My second multi-distance race was held May 31, 2009. I signed up for this race with my friend Tammi who doesn't train on any kind of consistent basis but enters races like this anyway. She's crazy! This event also included a sprint distance triathlon but I didn't sign up because I did not feel ready for the swim. I had taken an Adult learn to swim class at the local college in March and had finally learned to do a proper front crawl but I was not nearly at a point where I could complete the entire sprint distance swim. And so, Do-A-Du it was.
Pre-Race
I got to the race site early (shocker) and set up my transition area. My husband Paul came with me and I remember how cranky he was about how early he had to get up and going. I was beyond irritated with it but whatever. Over the winter I had also purchased a new road bike. A black and pink Specialized Dolce. I was beyond excited about this bike. Mostly because it was black and pink. I literally walked into my local bike shop, told them I needed a bike for triathlon training, didn't want to spend more than $1,000 and there she was. To be honest, she was the only bike in the shop that was small enough for me. Needless to say I was excited to see what the difference would be like to race on a road bike compared to a mountain bike.
Run #1
We all lined up at the start line waiting for the word to start the first 2.5k run. Unfortunately there was some confusion about when we would go. At one point they told us to go, then stop, then it was GO GO GO! This run was pretty uneventful. I tried keeping up with Tammi and her friend but their pace was way fast for me (I'm a really slow runner).
Run time - 15:49 (6:20/km)
T1 + Bike + T2
I ran into transition and grabbed a drink of water and my bike. I wasn't using clips yet so I didn't need to worry about changing shoes or anything. Uneventful T1. I mounted my bike at the line and took off. I felt really good on the bike and started passing a couple of people. I caught T and her friend who were on mountain bikes. One thing I learned on this course was that I would have to spend some time on bike learning how to use my gears! This was a 15k out and back course. There was also a Sprint Triathlon and Dualthlon going on at the same time. They did not have any volunteers at the bike turn around for our race. Luckily, I happened to notice a spray painted turn around arrow in the middle of the road and made the assumption that it was the turn around. I yelled at T when I saw her to watch for the arrow but she didn't hear me and she and most of the Do-A-Du participants missed it and ended up riding the entire 30k course. I got back to the race site, dismounted and ran my bike into transition. Again, uneventful.
T1 + Bike + T2 time - 40:59 (22 kph avg)
Run #2
This was another 2.5k out and back. Shady in a lot of spots. What struck me most was alot of the full Duathlon and Triathlon athletes that were passing me were saying very nice and encouraging things. It's something I try to do to the (few) people I pass in races now.
Run time - 16:55 (6:46/km)
Total time - 1:13:42
Overall - 10/15
Age Group (F35-39) - 1/1
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