WE DID IT!!!!

I am relaxing on my sofa watching reruns of Law and Order, feeling quite pleased with myself for completing the duathlon this AM. It was a very positive experience, beginning with the opportunity to get to know some of the women from my Just Tri-It group a bit better. We were a small group (our larger Just Tri-It group is around 70 women) among a field of about 5o duathlon participants. It was so nice having a group connection with the other women as some of the other participants looked rather intimidating in their fancy running and cycling gear. Some of us did the long course 3km run, 20km cycle, 3km run and others the short course 1.5 km, 10 km and 1.5 km. I think we were all a little nervous starting out.

The pictures above are from before and after the race. I don't know what my time was but I tried to keep a steady pace so that I could finish. I felt great afterwards which made me think I could have pushed harder, however I know that when I was cycling and running I was pushing as much as I felt I could at the time. I had a few aches and pains, mostly in the last 3km but nothing too bad. I was very thankful to have my road bike which made cycling easier than for those who had hybrids or mountain bikes. One of the most difficult periods in the race was the transition from cycling to running. My legs and feet felt very strange but once I got going it became easier. 

A surprising outcome of the experience is that without any previous experience I realized I had no idea how to pace myself (last competitive racing I did was when I was 12 and I outran the field because I had trained so much, broke the record which wasn't broken again until my niece Rhonda broke it 23 years later or I was lapped by the leaders because I blew off training and made the mistake of thinking that I could still run a competitive race without training, I was 14) . Having other women from our group helped but I realized that as I have been training the past few months I haven't really pushed myself all that hard. I keep a steady pace, sometimes do sprints, but in general I have a comfortable pace that works well for me (I'm very slow). I also cut my runs short if I feel sore or have muscle problems that feel uncomfortable, again something that occurs in a race but in training I deal with by heading home. Today's experience made me wonder what I will do in a race where I do experience significant pain. I know my friend Sue has told me about the pain that she has had during races and how she has had to come up with strategies to deal with the pain and the knowledge that she has a significant distance still to go. I think I'll ask some of my friends who are runners how they deal with what their body and mind throws at them during a race. For now however, the question is whether I can get off the sofa without too much pain and enjoy the rest of the day :). Congratulations Just Tri-It ladies, We Did It!  (350.7 miles)