Due to a minor knee injury, I took some time off from running/training. Around the beginning of June, I was talking with my friend Matt and decided that we would compete in an Olympic distance duathlon. A duathlon is similar to a triathlon, yet without the swimming component—instead it is a run, bike, run—as opposed to a swim, bike, run. The distance for this race was a 3.1 mile run on the beach followed by a 25 mile bike ride and wrapping up with a 6.2 mile run through the streets of Mexico Beach. Although a little hesitant at first, I was looking forward to the challenge.
The date was set: September 11, 2010—the day before my 24th birthday. The training had come to an end and it was finally race day. I think I may have gotten a total of 2 hours of sleep the night before, as my adrenaline and anxiety got the best of me. I jumped out of bed around 4am, made myself the usual pre-race meal: peanut butter toast with bananas on top, couple hard boiled eggs, orange juice and an apple, and headed out the door. Dozens of athletes filled the parking lot of the hotel as we prepared to make our way to the race site.
As I approached the race site, my “greenhorn” tendencies kicked in. I had no idea what I was doing. Athletes were scrambling all over the place—people were getting body marked, stretching, setting up their transition area, making final tweaks to their bike, joking around with one another, jogging…the list goes on. I had no idea where I was supposed to be or what the heck I was supposed to be doing. I found what seemed to be a good “transition spot” and set up camp.
As the time went one, I continued to mentally prepare for my first, big multi-sport race was able to shut out all of the outside chaos and gain control on the race at hand. Matt and I made our way to the starting line and before we knew it the gun sounded and we were off.
The first leg of the race (3.1 mile run) took place on the beach—luckily the sand was compacted, making it a little easier to run. I was immediately thankful for each of my training runs on the beach…I started off at a decent pace, keeping in mind that this was just the beginning, and came through T1 at 25:25. My transition was under a minute as I grabbed a swig of water and headed off for the second leg.
The second leg (25 mile bike) was a nice, flat course with one monster bridge around mile 7—which wasn’t too bad going out, but on the way back in it was a bear. The weather began to warm up as I continued to hydrate during the ride. I knew it was going to be extra hot on the last leg of the race. I came through T2 at 1:17:17—beating my goal of 1:25. My transition was again under a minute. Any multi-sport athlete knows this part of the race very well. Dismounting the bike and beginning your last leg—where your legs feel like a ton of bricks.
Matt and I remained close by during the whole race—we took off for the third leg (6.2 mile run) together and chuckled as we made our first turn. “Dude, do your legs feel like mine?” ”I don’t know man, I can’t feel mine!” The “Welcome to Florida humidity” set in. We took advantage of each water station as we continued to hydrate in order to keep moving forward. This is where the mental toughness plays its toll. Not only were we competing in an Olympic distance race, but there was also a Sprint distance taking place as well (half the distance of the Olympic). So as we began our final leg, the Sprint competitors were passing us in the other direction as they made their way to the finish line!
It was all worth it as I crossed the line at 2:39:31 (I finished the third leg in 56:51). I ended up finishing 1st in my age division and 3rd overall. It was a great “first” race!
Matt and I before the start.
On the final stretch of the race—just a few yards from the finish line.
That’s a wrap! Time to head home for a celebratory Sweetwater 420.
