Blackwater Duathlon

[7rider]

Okay - for my last duathlon, I posted results in the May running thread.
This time, I guess I'll be legit and post it in races, even tho' I rarely ever "race" these things. I'm just too darned slow to be competitive with anyone other than myself.

So - Sunday was the Blackwater Duathlon - a run-bike-run race on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The Eastern Shore is well known as pancake flat and windy. And hot. And windy. And buggy. And, oh, did I mention windy? Actually, the day was sunny and warm - 60 warming to mid-70s by the end - so not super hot. But yeah, that wind did blow. Light at the start, and building over the morning.

This particular Du was advertised as a "USAT National Long Course Championship & Qualifier for the ITU Long Course Duathlon World Championship to be held on September 2, 2012, in Zofingen, Switzerland." Which is short for "Long, hard, and fast, so expect to see some super-fast athletes with zero body fat on them. But just expect to see them at the beginning, because they'll likely be done, showered, and on their way home by the time you finish." Which is short for "Mere mortals will be sucking wind at the back of the pack."

I've grown used to such events. All my races seem to be small and fast, with some phenomenal athletes, and I suck wind at the back of the pack. I have no pride about such things! If the race is small enough, I can place in my age group - as I did at Ft. Richie, basically because I was the only one IN my age group!

No such luck this weekend. Their were 9 in my age group, and I'll cut right to the end and tell you I got 6th. Which is only because I was 3rd fastest bike. My runs were 9th and 8th, respectively.

So here's the summary:

The race was a 10k run, then a 70k bike, followed by a second 10k run on the same run course. Both events were out-and-back straight legs.

Run 1 (10K): 1:07:30 (10:54 pace) As usual, I started out way too fast. I have got to learn to run my own race and ignore the "shot from a gun" starts. Before I hit the turn-around at 5k, my knee was talking to me. I have been suffering with an on-again-off-again peroneal tendon strain in my right leg at my knee. It was doing fine with all the LSD training runs I do with my running club. The minute I get into a race and try to push the pace, it flares up. I was hoping to work it out on the bike.

T1 (2:14): I soooo took it easy in transitions. Long day. Not worth it to push it, so I took the time to do what I needed to do. Here, it meant squirting water into my flask of powdered Perpetuum for some concentrate on the ride. Unfortunately, I don't think I put enough water in it, and still had dried powder at the bottom of the flask, and no matter how hard I shook and no matter how hard I banged it on the handle bars of the bike, could not get it to mix. Sigh. 150 calories of energy, mocking me.

Bike (70k): 2:18:30 (18.8 mph). My goal was 2:15, but that blasted wind on the leg back! By the second leg, I was watching my speed creep down into the high-15's. And the knee wasn't feeling any better.

T2 (2:21): DH was at the fencing asking how it was going. I gave him a revised time for run 2 and when to expect me. "I'm going to be doing a fair amount of walking on this one. My knee is killing me."

Run 2 (10k): 1:23:30 (13:29 pace (ugh)) Actually, I told DH 1:30 to 1:45, so I guess I did better than expected. Strangely, the more I ran (slowly) the less my knee seemed to hurt. It screamed for the first 5k, and I pondered throwing in the towel. But I shortened my stride and focused on a woman in front of me - also walking/running - and to my surprise found that the more I went, the less it hurt. Maybe because all things are relative....everything else hurt too, so I just didn't notice the knee!

Total time: 4:54:05. I had estimated I could do this between 4.5 and 5 hours. I was hoping closer to 4:45, but the wind and my knee did me in.
My placings:
202 of 220 finishers
57 of 64 women
6 of 9 in my age group

Got back to my club tent and one of the earlier finishing members gave me his ticket for the complimentary massage - so I got a free 10 minute work-over. It felt GREAT!

Today, my legs feel like ground hamburger.

[Selkie]

Excellent! You'll have to schedule a longer massage as a reward because you've earned it.

Hope your knee is doing better!

[OakLeaf]

Nice job 7! Hope your knee feels better soon.

[Veronica]

I know that hamburger feeling. Nice job pushing through it. Hope you feel better soon!

Veronica

[lovelygamer]

You are incredible!! Number 1 in my book. I saw the website for that race and it looked intense. Just that you did it all is amazing. We are proud of you! I know how windy it is down there.

[bellissima]

Awesome! Get better soon