#duathlons

"The first 5k I ran with a bib, I ran it in 36 minutes. Today I ran one AND swam and finished in less than 35 -- that's 200% more events. Right? I don't know, there was no math portion of the competition, this isn't Back to School."

Winners wear yellow?

The quote is from the finish-line video of my first duathlon Saturday. That finishing time fact is true, and Rodney Dangerfield still gets no respect.

My ponytail is the fastest thing about me.

There were no Triple Lindys, though I threatened one hoping that there were bonus points for flair in the swim part. My bonus points I will have to claim for my transitions. I can change clothes like my Fairy Godmother used a wand on me. Poof. We all have incredibly useful skills. The Art of the Costume Change is mine.

It was such a short event (2 mile run, 200m swim, 1 mile run) that there wasn't need for any mental feats of endurance. The challenging parts were not knowing what to expect. That it IS different running, shucking shoes, swimming, running to your stuff and carrying on without any kind of pause. You have to manage your breathing mostly -- stay on top of it so you don't lose it.

My EARS you guys. My ears. Send help. (Yup. The top of my head is dry, and that's not my first lap. Because I'm keeping it real.)

A small race is a little nervous making too. Especially when the field of competition is 2/3 military men one of whom has a Ranger Tab. A Ranger Tab, folks. Knowing that it is almost everyone's JOB to finish a 2 mile as fast as possible, and that there's a very good chance that you will come in dead last with no cover of crowds, it's...yikes.

I was the only female servicemember to do the event which, when I finished and got my place-holder spoon with a "10" on it and declared "Top ten!", I believe I can also claim 1st place, Military Women Division. (The gal that beat me was good and her swim was more legit than mine -- crawl is way faster than breast stroke.)

The best part, beyond finding that training for multi-sport races is way more fun than just running yourself to death everyday, was that it was just a really nice community event. I've run small races before where the course "map" was a guy saying, "Now you're gunna want to go down around the plant, and when you comeon back through the light, stay straight past the depot." Wait, plant? What plant? This one was small enough that there weren't bibs because you knew everyone's names.

(No, I didn't write my own bib on my arm as threatened. Because you know what else you have to write on you? Your age on your calf. Well now, that just seems unnecessary.)

And in the end, the stats: 8:27 first mile, 30:33 after the swim and halfway through the last mile, 34:56 finish time, 10th place out of 13, 2nd place women.

I LA-Did the LA-DU!

(Corny, I know. But I couldn't help myself.)

My goal was better than 2:00, and I did it in 1:49, according to official race time. That means that I ran 6 miles beyond last year and it only took me an extra 19 minutes.

I spent the last few days really trying to focus on my mental conditioning going into this race. "You can do it. You are so ready for this." I envisioned myself ending strong and getting a great time and being happy. Because that is really the best thing you can do right before a race, when you're at a point when you can't increase your physical conditioning any more.

I was still nervous, as you know.

But I did great. I took the first 2.6 miles really slow, with the mental outlook like "run this like you're running a half marathon." This is the first race I did without any music, and I think that helped me. I keyed in to my breathing, and I wouldn't let myself go harder than breathing out for three steps and in for two. I let other people pass me, even though it can be kinda demoralizing to be passed by what feels like everyone.

A surprise to me, I think I performed strongest on the bike leg. I let many people pass me on the run, but I did all the passing on the bike. It's a tough bike course, but I've practiced it so many times, I knew all the places to get speed and where to go slow up the hills. I really let myself go all out on the bike, and it felt great.

The last run was a 5K, on a course I'm really familiar with. I was expecting it and I knew what "brick legs" would feel like — but it still was hard, that first mile. I thought about a mantra that my friend Emilie tweeted the other day — "In the first half of the race, don't be an idiot. In the second half, don't be a wimp" — and I kept telling myself through the 5K, "don't be a wimp."

The timer on my watch was 5 minutes off the course time, and I'll have to see on the splits where I lost that time, but if my watch was correct, I did that 5K in 24.55. I find that incredibly hard to believe I pulled that off, so I hesitate even writing it here, but even if its anywhere remotely close to true, than I am confident enough to say that, no, I was not a wimp. :)

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, as I forgot my phone, but I'll post those later.