Cannon Falls Duathlon: Part 2

Or "We're Number 2! We're Number 2!"

So, in my last post, I left off just after I had finished the race. And thanks to Jess and Katie, there were a LOT of great photos of us out there!! Thanks again!!

Like I had mentioned in my race report yesterday, I just passed Julie Hull before getting to the finish. Here she is coming out of the trees as the first place female, taking over 5 minutes off the female course record!!

Matt emerged from the trees a few minutes later:

I got a photo of him a few feet farther up the trail, and he was holding back a little barf until he hit the finish. You can see it in his face:

Heading into the chute

I found my high-school buddy Tim who was talking with his folks. The 4 of us chatted for a bit, and his folks grabbed a shot of us:

Nipples and Mooseknuckles: the 2 signs of a hard-fought race

A few moments later, Matt M came running by. This was his first duathlon, and he did it as a team with his girlfriend Katie. Here's Matt M heading toward the finish:

Pharmie wasn't too far behind. Here she is in the middle of a pack of guys with about 200 meters left:

She held off the 2 guys behind her, and she CAUGHT the guy in red in front of her! Nice work!!

We all walked around, chatted with everyone we knew out there, and then threw on some more clothes to stay warm. (Note the nippley pic of me a few photos above...) I grabbed a hotdog and 2 halves of a banana, and scarfed it all down before I had a chance to take a photo:

We sat in the sun with Erik, Julie, Chad, Omar, etc, etc, and we just laid back and enjoyed the morning. It was one of those mornings where I was very aware of how grateful I should be to be able to live the life that I do! We moved a few feet up the hill when they started awards. Julie was called up as the winning female...

...as her hubby Erik snapped photos:

We didn't know how we had placed - they didn't have the results posted ahead of time. But Matt, Pharmie, and I were HOPING for the best!

A moment later, Pharmie was called up for 2nd in her age group!

And then I was called up for 2nd in my age group!!

And then Matt was called up for 2nd in his age group!!!

We had all placed second in our age groups!! We were thrilled!

My high-school buddy Tim was just behind me for 3rd in our age group! They had just made the age groups smaller that morning: it was supposed to be 10 year age groups (like 20-29), but because of the good turn-out, they changed it to 5 year age groups (like 25-29). Looking at the results, Tim and I would have taken 2nd and 3rd if it were 5 year or 10 year age groups - we both had solid races!!

We all chatted and dawdled, and we were the last ones out of transition:

And we had to get one last photo of Pharmie and Jess (college housemates). Jess took all of the great photos in the last post and most of them in this post!! Thanks for all the photos, Jess!!

A few notes about the race:

• I was 12th overall this year, and 12th overall last year. But being the race had a 60% bigger field this year, I'm SUPER happy to place in the same spot!

• Even though that wind was SOOO nasty on the bike, ALL 3 OF US (Matt, Pharmie, and I) did better this year than last year! Matt took 1:50 off his finishing time, Pharmie took 0:41 off her finishing time, and I took 4:49 off my time! Those 2 both had worse bike splits this year (due to the wind), but their running has been so strong lately (they've been running together and pushing each other). And don't get exited about my 4:49 improvement. Last year, my brakes were rubbing for the first 6 miles of the bike. This year, my first run was just a few seconds slower, but my bike, both of my transitions, and my final run were all faster! (My final run was 0:35 faster!)

• I finished the duathlon in 1:13. About 10 days ago, I finished the Pine Line Half Marathon in 1:22. Those are comparable times. But I was 10x more sore after the half marathon! That's just one of the many reasons why I LOVE multi-sport!

• Normally, my brother-in-law Matt is a pretty good looking guy. I don't know what happened in the photos at this race, but Matt did NOT photograph well. So single ladies, know that he's MUCH more attractive than it seems here. ;)

So scroll down (or click here) to read my post from yesterday about my race. Back with some photos of snot all over my leg shortly. Really. Would I lie? No. Of course not.