My first duathlon! Not one of my better performances. I don't honestly know what my time was yet, except that I know it was appallingly slow.Now, let the litany of excuses begin.
First, it was c-o-l-d. 27 degrees. The run went out into the desert outside White Sands, and was a good little run - I just wasn't expecting the pockets of sand on the trail; (I know - it should be self evident, right? desert, sand.) I couldn't seem to catch my breath, despite the extra asthma puffs I'd taken earlier. It was slightly uphill, maybe about a 1 - 2 rolling grade, and then back down to the transition area. At the end of the run I was 2nd from last. Yay! Hey, at least I showed up, right??
Then, on to the bike. In transition, I finally decided to throw out my insoles, which keep folding up
whenever I try to get my bike shoes on. This was the time for me to find out if my bike fitting, provided by Husband two days ago, would be a benefit. I can tell you it was. The ride was smooth, rolling grade 1 - 2% down on the way out. So, on the way out on the bike course (30K, or 18.6 miles) I was thinking to myself, "Wow. I'm sooo fast. I kick ass". Then I turned around, facing INTO the wind, and inched my way back, saying every curse word I could think of. It was still c-o-l-d. I was muttering all my favorite profanities under my breath. It wasn't pretty. I finished the bike 3rd from last, but was one of only two Athena's to show up, so I took 2nd. Kick ass.Husband took 1st in the Clydesdale division. Son, 15, did it with us and was a finisher.
My new glasses (RecSpecs) worked really well. I forgot I had them on.
Nice little duathlon. I'm going to do it next year. Better. ;-)
