January 29, 2017
It’s been years since I’ve done a duathlon! This was sort of
a last minute race for me. Wendy and I joined the Kennedy Law Race team at the
beginning of February. This race was one of their discounted races. They would
have tents and food and beverages provided. We decided to sign up and
participate, so we could meet some of the team! On the 16th, I did my first brick
in a long time. I got in another one, the following weekend. Besides my normal
tri training, that’s all I got in leading up to this race.
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| Finishing up the first 5K run. |
Race morning, the weather was bad. Forecast called for rain.
The radar showed a mass of green and yellow, heading to the race spot at Ft
Desoto. We were meeting at 5:45 am. We decided to go ahead and drive up. If the
race got cancelled, we would drive back down and stop at Cyclebar for an indoor
workout. Once we got up there, we went to check in. Carolyn and I got our
packets, but the volunteers could not find Wendy listed. We went to talk to
Park, who is in charge of KLR. He talked to the race director, getting Wendy
all set to compete! We got our gear into the transition area, met up with Terri
and her friend, then hung out under a tent. There was a light sprinkle. Temp
was in the low 50s. I had on capris, a short sleeved shirt and my Skirt Sport
windbreaker jacket.
Just after 8 am, the elite athletes took off, then the rest
of us lined. There was a pretty decent group of people to show up on such a
crappy day! With the blast of the horn, we were off! The first mile and a half
was through the parking lot, then onto the wide paved trail. I just tried to
keep a steady pace that was a little hard, but not all out. I wanted to be able
to get on the bike and push it! Just after the water stop at 1.5 miles, we made
the turn to start the second half of the run on the hard packed sandy trail.
Thankfully, the sand was pretty packed down due to the rain. It was a good run.
Happy with my pace. 5K Run - 26:43 (8:37pace)
T1: well, I sucked in transition! I should not have bothered
trying to change my watch from run to bike, when I was just going to get those
splits at the end in the official results. Plus, I had my older garmin on my
bike, so I was going to look at that when I wanted to see what speed I was
going. But, I did mess with my garmin. Hitting the wrong buttons and having to
go back and forth on it. Then, I put my windbreaker back on, took of my running
shoes and but on bike shoes, put on helmet and then my gloves. I walked my bike
through transition. I was at the very back end of the area. I should have tried
to run a little. I had one of the longest times in T1, which would hurt me in
the final standings. T1 – 2:58
Bike: Heading out on the bike, I felt good. I passed a boy
(maybe 10!) who told me I was doing good. How sweet! J I wanted to keep my speed up
as much as I felt comfortable. The street was wet from the rain, but
thankfully, there was just a little rain during the ride and only one bigger
puddle I needed to ride around. When I took the turn at the end of the road, I
slowed down more than I usually do when I ride this course. Heading back, we
had a bit of a headwind. It really felt like I had wind 75 percent of the time!
I’m sure that’s not true, but, there is not a lot of protection out there on
the island, so it can feel very windy, even when it’s not. I’m glad I took the
time to put on gloves. I was plenty warm while riding. Just my feet got a bit cold.
10 mile bike – 31:46 (18.9mph)
Transition 2: I was disappointed to see that my shoes, which
I had placed just inside a large plastic bag, had been knocked out of the bag,
by the guy’s bike next to mine. They were very damp. I was much faster during
T2. I racked my bike, switched shoes, took off my jacket, put on my KLR hat,
then headed out. Time – 1:28
Run: Back out on the same course that we ran for the first
5K. My shoes were so loud! All I could hear was the stomp, stomp, stomp of my
shoes. I had half a gu at the water stop, then made the turn onto the sand.
This helped to dampen the sound of my loud shoes. Around mile 2, I caught up
with another KLR team member. We ran near each other and side by side for the
last mile. We shared a few words, then just as we made the turn off the beach,
she took off fast! I picked up the pace a little more, crossing the finish line
with a smile. 5K run – 26:52 (8:40 pace)
Finish: 1:29:48
5th in age group. The long T1 cost me 2nd/3rd
place! There was only 30 seconds
separating 2nd and 5th place. L
Next up: Best Damn Race Safety Harbor half marathon on Feb 4th.
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