An Early Resurrection for Team Happy Pants

I got a phone call from my brother-in-law Matt 2 nights ago. "Hey Steve, what are you doing on Saturday? Do you want to do a duathlon with me?" How could I refuse. Team Happy Pants will rise 1 week early this year. We're doing the Oakdale Duathlon on Saturday in order to get ready for the Gear West Duathlon in about 10 days.

Here we are at the 2008 Gear West Duathlon:

And here we are at the 2009 Gear West Duathlon:

(Yeah, not much has changed. We find something that works and we stick with it!)

Matt and I are both NOT in the best shape for this race. We'll do well, but it's a last-minute race. We're both just looking for a good "trial run" leading into Gear West Duathlon in about 10 days.

The funny thing is that Matt's been running a lot more in the last 2 weeks, and I've been biking more. We're trying to get better in our weaker areas. But we'll drop that and use our strengths (Matt's bike legs and my run legs) to try to win the team race at the Oakdale Duathlon.

Yesterday morning, I went for a great swim with the gang: 2700 yards of mid-distance intervals. It was most of the swim group, without Kathryn and Steve T.

Then last night, I did 3x1600 on the track. Yeah, it was time to get my butt in gear if I'm to do well at this weekend's duathlon! It was raining lightly, but the track only had a few puddles. I ran a 5:33, 5:30, and 5:26 for an average of 5:29.66 / 1600. Not great, but not bad. My butt and back were soaked from kicking up water on the track.

It's still rainy and cold today, so I think I might head to the Y for a spin class. Then an easy swim tomorrow morning, and a race on Saturday!! Wish us luck!