Triathlantic Cape May Duathlon

June 1^st, 2003

Well, I survived the Duathlon. It was a blast. It rained the whole friggin time, but we hardly even noticed.

Here is the rundown:

Friday, after the kids got home from school, Lisa got home from work and we had a easy dinner, we headed to Philly around 7pm. The traffic was very light and we made good time.

Saturday we went out and each got a pair of trail running shoes. Not for the race, but we both needed new shoes. I got a nice pair of New Balance (I forget the number.), but they feel good.

At 2:30 we headed to NJ and the check-in for the race. Just as we got there, it started sprinkling. The temperature was ok, but it was dreary.

Age and her friend Jess showed up and we waited for them to check in and then went and felt the water. It wasn't too bad, but you could see all the seaweed they were going to have to get through during their swim the next day. Lisa and I felt good that we were doing the Duathlon (Run/Bike/Run) instead of the Triathlon. We really didn't feel like swimming in that flooded cranberry bog.

After checking in we went shopping for energy drinks and stuff.

I took Lisa out for dinner as it was her birthday (37) :) We both had pasta to carb up for the race.

After an aborted game of Pictionary, we all tried to get to bed. Not happening. None of the racers were tired. The only people who crashed were our cheering section Gill and Angel.

Finally we all laid down. Sleep? What was that. I felt like a slept about 15 minutes. I'm sure it was more, but sleeping the night before a race is hard.

Sunday (Race Day). I got up at 5:15 and got in the shower before all the girls started stirring. We all got up and got ready. We had some bagels for breakfast, packed up everything and headed to the race at 6:50ish.

The race started at 8:00. Our duathlon all started together, but the Triathlon had wave starts for the swim. Age went at 12 after and the other two girls were after that.

We started off at a run. Lisa asked me what I was going to do and I didn't know. So the horn goes off and I take off. I tried to keep a fast pace, but after a while my normal slower pace kicked in. I was the 99th person to make the turn around and finished the first run in 28 min and some seconds.

I transitioned in about a minute to the bike and headed out into the wind and rain. My mountain bike seemed to be standing still most of the time as people on racing and road bikes flew past me. I just kept pumping those pedals and going forward. Singing songs to myself and letting my mind wander to far off places as I went along. Its not as mind challenging as a technical single track course, but it was a good workout for the quads. I passed lots of road bikers as they fixed there flats or whatever and saw a few walking back to the start, most likely due to a failure they couldn't correct.

As I turned onto Rt 47 the wind hit me square in the face. That was some fun. But I continued on and before I knew it I was turning onto the 550 spur and the wind was now somewhat to the side. I passed some sheep at this time and had to give them a loud bleat. I was surprised and delighted when one of them returned my long baaaaaa.

I actually passed a few tired road bikers on the last leg of the bike run. I gathered some energy from somewhere when I realized we were almost finished. I finished the bike in less than an hour, which was about what I figured I would do.

As I stepped off the bike at the transition area, my legs screamed at me, asking what I was doing making them do something different again. It took me about three wobbly steps to re-learn how to walk again.

I transitioned again back to the run and headed towards the woods again. I just took my time now. Jogging along, knowing that the end was getting closer with each step. I think it was still raining, but was about ready to stop.

I finally saw one of our group as I was heading back to the finish after the turn around. I saw Lisa when I only had about a quarter mile left. She really wasn't too far behind me and was still doing great.

I finished in 1:56:28. Not too bad for a fat 40 year old. After finishing I went and found our cheering group and we waited for the others to come in.

Each made their way to the finish line as we cheered them on. It was a good feeling to see the types of people that ran this race. There were all kinds.

Well the race was finished and we headed to the pavilion to see if any food was left. They were starting to hand out the awards.

We ate and were getting rather chilled and were thinking of heading out when my name was called. When I had signed Lisa and myself up I checked to boxes for Clydesdale and Athena for us as we fit into that separate weight group. Well, I guess not too many others were in that group or they were slow, because I received the 3rd place finish plaque.

As we were admiring my plaque, Lisa's name was called. She had taken 1st place for her division. Yea!!!

We all congratulated each other and headed home to hot showers and dry clothes.

It was a fun event. I was a little bored with the bike run and didn't like the road and race bikers passing my slow heavy mountain bike, but I still had a ball.

Monday:

I'm a little sore, but not too bad after a good nights sleep.

When is the next one...????

Later,