Big Dam Bridge Duathlon

Sunday morning came with spitting rain and cool temps. Niiiiice. Except for the fear that the spitting would turn to pouring. Last year was the inaugural Big Dam Bridge Sprint Duathlon. The mightly fine folks at DLT multisports and the incomparable Fred Phillips put this sucker on. I competed last year and thought I could do better this time. We'll get to that delusion later. Joe and the small one both came along to cheer and take pictures. That was sweet. It gives Joe a chance to ride the trails amidst the road route and play photographer. But I digress. The race. It's a 2.2 mile run, 11 mile bike (complete with hills!), and 2.2 mile run to finish.

This is a SPRINT race. That word makes me cringe. I am just not a sprint type. Endurance is the game, yeah? There is some disconnect between my head and my feet that says "you don't have to go fast, just go long" This does NOT work when it's a 2 mile run.

Acckk. I thought I'd been working on speed more lately but hell no, my legs really enjoy a 9.5-10 minute mile pace regardless of distance from 5K to half marathon. Geez Louise!! It's 2.2 friggin miles for Kite's sake, you could go faster you know! I got passed on this run like I was standing still. What a load of crap. Got on the bike and the bike felt good. I was passing people! Okay, so a few of them were riding mountain bikes but still... I was taking the hills well and felt like I was flying on the downs-I love that feeling.

I found a rabbit-a nice guy who let me play along for a while and I stayed with him until the last of the 3 laps around the course we had to do and he got just a bit ahead of me.

The rabbit and I came out of the transition together and stayed with each other for about 3/4 mile. Another woman that I had passed while on the bike passed me early on in the run. Dangit. I had noodle leg like you wouldn't believe until almost halfway in. When I finally get my legs under me, I just can't seem to push it. My head is screaming at me but the legs won't cooperate!! I finish the race with enough steam left to run another 2. This would be great if there was another 2 but nooooooo the race is done. I told myself I had better be ready to puke at the end of this one. I just could not seem to get that message to my legs.

Finished at 1:22:28 I think. I gained all of 46 seconds on last year. I was hoping for MINUTES. Oh well. I wonder what would happen if I TRAINED instead of just working out? hmmm Joe says I shouldn't be allowed to race anymore because regardless of the outcome, I am never pleased. I always want more. Guess that means I should put more effort into it, eh?