See Jane Duathlon, 2012

First, I have to say I can't believe I did it!! It's always scary to branch out and try something new, not knowing what the outcome will be.  One of the things I've learned over the past year is what's important isn't really the outcome (dnf's happen when you keep testing new limits...or just have a bad day), it's that you keep pursuing new adventures and goals, and enjoy whatever that journey brings your way.  That said, today's outcome was pretty great!!

I'll start off with just recapping the events/sequence of the morning, then my thought's on See Jane as an event company-

This event was a Duathlon, as well as a Triathlon. Both events used the same transition area which meant I was able to rack my bike next to 3 friends doing the tri, including the Beast. There are only participants allowed in this area, all exits/entrances are guarded well, twice when I had a kid following me I was reminded of this, oops!  I took a minute to get my bearings, taking note of where the run in/run out areas were, and the bike out/bike in.  I also took a lot of time making sure I knew which rack my bike was on.  It was a sea of bikes that all looked the same, but mine was almost a straight shot in front of the run in area, so I would finish the first run and just go straight....

After racking my bike and setting out my water bottle underneath it, we got in line to get our body markings!!! This was so surreal for me.  I am such a huge triathlon fan, we've watched a ton, I've read so many books and blogs....and even though I was not doing the tri, to be standing in line to get my own body marked did not seem real.  I got my age on the back of my left calf, and bib number on my arm and top of left thigh.

Eventually (I'll get to this later, but there was over an hour delay for all starts, boo!!) the tri started and I was able to watch the first 3 waves go off, see the first swimmers finish, and see a rescue before I headed over to the Duathlon start, which was a much smaller, angrier crowd. (they were not happy about the delay, and that we were not allowed to start until every swimmer had started).  But start we eventually did.  The nice thing about this event is all the running is dirt trail running.  The first run was 1 mile, which I found to be odd, it's a mile, so your gut says go fast, but you know you have a bike and run ahead, so you shouldn't really go all out...but anyhow, it went fast. I saw the kids and got some high fives.

Before I knew it I was running into the transition area, straight to my bike, no problem. I put my camera back into my bag, drank quickly, put on my helmet, got my bike, and ran it out. You can't ride your bike in the transition area, so you get on just outside of it, and off you go!  I heard the kids yelling as I started riding, but there was a hill right away, and I was concentrating on gears and making sure I didn't end up walking it up the hill. I got up the hill no problem.  One of the things I did not know about this course is that while some is in a coned off lane, a lot of it is open road, meaning there are cars going by you and you are riding in the bike lane.  I've never been a fan of riding on open road as I'm not a cyclist and just not comfortable with it, but amazingly I was so focused on just riding as fast as I could that while I did notice the cars, it did not bother me.  What did bother me was that while I was in a 3/9 gear going as hard as I could, I was getting passed like crazy!!  These ladies did not look like they were working nearly as hard as I was and they were flying by me!! It was incredibly frustrating.  I think I tried every gear on the bike trying to find one that would get me some more speed and nothing seemed to work.  I know gears make a huge difference, and what I learned today is that I will have a straight road bike before I do one of these again! Brian's hybrid mt/road bike just does not keep up with the legit road bikes.  Mentally, this was so frustrating, but I decided I was doing all I could do, just settle into a 3/5 gear and get through it.  I was slightly nervous before hand about all the biking rules - you have to keep 3 bike lengths between you and other riders, no drafting, pass on left, if you attempt a pass and can't complete it, you have to drop back to the 3 lengths, no side by side riding - but it wasn't a problem. I did manage to pass a few people and practice the rules, so that was nice. Anytime we turned onto a different street there were course people w/flags directing us, so there was pretty much no way to get lost on this course. Even nicer was that I did not throw a chain or get a flat!

So about the time I was asking ladies around me if we were close to the end or what mile we were at, we made the final turn and it was just a straight shot and a downhill to the transition area.  I rode up to the bike-in shoot, hopped off the bike before entering transition and boy, that was interesting!! I'm not going to lie, Brian's bike seat is brutal, and getting off the bike and trying to run it into the transition area and re-rack the bike was painful!! I headed for what I thought was my rack, racked the bike, noticed what I thought were my 3 tri friends bikes racked, too,(which was right, they should have been out on the run course way ahead of me since the tri started way ahead of me) and started looking around for my bag, found it, started digging through it for my camera and hand held water....and realized it was not my bag.  Oops!! I looked around to figure out where I was and where I should have been, un-racked my bike, ran for my spot, re-racked, got my stuff, drank like a camel (it was in the 80's and I am not coordinated enough to drink on the bike, so I was running on dry) and headed for the "run out" shoot to start the final run.

I was so happy to have made it through the bike relatively well (speed aside), all that stood between me and the finish was a 3 mile trail run! No problem. This 3 mile section was about as much as you can possibly ask for in a 3 mile trail run - uphill, downhill, a pretty lake, 2 aid stations, a bit of shade, a lot of sun, and it was out and back, so you could see how far back in the pack you were.  I was for sure in the back half, but not nearly as bad as I thought I was after getting passed so much on the bike. I was able to pass a ton of the ladies who cruised by me on the bike like I was standing still. I was quietly amused by this since many of these ladies were serious cyclists in their matching racing jerseys and none too friendly. You know when you're out on a run and you say "Hi" to a cyclist coming at you and they look at you like you're stupid?? Naturally, an event that has cycling draws out more than a few of that variety of cyclist. I fought the urge to smile and say Hi as I passed : ) Many were for sure cyclists, and not runners!!  The last section was up on top of a berm/dike and was a long, hot section....but we were heading to the finish and that kept me moving along.  Before long I was dropping down a hill off the berm, across the parking lot, onto the grass field, and heading across the finish line!!

The whole thing felt really strange to me.  I moved through the morning and enjoyed it and got it done, but it almost felt pretend. I think because this has been a goal for so long and now it's done, it didn't feel real. Anybody know what I mean??  I did enjoy it though, and plan to leave my body markings on as long as I possibly can, which may get stinky!  As for what I learned....I guess the main thing is that next time I will employ a trick I saw a few people use, but wasnt' sure why until I got lost in the transition area....tie a balloon on my bike rack!!  It's much easier to look for a balloon than for a bike in a sea of bikes!  As for how hard or easy to go on each leg....i dont' think I would have changed much. I guess mastering drinking while riding may be a good idea, too. I had to push harder on the bike than I would have liked, but I still had legs to run for the final run, so I guess I paced everything ok.  I was for sure tired at the end, and that is how it should be.

My time was 1:30:xx, no official time yet, but I'll post results when they come up.

This is pretty long, huh? Looks like I'll do a separate post on See Jane, and a picture post, too.
Thanks for reading!