Duathlon Race Report (aka I am in awe of Annnn)

Jennifer, I'm doing this for you. My inclination was to wait for Margo to report then add my own race details. But I know you can't wait any longer so here goes! (ha ha)

Annn and I arrived in the cute little town of Smithfield, Virginia, at about 4:00 on Friday afternoon... after I got us lost twice just trying to leave Richmond. I really don't know my way around at all once I get south of the James River. Sad, I know, given that I've spent my whole life here.

Anyway... packet pickup didn't start until 5:00 so we took the opportunity to ride the course. And by ride, of course I mean drive. There were a few scary notations on the route maps. First, we took a look at the blind hairpin turn followed by a steep uphill on the bike course. We hit the turn following a fairly blind s-shaped downhill section, and it was very sharp. Brake hard and ride slow kind of sharp. But then there was a little flat before a mild uphill. We rode the downhill leading to the turn again as Annn plotted her strategy, then we scoffed at the "steep" uphill. We were happy to be prepared for that turn on race day and hoped there wouldn't be much traffic on the narrow roads.

We rode the rest of the bike route to become more familiar with it and noted false-flats, some sandy and muddy areas. We got a kick out of "Easy Street" around mile 9 and commented that we would look for it on race day for a quick giggle.

Next we decided to check out the run route. We ended up behind a car carrying a gorgous Felt tri bike with Zipp wheels and paid more attention to that than the actual route. They turned off before we did, so we caught the cobblestone section, a store called Cloud 9 (to go along with Easy Street), and the "steep downhill" followed by a "steep uphill" that was supposed to give us a "sense of accomplishment" at the end of the race. The hill was steep but short. We scoffed again.

As we headed to the B&B, Annn noted that our day had gone remarkably well and that something better go wrong soon or she would be very worried about the race - thereby initiating a series of little mishaps. The B&B confused our reservation, and when we finally got a room, it was still dirty from a previous occupant. Our next room was clean but bore the room number 2213. Lucky 13. Whew, at least we got all that out of the way...

We hooked up with Margo and Rcat for packet pickup, which went smoothly, and dinner at the hotel. The B&B had a beautiful view of the Pagan River and dinner was quite delicious. Annn selected the best meal with sweet potato crusted rockfish, and my seafood medley covered in cheese and bacon was a tasty indulgance. Pretty much everything on the menu contained ham or bacon - we were in Smithfield, Virginia after all. I had my usual pre-race wine but fortunately not in vast quantities this time.

The wind had picked up by then and the weather had turned very chilly. We watched the weather channel and saw that Hurrican Noel was still tracking off the east coast with a forecast for a cool windy morning and the liklihood of overnight rainfall. Annn and I flipped on the gas fireplace and snuggled into our king size bed for the night.

Good grief Charlie Brown, I haven't even gotten to race day yet! Moving on...

The race started at a civilized 9:30 a.m. so we had plenty of time the next morning. A quick check outside revealed cool temperatures but no rainfall. Local weather showed temperatures in the mid-40s with a high in the 60s expected later in the day once the hurricane cleared the area. I layered on most of the clothes I brought to give myself options during the race, we took a few pictures, and headed to the race site.

Annn and I had excellent rack positions in this small race, right by the bike exit/entrance. We set up our transition areas then headed inside the Y for timing chips and warmth. I decided to start the first run in my tri shorts and a light long sleeved running shirt. I froze my butt off beforehand but it was perfect once the horn sounded.

With less than 100 participants, we all started together. The pack broke up pretty quickly. About 10 yards in, I looked at the guy beside me and said that I was already tired. He laughed, we started chatting and ended up running together for the whole first 5k. My new friend Ken pushed me to a 26:59 minute first leg. (8:42 min/mi, 4/5 age group, 16/27 overall women)

My transition was slow as usual. I changed shoes, threw on my cool new TriGirl cycling jacket, gloves and helmet, and had a conversation with the girl beside me about my Newton running shoes. Saw Ken leaving T1, telling me to hurry up so we could stick together. Finally took off. Realized that I still had my running visor on, dumped my bike, ran back to transition and peeled it off. Tried again. (2:10, 4/5 AG, 23/27 women)

There were a lot of cyclists leaving transition at the same time so I put the hammer down to get around them. I passed most of them including Ken by the 1 mile marker. For whatever reason, I was entertained that there was a one mile marker. I saw one or two more bikers on the course leading up to the hairpin turn, but the run had really seperated the field more than I expected. It was very very windy - a swirly wind that was a headwind one second and a cross wind the next. Funny, I never noticed a tail wind. The turn was at about 3.5 miles and it wasn't bad since I was prepared. There was a truck coming the other way which could have been ugly if I had been a few seconds later, but the course was well populated with friendly volunteers so I'm sure I would have been fine.

The next stretch was kind of boring. I was feeling all alone when a woman blasted past me. She looked like she could have been in my age group so that motivated me to pick up the pace a bit, but pretty soon I was by myself again. There was some jack weed-whacking his yard and blowing crap all over the road around mile 7. I muttered an Annn-patented "martha focker" at him as I rode by. I made a turn and saw a biker on the side of the road. "You okay?" I called. "Cramping," he replied. After I passed him, it occured to me that I should have offered a Gu. Sorry, dude.

My own nutrition/hydration plan was going well. I had most of a Cliff bar and a bottle of water when I woke up, followed by a Gu before the start and Accelerade on the bike. I stopped drinking around mile 10 on the bike so my stomach wouldn't be sloshy for the second run. It worked well for me.

Around mile 9, I saw a guy on the side of the road with a flat. Been there, so I commisserated and told the next group of volunteers that he was back there. I saw Easy Street and smiled thinking of Annn and hoping she was having a good ride. As it turns out, our ride times were only 12 seconds apart! Sweet, partner!

Somewhere around mile 13, I flipped my bike computer to check my pace so far - 16.8. That's not acceptable, I thought to myself as I got a little more serious. I hit the long final stretch and gave it all I had to raise the average to 17.3 mph by the end. As I dismounted the bike, a friendly volunteer said, "You made up a lot of time on the bike!" "I tried!" I told her although I thought it odd and wondered if she mistook me for someone else. (56:53, 3/5 AG, 11/27 women)

I was more efficient in T1, dumping my jacket and gloves, changing shoes, grabbing Garmin and visor, jogging out. No chatting. I wondered how far behind me Ken was and if he'd catch me on the second run. (1:18, 3/5 AG, 16/27 women)

The run route had a lot of turns and therefore a lot of volunteers. I tried to thank each volunter I saw on the course all day. On the second 5k run, I kept saying, "It's harder this time!" The volunteers laughed and offered encouragement. I could see a few people in front of me but like the bike, I felt alone.

This wasn't a USAT event and the web site hadn't said that iPods were forbidden. I wore mine to the race start but Margo told me they had announced that they weren't allowed so I tucked it in my shirt for most of the race. After the first mile of the second run, however, I decided I needed the distraction and pulled it out. For the next mile, I listened to Scissor Sisters and Hootie. Then I needed me some Nickleback and started flipping through my tunes to find Rock Star. As I approached the steep downhill/uphill section, I settled on Nelly's Hot in Herre. Then I decided to flip one more time then I'd flip back to Nelly if necessary. I accidentally skipped two songs, went back one, and found Rock Star. Yes!!!! The hill was definitely feeling more significant at this point. I hit it happy, turned the corner to the home stretch, and jogged it in with all I had left. (28:05, 9:04 min/mi, 3/5 AG, 14/27 women).

I walked around a bit, actually stretched which is rare for me in a race, grabbed a bottle of water and saw Margo. She told me about her tough day (poor thing). We headed back to transition to grab cameras. I checked results and saw that I was third in my age group (14/27 overall women), which I thought was also last. I didn't realize until I checked results this morning to give you all these lovely statistics that there were actually five of us, so I feel a little better about my podium win. (HA!)

The race director started announcing awards near the finish line and we saw Rcat finish. We were chatting and waiting for the women's results when Annn approached the finish line. We cheered like crazy, and she called, "I'm going to need medical attention" to the volunteers. That's when we noticed the dried blood all over her right leg and the huge gash on her knee. Volunteers swarmed her with a first aid kit. She fell at the 1.5 mile mark on the second run, rolled around a bit, and kept going. I am in awe.

As Annn gimped to the curb, I heard the race director call my name and I zipped through the small crowd to pick up my Luter Family YMCA Duathlon pint glass. I quickly returned to Annn who was getting iced and wrapped. That's when I heard the race director call her name as second place Athena. I ran to get her pint glass, and Margo photographed her with injuries and award.

The volunteers recommended that we take Annn to the closest emergency room. Despite her protests that all she needed was a little peroxide, we quickly gathered all our stuff from transition and bundled her off to the nearest hospital. Four hours, two x-rays and eight stitches later, she hobbled out of the ER on crutches and whacked on pain killer. I never saw her cry or heard her complain.

I am in awe.