Falls Duathlon 2009

Saturday was the Falls Duathlon in Cannon Falls, MN. The race format was a 2 mile run, a 14 mile bike, and a 3 mile run.

Seven of us were headed down there: Jen, Matt, Steph, Pharmie and I were going to compete (it was going to be Steph’s second du and Jen’s FIRST!), Borsch was coming to snap photos (95% of these photos are from him - THANKS Borsch!), and Melissa was going to meet us down there. Here’s Matt and I at about 6:30 getting the cars loaded:

We got down there and got set up:

Here was my transition area with my old, ratty, “Steve” towel:

Someone asked to borrow our pump. Just after that, her tube blew in a LOUD POP. It was her first duathlon, she didn’t have a spare tube and didn’t know how to change it, so Pharmie jumped in to help:

I helped get the tire back on a few minutes later. Remember this woman that we helped - she’s coming back later in the story...

There was a quick pre-race meeting. Mark covered all the essentials nice and efficiently. Borsch grabbed a shot of the 5 of us racing before we left transition:

Matt, me, Pharmie, Steph, and first timer Aunt Jen

We walked out to the start. Here’s the 5 of us (under the inconspicuous red arrows) getting ready to start:

Steph and Jen in the back, Pharmie and
Matt near the middle, and me up front.

READY, SET, GO!!

2 MILE RUN:

I took off in about 6th place. I jumped around a bit, always between 8th and 5th. I was running strong but comfortably. We got to see a gorgeous waterfall around half way through.

Back in transition, Melissa needed a drink, so she jumped into an empty transition to steal any bike she wanted take a sip of Matt’s water:

I few minutes later, I came running towards transition, just behind 4th place (I think):

I had finished those first 2 miles in 11:31 (unofficial). Time to ride.

T1:

I put on my helmet while making a stupid face:

But hey! Look at that photo again! I’m multi-tasking! I’m fastening my chin-strap WHILE I’m slipping out of my running shoes! Nice!! Shortly, I was gone, heading out of T1 in 5th or 6th place:

Siblings Pharmie and Matt came running into T1 together:

Matt got a head-start on the bike:

Then Steph came in...

...and out:

And then Jen came in to experience her first T1 ever!

Her and her “Made in the USA” Trek (inside joke) headed off for a ride:

14 MILE BIKE:

I wanted to push hard on the bike. It was a little windy, there were some rollers, but I was going to hammer out a good ride.

Or so I thought.

I started out, and I was going 17 mph. “Huh, I feel like I’m pushing harder than that...” Well, I had a brief photo-gig the night before, and I spent a lot of the time awkwardly squatting down to get the right shot, so I thought maybe that was being felt on the ride. I didn’t know what was going on.

I was being passed like I was standing still. But I was working HARD! I thought the wind was at my back, so I didn’t know what was going on. I was counting the people passing me. “Now I’m in 10th... now I’m in 20th... now 30th...” I just kept counting.

At mile 5, Matt blew by me. I figured he’d catch me, but not so soon. (After the race, he said he thought he’d catch me around mile 10, not around mile 5.) I checked my average. 16.8. “Suck-teen point eight? That can’t be.”

My brakes.

Oh damn it - my brakes.

I reached over my aero bars to my front brakes, and I released them. Instantly, my speed jumped nearly 2.5 mph. “Sh*t!...” I had rode the first 6 miles with my front brakes rubbing the whole way!! I didn’t do a test ride before the race, and I should have.

Well, I was pissed at myself for about 5 minutes, but then I got over it and figured all I can do is catch some of the people that never should have passed me to begin with. At the turn-around on the bike, I was somewhere back in 40th-45th place overall. Only now I was passing people! Stupid brakes.

I lost track of my place. I just worked on making up that poor first half of the ride. On the way back into town, going INTO the wind, I was maintaining 19 mph. I’m such a dolt.

At the turn-around, my average was 16.8 mph. Nearing T2, I had got it up to 18.2, even though that was mostly into the wind.

So Matt beat me back to T2. Here he is riding around the last curve:

Then I came in, all pissy about my rookie mistake, but ready to catch a bunch of people on the final run:

Then came Pharmie:

Then Steph came rolling across the gravel:

T2:

Nothing fancy. Leave the stupid thoughts of the stupid bike in the stupid past, and get ready to hammer out a fast run.

3 MILE RUN:

Matt and I were out on the run. Pharmie came running out of T2:

Steph seemed overly excited to be starting her run. She’s not usually like this:

I went out hard, and I caught a bunch of people in the first mile (including Matt, who I spanked as I ran by). It was a nice out-and-back course, so I could see where I was overall. I saw Mario running back towards the finish in 4th overall (only I think the first 3 were in his age group, so the poor guy came in 4th overall and had nothing to show for it!).

I hit the first mile in 6:10. That was OK. I hit the turn-around and thanked the 2 kids pouring water and Heed. I caught a few more people.

I ran mile 2 in 6:09. Nice - consistent. Time to pick it up more and catch a few more people. I was running hard, and my abs were killing me! I think I used them a lot to hammer on the bike, and now they were screaming!

I caught one last guy with about 300-400 meters to go, and that moved me in to 12th overall. I came out of the trees running hard:

I ran that last mile in 5:52, for an average of 6:04/mile over those final 3 miles.

Seven minutes later, Matt hit the finish:

Then came Pharmie:

And then came Steph, finishing her SECOND ever duathlon:

She then sat to hang out with Borsch. It was cute for a while, but then it got ugly:

Play nice you 2!

Shortly after I finished the race, Jen came in off the bike. I had told her that I’d do the final run with her, and that’s what I did. Pharmie came running out after a few minutes and joined us as well. We were going to get her to the finish line of her first duathlon!!

We ran, we walked, we chatted, and finished the run!! Here’s the 3 of us emerging from the trees:

Pharmie and I dropped back to let Jen finish. Here she goes:

YAY JEN!!!

Pharmie and I walked the rest of the way, and we look a little like that couple who starts to look like each other:

The 5 finishers:

Post race, there were BURGERS!!!

I had 3. No joke. They were SOOO good! We all grabbed a seat for awards:

Guess who the first place female was?!? GUESS!! No, not Pharmie. It was the girl who’s tube blew in transition that Pharmie and I helped fix! She finished just 4 spots behind me in 16th overall!! It was her FIRST duathlon, and she took first place!

I finished 12th overall, and 5th in my age group (20-29). When they announced females 20-29, guess what they said?!? My lovely Pharmie was third in her AG!!

We got loaded up and hit the road. Our party was splitting up, and my car had to take Borsch, Jen, 4 bikes, and myself. So there were 2 bikes on the back of my car, 2 in the backseat, and me in the backseat:

My wheel was digging into my kidney, and the back of my seat was a little up my ass. Yay.

When I got home, I sat down for a minute. Kermit, my cat, came over and licked the sweat off of me. When Kermit was done, I looked like this:

Back with official results and official race photos as soon as they come in! Have a great week everyone!