This past weekend I participated -- I won’t say competed -- in my first duathlon. A great event, the Iron Girl, it was well-organized and fun. But, though I finished and had some personal success, I also learned some things that I want to capture for future events.
Training for Duathlon
One area that I can really improve is training while traveling. We had some trips in the weeks before this event, and though I knew I should run, I didn’t. Sleep seemed more important, and in many ways it was. I’m sure though, I could have skipped some online time and gotten out for runs.
I really struggle with run training, because if I do too much, I tend to get injured, and then of course, need to rest from running for weeks. I had gotten injured some time ago, and just wasn’t sure what the best course of action was as far as training. I still don’t know. At any rate, I was happy with my pace for my first 2 mile run.
I was really happy that I biked the course (one of two laps) before the race and happy that I’d tried a couple of bricks. Even with that, I wasn’t prepared for the feeling of coming off the bike after 22 miles, when the most I’d ever done in one shot was 11. My legs did not want to move, not even to walk. After dismounting after the bike leg, I clung to my bike, gritted my teeth, and hobbled to my transition station.
Biking
I don’t really understand gears, and it holds me back. I could tell I wasn’t going as fast as I could have, because if I raised the gear to what felt right, it made noise, which I knew was bad, so I lowered it. My bike is also built for comfort, not for speed. For recreational biking, it’s great, but I did feel rather outclassed during the race. On the plus side, I felt I did well on the hills. I never lost ground, and often gained it.
Transitions
Embarrassingly slow. Can I blame a 4:00 am wake up and lack of coffee for my lack of ability to organize my stuff? I wasn’t expecting the early morning rain either, and I tucked my bike shoes at the bottom of my bag to keep them dry. Of course, it took some time to untuck them. And to unbury some nutrition, which I never got to anyhow.
Miscellaneous Stuff
Came in to the bike feeling too warm off the run, so ditched my heavier jacket, and stuck a light one in my bike back. I was chilled on the bike, but I knew I was slow, so I didn’t want to take the time to put on the light jacket.
I need to wear wool socks next time. My left foot cramps when it gets cold, and around mile 10, I wondered about pulling over to massage out the cramp, which by that time was shooting pains up the entire posterior chain. I gutted it out, and thankfully, the whole left leg went numb, so got the through next 12 miles without stopping.
With my current biking setup, it’s very difficult to get to my water bottle. During recreational rides, it’s not a problem to stop and sip, but that wasn’t an option I chose to take during the race. After about 13 miles, I did manage to work the bottle out of its holder and take a sip.
Got a little flustered when I was about to rack my bike and do Run2, when someone snuck in my spot. Apparently, her orginal spot had been encroached. I was also a little irritated that this was someone I had followed most of the bike, hunted down, passed in the final mile, and she was getting out of T2 before me! I just kind of left my bike parked on an open end, and told the encroacher, “Who cares? Take that spot.”
CrossFit
Though I didn’t train as well as I should have for the race, I know that CrossFit carried me through in many ways. I tackled the hills and gutted through any discomfort because I’d developed physical and mental strength that I would not have had two years ago.
Photo courtesy of polderfoto at morguefile.com
