I have a lot to catch you up on so this will be a series of 3 posts all in one day! (duathlon, half marathon, and Everything else) So stay tuned!
I was going to name this post just "Duathlon." but then I was like but I am going to do more than just one duathlon!
This tells you how much I loved my first duathlon! I know last post I was still wavering on whether or not to do it. Well I just sucked it up and went and signed up. When I found myself making excuses like but family will be in town or I didn't really train for this specific event, I knew this was a moment where I needed to push my myself and get out of my comfort zone. Staying in your comfort zone means doing the same things you have always done which got me to 90 lbs overweight, unhappy, and depressed. This has been a less that I have learned from listening and reading other people's stories and it really rings true.
One of my excuses was true. I didn't really train for this. I've been riding my bike to work as much as I can. I can easily run 2 miles since with my half marathon training I am up to 10 miles. So I felt pretty confident that I could run 2 miles, bike 10 miles and run 2 miles again (get it Du it again). My biggest worry was transition. I read up on this as much as possible and watched a bunch of you tube videos. You will just never feel confident with it until you do it and even then I don't feel completely confident I just know I can do it. I did read up about brick workouts where you practice doing two of the sports in a row. I biked home and would run a couple miles just see how much energy I still had and how my legs would react. I thinks these really helped build my confidence even though I only did it twice before the race.
The night before I got all my things ready. I packed some towels, water, heartrate monitor, visor, and race belt. I laid out my clothes and my fiance loaded up my bike. I was ready.
I woke up early to I could get there when the transition area opened because I had no idea what I was doing. The race was on the island and boy was the wind blowing! This made for a very brisk morning! I waited for a couple of other people to rack their bikes so I could copy how they did. I racked my bike by hanging it by the seat so I could quickly lift and lower and get rolling. Then I waited for the start. This was a very small event with about 40 people participating. Most were a part of some of the clubs in town so I felt inexperience but read to face the challenge. They told us about the route and transition start and stop area, then we were off.
2 mile Beach Run: So in multisport races you can't have headphones. This was a new experience for me because I always ran with my music. Even though I didn't have my music though I had the sound of the waves! I tried to stick with the group of older ladies that seemed to know each other. I soon fell behind but kept going at a pace that I knew I could sustain. The beach run really scared me since I didn't practice by running on the beach at all but the sand was very packed and easy going.
10 mile Bike: I ran to transition, put on my helmet, took a swig of water, and grabbed my bike. I was off but I really should have adjusted my helmet before that moment. It was really tight and I had to play with it until felt comfortable while still trying to keep up with everyone. This is where I learned how fast road bikes are. I was pedaling away and people were passing me with ease! That's okay though I just kept going on my hybrid Giant. I had two goals, to finish under 2 hours and not to be last! I felt good until I reached the 5 mile mark and had to turn to head back. Holy Wind Batman! I really like the first 5 miles that was with the wind and now I really had to push to get anywhere. Later I realized I was going against almost 18mph winds! I tried to change gears to ease the pedaling and then my chain fell off. Ugh! This is when I was saying to myself "what were you thinking signing up for this!?" I put my chain back on and started pedaling again. I had really fallen behind at this point and was last and with no one in sight! I found some sort of second wind and started really pushing. My legs were burning but I knew I had to catch up. I am strong. Mind of over matter. Then I heard birds chirping and looked around. I am doing a duathlon on an island that is 20 min from my apartment. How lucky am I?! How many people can say they have done a duathlon? On an island? in their city? Suck it up Gretchen. Next thing I knew I could see someone up ahead and I was gaining! I caught up and said "On your left" and mentioned how the wind was horrible and chuckled with her. That felt so cool! Felt like a real athlete! I passed her on her road bike and kept going. Then my fiance and his family that was in town drove by and waved as they were going to meet me at the finish line! That was just what I needed to push through the last mile of the bike and get pumped about the 2 mile run.
2 mile Beach Run Again: This time the sand was a little rougher after people were driving over it. It made for an interesting game of where can I run so that I still get the most traction and don't waste energy. At this point I knew I wasn't last so was pushing to stay ahead. I have been running longer than I have been biking and so I felt very confident about this part. I pushed myself and tried to enjoy the scenery while I was at it. Before I knew it I was making the turn back toward the finish line! I did it! I ran to the finish line as my soon to be in-laws and fiance cheered me on! What a great feeling! 1:36:51, I wasn't last and I finished under 2 hours!
I am so grateful that I have family that supports my crazy ambitions. All my life my goal has been to experience everything or at least as much as I can. I wanna say "I've done that." Now I can say that I've completed a duathlon. Next year I hope to be able to say that I improved my duathlon time.
In the words of Queen- "Don't Stop Me Now"
Follow me on Instagram for photos! GRETCHEN_516
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