water and headed back the way we came. I passed people walking the hills. As I got back to Green Hope School road, I could see people starting the bike course and I hustled back to transition.

I ran to my bike, donned my helmet and changed shoes. And she's off!

I was concerned about the bike leg in the time leading up to this event. I have not had a lot of time on my bike this year due to marathon training and I don't feel like I have a lot of speed in my legs since the marathon less than a month ago. I pre-rode it the weekend before the race and I am glad that I did. There were two places on the course (one we passed twice) that I needed to pay close attention to my shifting. Overall, I'm pleased with how the ride went. I was faster than I expected to be (granted, there was really no wind to speak of).

I was upset that in the last quarter of the bike course there were three other women near me. They were not riding in a non-drafting spacing. If I passed one, I had to pass all there and then the three of them would pass me back. I'd drop back and repeat. They finally dropped me with about three miles to go. I was very annoyed, especially since one of them was in my age group. That being said, a lot of drafting penalties were issued in this event -- 14 penalties in 234 finishers.

I messed up this transition. I racked ran to my rack and as I was pulling my bike in, I realized that I was going to be on the wrong side of the rack to get my shoes! Oops! After racking my bike, I hurried to the other side to change shoes and swap my helmet for my hat. Off I went!

By now it was in the 70s and a good bit of the run course was in full sun. I was hot. I needed a porta-let but didn't want to stop. I just kept moving as best as I could. I wish the legs had been faster but overall, I'm pleased with the effort.

During the second run I encountered some cars on the cross roads on Southbridge Greenway and I kind of wish that there had been a volunteer or signage on these roads. One car stopped and the other one we had a standoff -- both of us paused and then I went when he waved.

My tri club had a tent there and I joined them after I finished. There was nice food provided by a local Lebanese restaurant/deli and they did a great job as always.

Honestly, I had forgotten how much I like duathlons. I need to make more of an effort to get them into my schedule.


Focus on marathon training leading up to this event. Overall, I'm relatively happy with how this went given my current training.


The organizers did a great job giving this event a good vibe and USA Baseball was a great place to host this event (indoor bathrooms available!). Also, since this was USAT's Long Course Du Nationals, it was very appropriate to have it at the USA Baseball Training Complex.