1 mile skied, 34 miles biked and 102.4 miles run in 2013 races
Race: Mt. Rainier Duathlon
Place: Enumclaw, WA
Miles from home: 167 miles
Weather: 50s; Intermittent rain and wind
“Having no logical reason to believe you can do what you hope to do (and knowing this) does not mean you still won't be disappointed when you fail to reach those goals.” - Me
Yet, that is where I stood for this duathlon, an event I signed up for just two weeks prior while looking at a foot swelled to twice its size with infection. Never mind the fact that I was robbed of basically any working out for approximately two weeks. Forget the fact that I had not ridden a bicycle outdoors since September (and barring three rides on a trainer a few weeks prior, having ridden one at all.) These facts didn’t come into play when I was looking at the results of the race from the previous year and trying to determine how far in the top ten I could possibly finish. Oh yeah, this race was also a national championship race this year. So there’s that.
To put this year's race in perspective, the overall winner from last year, who more or less completed the duathlon in the exact same time –took 11th overall. The overall winner this year beat him by ten minutes. Yes Virginia, the duathletes had come out to play even if I didn’t know this at the time. I also had convinced myself that I could just muscle through the event and get by on talent alone. Perhaps I could have last year, but that was not going to be the case this year.
The evening prior to the race I scoped out the bike portion of the course. The run part didn’t bother me too much with just a 5.1 mile first leg and a 3.8 mile second leg. I knew there was a good sized hill in the first leg and nothing much to speak of in the second leg. So the bike and its Category 4 hill in the middle is what concerned me. Even my delusional chutzpah didn’t keep me from realizing that a hill of this nature would humble me.
So after driving the nearly 15 mile loop (we would repeat it twice for the entire course distance) I thought I had a grasp on what would be in store for me during the bike portion. Namely, lots of pain.
But that’s OK. I have a decent pain threshold. I just needed to get through it unscathed. That, dear friends, is what was really freaking me out. Granted no one wants to crash on their bike but with some very cool things coming up on my calendar, I simply cannot afford to do so. As such, my nerves were a little frayed knowing I would probably hit 40 mph going down the big hill on the course- twice. In projected rain. I guess I would just have to be careful.
Race Morning:
It looked like the sky had rained itself out by the time I woke and that we might have damp air but dry pavement to deal with. However, after checking in my bike and sundry other things involved with those infernal contraptions, a rain started to fall. It stopped and then started more than a few times before we were gathered for some pre-race instructions. Having heard the instructions, I realized I had my gear in front of my bike in transition (Which would be in the wrong place) and risked a time penalty if I did not fix it. So, cursing the ridiculousness of this sport, I quickly remedied the situation. I didn’t need any added time artificially being put on – I would be doing plenty of that myself.
Ushered over to the starting line we were given a few last minute words of caution (Don’t hit the pavement going 40 mph. We really don’t want to call 911!) and then a deluge of rain poured down from the heavens. So much for staying even remotely dry!
