Winter BeGone Duathlon Report

Or, “Holding Off The Bikers As Long As I Could”

Or, “Who Ordered The Wind And Hills?...”

Matt, Pharmie, and I left St. Paul this morning at 6 am to drive down to Oronoco, MN. We met Borsch down there:

Matt, Pharmie, Me, and Borsch

We got there EARLY (as I ALWAYS like to do), and there were only 3 bikes set up in transition. I love to have prime pick-ens’!

Pharmie and I were going to do the long course, which was a 3.1 mile run, an 18.6 mile bike, and a 6.2 mile run. Matt and Borsch were signed up for the short course: 2 mile run, 12 mile bike, and 2 mile run. IT WAS GOING TO BE THEIR FIRST MULTI-SPORT EVENT! We got a sweet, sweet parking spot, about 20 feet from transition and 30 feet from “port-o-john row:”

The snow-fence just in front of my car is the corner of transition

I had one big goal for the day: to push HARD on the bike. In the past, during multi-sport events, I feel like I’ve left too much in my tank during the bike. I wouldn’t push enough on the bike, thinking about that run that I have to do when the bike is over. But not this time. Today, I wanted to bike harder and just try to hold on for the run. That was the plan.

So Pharmie and I got set up in transition and got ready to go:

It was REALLY SWEET being able to park so close - just after the pre-race meeting, when we were on our way to the starting line, we all did our final strip and threw everything in the car. It was about 31 degrees at the start, so it was the chilliest multi-sport event I’ve ever done. At least it was sunny!

Start: Pharmie and I started the long course 12 minutes before the short course started. It was a pretty small event - it was actually its first year. There were about 50 doing the long course and 110 doing the short course. I’ve NEVER been in such a small du or tri. My last tri was IM WI, when we started with 2,200 other people. This was much different.

Run: I was hoping to run the first 5K in around 20 minutes, but I didn’t know how hard I’d push myself. I ran most of the run in 7th or 8th place, and finished strong and feeling fine!

Bike: It was windy. And HILLY. And the “18.6 mile bike” was really just over 19.5 miles. That hurt. BUT, I stuck to my plan. Well, mostly.

I went out on the bike, and waited to get passed. See, I’m not a super fast biker. I didn’t get passed until about mile 2. I had dropped to 8th overall. A few more people passed me throughout, but I wasn’t getting passed as quickly as I usually do! I was pushing, and people were having more trouble catching me! But I started having a tough time around the middle of the bike leg. I was getting sick of the wind and hills. But when I saw the mile marker for mile 12, I kicked it in the butt and told myself to finish this ride hard and strong, just like I wanted to. And that’s what I did. I finished the bike in 11th overall.

Run: I hit the 10K run, and I went out at a good pace. I had worked hard on the bike, but I still had plenty for the run. I didn’t take official splits, but my first mile was about 7:10, and I hit the second mile marker in under 14 minutes.

Around that second mile marker, I finally caught up to the ONLY RUNNER IN SIGHT on the long course. There was no one behind me that I could see, and just this one guy in front of me. “Good morning,” I said. “Jeez, you caught me quick!” he told me. We made small talk for about 15 seconds. Then there was a pause. Finally, I just came out and asked it: “How old are you? Are we each others competition?” He laughed and said, “I was JUST thinking about asking you that!” It turns out he was in the age group above me. “Good thing...” he said. “I won’t be able to catch you!” We laughed again. I threw my hands up in the air and jokingly said “Not that it matters - we should each just be running our own race, right?” We parted ways, and I took off in front of him.

The run was tough. Besides mile 1 and 2, there were no mile markers. And my feet were a little numb from my bike shoes yet. And my knee was sore. And my Achilles tendon was really acting up. It was shooting pain at times. I just tried to keep my form proper and strong and work through it.

I didn’t see anyone else on the run. The Joe Plant 5K a few weeks ago where I ran all alone was good practice. I turned into the park, and booked it to the finish line.

Unofficial Results:
5K Run (3.1 miles): 19:19 - 6:13/mile
T1: 1:36?
Bike (19.5 miles): 1:03:50 - 18.3 mph
T2: 1:09
10K Run (6.2 miles): 41:33 - 6:42/mile

Total Time: 2:07:27
10th Place Overall
2nd Place in Age Group

That’s right folks! I actually walked away with some hardware! The best part of the story is that Matt finished FIRST in his age group on the short course, and Pharmie finished THIRD in hers! (Borsch would have done better, but his bike broke 2 days ago, but he didn’t just throw in the towel. Borsch did the du today on his old, crappy mountain bike!) So, in our group, we had a full set of gold, silver, and bronze to take home!!

It was a fun day and a small, fun event. Now, we’re all hashed. Our butts are all sore. In fact, Matt made an inappropriate prison-man-bitch joke about having a sore butt. I don’t want to take it any farther, so I’ll just leave it at that. I’m going to lay in bed tonight and ice my knee and heel, and we’ll see what tomorrow holds.

Check back in a few days for official results and some official photos! Thanks for reading!