2011 Corpus Christi Triathlon (Duathlon, actually) Race Report
I did my first official duathlon event this morning. Not by choice, since the swim for my triathlon was cancelled. I had fun and usually I vow not to do races without a swim (since it's my strongest sport) but I actually had fun today. But let me back up a bit.
We originally came to Corpus Christi so could do the triathlon, Roger would do the duathlon and we'd have a beach vacation. Roger's mom (Elke) and her husband Stephen flew out to meet us and have vacation with us and watch Emmaline during the race.
On Friday I heard that there may be jellyfish in the bay. I sort of shrugged it off and on Saturday I was picking up my packet and heard again about the jellyfish and that there were actually a fair number of them. One guy said that they didn't sting much - more like a fire ant bite. I dunno, I sort of go out of my way to avoid fire ants. Plus the water was super choppy and I was getting really nervous.
Then Saturday night we got an email. The race organizers had also had an open water swim event that day and each and every participant had multiple jellyfish stings. They were canceling the swim. All participants would do the duathlon instead. Roger and I would be doing the same race.
So we got up early, went out there and I felt so relieved to not swim which is a very strange and unexpected thing for me to feel since I LOVE to swim and the swim is my strongest by far. I would have no way of even getting close to the top of my age group in a non-swim event. Given that I just raced last weekend, I decided it would be a training day. I would take the first run strong, try to have a strong but not crazy bike and then try to have a fast second run.
I felt a little strange setting everything up and even though I've done plenty of bike/run type workouts, my normal race prep felt different and strange and I was forgetting stuff and doing stuff backwards. But eventually I got it all figured out and set up transition smoothly.
While waiting around, I heard the race organizers (who are from Austin and we know from the local tri community) talking about not being able to find their national anthem CD. So I offered to sing it (and I did). I only had a couple wobbles from being a little cold (vocally and also from the outside temp, which was chilly and windy) but I had a couple of nice compliments from other participants. Then the people doing the longer distance duathlon started and we started 30 minutes later.
During this whole set up time, Emmaline went with Elke and Stephen over to the hotel near the race site to stay warm (plus it was early) and they came back just before the race. At the race site, right next to transition, was a playscape so Emmaline had fun playing while we raced.
Run 1
The first run felt good. It was super windy and we had a headwind on the way out of the out and back course, which meant a nice tailwind on the way back. I tried to run strong but not crazy and I was happy to have my heart rate monitor to run by feel as well as heart rate. It was nice to just relax and take it easy and try to enjoy myself running along the sea wall, looking at the boats and the waves.
T1
I tried to transition as quickly as possible, but going from running shoes to bike was a little weird. My tri racing flats have insoles that sort of pull out when I take my shoes out (they stick to my bare feet) so I spent a few extra seconds ramming them back in so they'd be ready for run 2. I grabbed my bike and headed out onto the course.
Bike
The bike course went in the opposite direction so we started with a tailwind, but then the road turned and we had a very strong crosswind. I was holding on so hard and trying to stay aero and just ride strong and enjoy myself but the bike seemed to go on FOREVER. I just felt like we were riding and riding and the road was really rough. By the time I reached the turnaround, I was totally DONE. But I tried to stay positive and look at this as a really good training exercise.
My arms were hurting and my shoulders were bothering me from being aero for so long on such a rough road and I felt like I was being really beat up on by the wind. Luckily the course was as flat as a pancake so I didn't have hills to contend with. But them I almost think I could have used a hill to break things up a bit - get out of the saddle and the aero bars and maybe buffet the wind. So again I tried to appreciate the scenery and focus on riding strong but not killing myself.
I never saw anyone from my age group. I figured they were all already ahead of me and I was in dead last place. But I didn't really care. I was just training.
T2
I had a good dismount and a quick transition and headed out for the second run.
Run 2
Whoa! What was up with the insides of my thighs! I had never felt that before. I felt really weird and hobbly. I tried to pick up my cadence and run it off. It worked and I steadily picked up the pace, again heading into the headwind.
Up ahead, I noticed a woman that I had been behind (drafting almost) on the first run. She was getting closer and closer and I realized I might pass her. I picked up the pace a bit and passed her at the turnaround and took off. I started running faster and faster, really trying to pick it up and have a good strong finish. I had a nice kick into the finish line and felt really strong finishing.
Post-Race
I was tired but not crazy beat and defeated-feeling. Roger checked preliminary results and said that I was in the wrong age group, but if placed in the correct age group, it appeared I may be first.
I got myself re-age grouped by the timing guy and it turns out Roger was right, I won my age group! There were only 4 people in it, but I'll take 1 out of 4! And I was 7 out of a total of 20 women. Also not too bad!
So clearly my biking and my running are both stronger and I don't need to totally kill myself to have a great day at a race!
The run was supposed to be 1 mile, originally, but they changed it when the whole duathlon shakeup happened so we weren't sure how long it was for sure. Roger says his GPS said 1.65 miles so we'll go with 1.6. The longer distance people were doing 5k runs and that was allegedly 2 loops of what we were doing so we'll call it 1.6.
1:15:00 7/20 women overall, 1/4 in age group
run 1 - 1.6 miles 15:37 9:45/mi
T1 - 0:44
bike - 20k 42:46 17.4 mph
T2 - 0:42
run 2 - 1.6 miles 15:28 9:40/mi
We originally came to Corpus Christi so could do the triathlon, Roger would do the duathlon and we'd have a beach vacation. Roger's mom (Elke) and her husband Stephen flew out to meet us and have vacation with us and watch Emmaline during the race.
On Friday I heard that there may be jellyfish in the bay. I sort of shrugged it off and on Saturday I was picking up my packet and heard again about the jellyfish and that there were actually a fair number of them. One guy said that they didn't sting much - more like a fire ant bite. I dunno, I sort of go out of my way to avoid fire ants. Plus the water was super choppy and I was getting really nervous.
Then Saturday night we got an email. The race organizers had also had an open water swim event that day and each and every participant had multiple jellyfish stings. They were canceling the swim. All participants would do the duathlon instead. Roger and I would be doing the same race.
So we got up early, went out there and I felt so relieved to not swim which is a very strange and unexpected thing for me to feel since I LOVE to swim and the swim is my strongest by far. I would have no way of even getting close to the top of my age group in a non-swim event. Given that I just raced last weekend, I decided it would be a training day. I would take the first run strong, try to have a strong but not crazy bike and then try to have a fast second run.
I felt a little strange setting everything up and even though I've done plenty of bike/run type workouts, my normal race prep felt different and strange and I was forgetting stuff and doing stuff backwards. But eventually I got it all figured out and set up transition smoothly.
While waiting around, I heard the race organizers (who are from Austin and we know from the local tri community) talking about not being able to find their national anthem CD. So I offered to sing it (and I did). I only had a couple wobbles from being a little cold (vocally and also from the outside temp, which was chilly and windy) but I had a couple of nice compliments from other participants. Then the people doing the longer distance duathlon started and we started 30 minutes later.
During this whole set up time, Emmaline went with Elke and Stephen over to the hotel near the race site to stay warm (plus it was early) and they came back just before the race. At the race site, right next to transition, was a playscape so Emmaline had fun playing while we raced.
Run 1
The first run felt good. It was super windy and we had a headwind on the way out of the out and back course, which meant a nice tailwind on the way back. I tried to run strong but not crazy and I was happy to have my heart rate monitor to run by feel as well as heart rate. It was nice to just relax and take it easy and try to enjoy myself running along the sea wall, looking at the boats and the waves.
T1
I tried to transition as quickly as possible, but going from running shoes to bike was a little weird. My tri racing flats have insoles that sort of pull out when I take my shoes out (they stick to my bare feet) so I spent a few extra seconds ramming them back in so they'd be ready for run 2. I grabbed my bike and headed out onto the course.
Bike
The bike course went in the opposite direction so we started with a tailwind, but then the road turned and we had a very strong crosswind. I was holding on so hard and trying to stay aero and just ride strong and enjoy myself but the bike seemed to go on FOREVER. I just felt like we were riding and riding and the road was really rough. By the time I reached the turnaround, I was totally DONE. But I tried to stay positive and look at this as a really good training exercise.
My arms were hurting and my shoulders were bothering me from being aero for so long on such a rough road and I felt like I was being really beat up on by the wind. Luckily the course was as flat as a pancake so I didn't have hills to contend with. But them I almost think I could have used a hill to break things up a bit - get out of the saddle and the aero bars and maybe buffet the wind. So again I tried to appreciate the scenery and focus on riding strong but not killing myself.
I never saw anyone from my age group. I figured they were all already ahead of me and I was in dead last place. But I didn't really care. I was just training.
T2
I had a good dismount and a quick transition and headed out for the second run.
Run 2
Whoa! What was up with the insides of my thighs! I had never felt that before. I felt really weird and hobbly. I tried to pick up my cadence and run it off. It worked and I steadily picked up the pace, again heading into the headwind.
Up ahead, I noticed a woman that I had been behind (drafting almost) on the first run. She was getting closer and closer and I realized I might pass her. I picked up the pace a bit and passed her at the turnaround and took off. I started running faster and faster, really trying to pick it up and have a good strong finish. I had a nice kick into the finish line and felt really strong finishing.
Post-Race
I was tired but not crazy beat and defeated-feeling. Roger checked preliminary results and said that I was in the wrong age group, but if placed in the correct age group, it appeared I may be first.
I got myself re-age grouped by the timing guy and it turns out Roger was right, I won my age group! There were only 4 people in it, but I'll take 1 out of 4! And I was 7 out of a total of 20 women. Also not too bad!
So clearly my biking and my running are both stronger and I don't need to totally kill myself to have a great day at a race!
The run was supposed to be 1 mile, originally, but they changed it when the whole duathlon shakeup happened so we weren't sure how long it was for sure. Roger says his GPS said 1.65 miles so we'll go with 1.6. The longer distance people were doing 5k runs and that was allegedly 2 loops of what we were doing so we'll call it 1.6.
1:15:00 7/20 women overall, 1/4 in age group
run 1 - 1.6 miles 15:37 9:45/mi
T1 - 0:44
bike - 20k 42:46 17.4 mph
T2 - 0:42
run 2 - 1.6 miles 15:28 9:40/mi
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