Duathlon Nationals race report

This weekend was the big race I've been training for since December.  The USAT Duathlon National Championships in Richmond, Virginia.  For duathlon, the nationals were an open event, you didn't have to qualify to compete.  But there were tons of fast people, since this was where the slots were awarded on Team USA for the world championships in Edinburgh, Scotland, in September.   

The race took place in downtown Richmond, and was  5K run, 40K bike (about 24 miles), and 5k run.  The run was on streets downtown, and through a park.  The bike course was an 8 mile loop we did three times, part of which went through downtown, with four crossings on bridges over the James River, and an out and back section through rolling hills in neighborhoods along the river.

I flew into Richmond on Thursday, got my bike assembled at a local bike shop, and had a day to kill before Suellen came in Friday night.  She originally was going to do a shorter "sport" race they were also holding on Sunday, but a hamstring injury meant she'd just be cheering this weekend.  And dealing with my freak outs :)

The main freakout was the weather. Forecasts for the last two weeks pointed to rain, and sure enough it rained on and off all day Saturday.  I did a single loop of the bike course on Saturday as a warmup, and on the wet roads it was white knuckles on every turn.  Because the course was partially downtown, there were LOTS of turns. 

When it was clear it was going to be slick for Sunday's race, I finally (at Suellen's brilliant suggestion) called back to my local bike shop, Jack & Adam's, to get some advice on getting ready for a wet race.  They gave me some great tips on the best air pressure in my tires to get the most grip, and a few other pointers.  That helped ease my mind a bit.

My goal for the race was to place in the top 18 of my age group, which would guarantee me a spot at Worlds.  I really hoped I'd have a good enough race to place in the top 10, and my super-secret goal was to hit the top 5 in my group.  I revised these goals after riding the wet course the day before- I really thought it'd be all I could do to stay upright on the bike and not crash, and just hit that top 18.

Sunday morning at 6am we were up and heading down to the race site, after a small breakfast.  They started the race in waves, and my wave (Female 40-44) started at 8:35. So I had time to kill, but needed to be there early enough to make sure everything was set up.

It had rained all night, and drizzled a little as we set up Sunday morning, but it did look like we'd get a break from the rain after the race started.  The roads would still be wet, but they'd be drying a bit as we went further into the race.  After a short warmup run, I took my spot in the starting chute, a couple rows from the front. After a countdown and an airhorn, the 55 women in the 40-44 age group were off!

The start of the run went down a huge hill, took a turn and then down another hill til we were running by the river.  It was really hard not to go too fast, with all the downhills.  I glanced at my watch and saw I was running a 6:22 pace, way faster than the 6:55 I'd planned.  But I just went with it, figuring I'd slow down in the flats.

At the start, I was about 12th place, but passed a few others over the first mile.  We hit a couple sections of cobblestones that must have been from the civil war.  It was some rough running, and I could just see myself twisting an ankle!  Some careful steps and I made it through.

After the first mile we headed into a park beside the river.  I was in a pretty good rhythm, right around a 6:45 pace, and passing a few other women.  At 2.5 miles, we turned up a hill to head to transition.  With mostly downhill & flat for the first part of the run, the last uphill was mean!  It definitely got my heart rate up.  Finally I could see transition, with all our bikes.  As I ran in, a volunteer was counting people in the age group, and it turned out I was 6th or 7th!  I just had to hold on to that place through the bike & second run.

I ran into transition, and 42 seconds later I was out the other side with my bike.  Got on the bike and rode up out to the street, and up the first big hill.  We actually then rode down the hill we'd started the run on, and with the wet streets I was just too nervous to let it go.  I rode my brakes on the way down, then settled into my aerobars as we crossed the first bridge.

The bike course was a figure 8 loop, so we actually came back by transition twice per loop.  That was cool because I got to see Suellen several times.  It was uncool because it meant even more turns.  On the first loop I really took the turns slow.  It was pretty congested with bikes from the previous waves, and I spent a lot of time dodging slower cyclists.  Another trip across the bridge and  we headed out on the section through the neighborhoods by the river.  The good part about this section was it was almost covered with a canopy of trees, so the road wasn't as slick.  But it was a narrow two lane road, with cyclists coming & going.  We hit the first few turns and hills and it was a madhouse.  You had people trying to pass going 30mph next to people struggling along at 15mph.  And other cyclists coming in the opposite direction at 30mph.  I let at least two people in my age group pass me, I just wasn't willing to push it that hard with so much traffic.  

After the end of the out & back section we hit the bridge one more time to finish the first loop.  I was feeling better about the bike at this point, even though it was slick my tires had good grip.  And the crowds thinned out a little, so there wasn't as much dodging slower cyclists.  I waved at Suellen as I passed transition, and headed up & down the hills downtown.  The second time I was able to open it up a little more, still cautious on the 90 degree turns but better on the more gentle curves.  And I was able to get into a smooth rhythm as we went out along the river this time.

For part of the second & third loops I spent a good amount of time playing leapfrog with another girl in my age group.  I'd pass her on the straights, she'd pass me on the curves.  We finally joked each time we passed each other "Tag, you're it!".  It's so nice that even competing in the same group there is enough camaraderie to have fun and laugh during the race!

Two loops down and I was getting more comfortable with the course. It was still rough (I saw at least a dozen people on the side of the road with flats) and a little wet, but I knew which turns were safe now.  Up until this point I'd purposely not looked at my average speed. I just didn't want the pressure, given the conditions.  But I finally glanced down, and saw I'd been averaging 21mph!  That was great, given the roads.  I'd figured 20 or 20.5 if I was lucky after the wobbly ride on Saturday.

Midway through the third loop I finally was able to let myself believe I was going to make it through the bike not only upright, but with a good time.  I mentally started getting ready for the second run.

After a quick wave to Suellen at the finish of the third loop, I dismounted and ran down to transition.  A pretty good 44 second transition and I was out for the final 5K run.  After running through the park a bit, we hit the road down to the river.  At this point we joined up with the more casual "sport" race that had just started.  So it was now impossible to tell if I was passing anyone in my age group, as I dodged all the new runners doing their first run.  Nothing to do but try to hold my pace and run strong.

My legs were tired.  I was around a 6:50 pace, and even though I tried to pick it up, I realized it was probably going to be the best I could do to just hold that.  Over the cobblestones, out of downtown, and into the park, I kept rolling along.  As I hit mile 2, I started singing "Loch Lomond" in my head - "You take the low road, and I'll take the high road, and I'll be in Scotland afore ya!" :)   That was my inspiration.   If I just held on strong, I was sure I'd finish in the top 10 and punch my ticket to Edinburgh.

With about a half mile to go, we had to go up the big hill to get back to the park where the race was finishing.  At that point I wished I could take the low road- this high road was killing me!  I slogged up the hill, turned into the park, and gave it everything I could the last quarter of a mile.  I ran down the finish chute and saw Suellen there cheering for me.  After I crossed the line, I was pretty wobbly, I'd definitely left everything on the course.

After a hug from Suellen, some gatorade, and a couple slices of pizza, I went to find the results.  They had a great system where they could print out a little slip of paper with all your times & placing.  The final results were:

Time: 1:51:45

Run1: 21:08 (6:48 pace), Bike: 1:08:14 (21.1 mph), Run2: 20:59 (6:45 pace) 

Age group place: 5th!

Overall women place: 11th!

I was so excited!  I'd earned my spot for Worlds, and even made my secret goal of placing in the top 5.  And 11th overall was completely unexpected.  Time for a little break then get ready for Scotland!

 

Comments

[maggie d]

you made your super secret goal!!!!! congrats on going to worlds. I was reading Suellen's fb updates about the wet roads and even a crash. way to race smart in those conditions and go above your expectations!!!

[Rachel]

Wow!Congrats!! That is so awesome!