Du-Tri (Do Try)

Rewind to June with me. Do you remember anything special about June?

We remember nightly flash flood text alerts, tornado sirens, and constant rain. For two straight weeks, Texas was saturated with rain. We had a brief reprieve, but then Flooding, Part II arrived to seal the deal.

We Floridians are accustomed to rain -- but generally the type that comes at 4PM every summer afternoon and leaves just as quickly as it arrived. The regularity of Florida rain at least makes it easy to plan.

All the best laid plans of race directors here were being thwarted left and right. We didn't let the rain get the best of our training plan, though! We did have to turn around during one ride, however, because the trail was submerged in water. Skinny tires are not made for off-roading adventures.

Mid mud ride

Needless to say, if the sun was out...we were out!

Three days before our scheduled sprint triathlon, we were notified that the lake swim portion of the event was cancelled and that the race was converted into a duathlon. All the flooding had caused a sewage spill in the lake.

Pre-race in front of the water we were NOT swimming in! It was stinky!

This was a triathlon festival put on by PlayTri, so there were three different events: Olympic, Sprint, and Super-Sprint. We still started in "waves" with men or women in our age divisions.

Ty and I participated in the Sprint, which was originally intended to be 500 meters of swimming, 14 miles of biking (two loops on the course), and a 5K (two loops on the course). The swimming was replaced by 1 loop of the run course, so our race shaped up to look like this:

1.55-mile run - 14 mile bike - 5K run

This seemed a fair trade-off to us, but running is after all our most competitive event. In hindsight, though, I think it was fair to my overall time, as my 1.55-mile run time was comparable to my anticipated swim time.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Rewind to the night before the race.

If you know anything about the sport of triathlon, then you know just how much gear is involved. The fact that the swim was cancelled greatly reduced the packing list.

Our duathlon list looked something like this...

Pre-race: race tats, protein bar, energy chews, tri shorts, jerseys, running shoes, race belt

Transition 1: bike shoes, helmet, water bottle, bike

Transition 2: energy gel, hat, running shoes

We spent the whole night before gathering our gear, putting race numbers on everything (ourselves, our helmets, our bikes, our race belts, etc, etc.), and rehearsing our transitions.

Transitions count toward your overall race time, so there is a lot of strategy to placement, order, and preparation. There's also some advantage/disadvantage to where you are within the transition area. Based on your bib number, you are assigned a general rack with a range (1-50, for example). The specific spots on that rack are first-come-first-serve. Ty's rack and my rack were on opposite sides of the transition area, and we both agreed I got the short end of that stick. My bike was the furthest possible rack from the run in/bike out entrance/exit. This means I had to spend more time in bike shoes and with my bike. You are not allowed to mount your bike until out of the transition area and past the mount line. When you return from the bike course, you must also dismount before you reach this same line, or you are automatically disqualified. In other words, there is no riding allowed inside the transition area. My rack was at the bottom of a little hill, which also complicates running in bike shoes.

The men started first, but I saw Ty returning from the first run just as my age group was lining up to begin. He entered the transition area second of all the men 25-29. As we were discussing our strategies for this new "du" format, we both agreed we had to play to our strength: running. In a 1.55 mile run, you don't really have time to pace yourself. It's basically a full-on sprint, except followed by 14 miles on a bike and a 5K. This meant we had to run as fast as possible without red-lining.

It just so happened that I was also second into my transition area. There were three girls, myself included, who were closely spaced on that initial run.

When it came to the bike course, Ty and I had such similar experiences. We had great times based on our training, but we just couldn't keep up with the competition. It was a hilly course, and I was averaging nearly 18 mph the entire time. I definitely have room for improvement as a cyclist, but it's a bit discouraging when you realize that the bike that's blowing past you is a minimum of $5K, and probably closer to $8K. No joke.

Like I said, gear is a big deal in this sport.

Since the bike course was two loops for the sprint (three for the Olympic), it became impossible to keep track of your competition on the course. Because the Olympic racers had started first, they had flooded the bike course by the time the Sprint racers arrived. I never saw the girl ahead of me again, but I also didn't think I was passed by anyone in my AG. I seriously had no idea how I was doing. I think this actually pushed me and helped my overall time.

I saw Ty twice on the bike course, but he was too focused to notice me. :)

On the bike in, I decided to try something different to shave off some T2 time and compensate for my lousy rack placement. Instead of running in my bike shoes through the transition and back to the rack, I decided to take my feet out of the shoes while approaching dismount, leave the shoes clipped in, and run the transition in my socks. It was a great idea -- and one lots of racers do-- but I hadn't rehearsed this in several years....Let's just say the dismount line came faster than anticipated, and I had to jump ship in my socks to avoid disqualification. And in the process I may have almost crashed and looked a little less than professional. Ahem.

At the run out, I grabbed my energy gel and took off. I was surprised by my fatigue, but I had a lot of adrenaline. It's actually quite difficult to run slowly after biking for so long. You feel like you are crawling, but in reality your pace is significantly speedier than what you feel. This is why brick workouts are important; they help you get used to the transitions between events.

The run was HOT, not at all scenic, and entirely crowded with Olympic and Sprint racers. It was after 9AM at this point, and the sun was beating down so hard. Thankfully there were lots of water stations. As I was starting out on the run, Ty and I made eye contact on the course. He was making his last turn and heading into the finish, while I was only finishing my first loop. When he saw me, he hollered nice and loudly, "That's my girl!" Can you say adrenaline boost? That gave me the energy I needed to finish strong.

Ty was there to cheer me on as I crossed the finish line, and that was magical! My overall feeling was one of teamwork! Even though we had two separate races, I felt so proud of what we had accomplished together. I would have bailed on so many swim (moot point) and bike sessions if it hadn't been for my training buddy!

It was a fantastic race experience, but I have to say that I was slightly blindsided by the effort required to maintain a competitive pace throughout. As a runner, I can compare this to the effort I would put forth in a 5K, but in this case for an hour and twenty-five minutes! It felt nothing like the effort put forth in long-distance running, in which you have time to pace yourself and get into a groove. Each event was relatively short, thus the "sprint" nature of the race. But there is also an endurance component, because this "sprinting" must be maintained for a good chunk of time. I think I would actually prefer the longer triathlons, because I am stronger at endurance.

So are you ready for the stats? This is one of our favorite things about the sport of triathlon. There are so many ways to improve your time, because there are so many timed things!

Jess:
Total time: 1:25:01
Run 1: 11:34 (7:28/mi)
T1: 0:52
Bike: 47:42 (17.6 mph)
T2: 1:09
Run 2: 23:42 (7:36/mi)

Overall place: 65 out of 225
Gender place: 16 out of 93
Division place (Females 25-29): 2

Ty:
Total time: 1:21:11
Run 1: 11:07 (7:10/mi)
T1: 0:44
Bike: 44:49 (18.7 mph)
T2: 0:46
Run 2: 23:43 (7:36/mi)

Overall place: 35 out of 225
Gender place: 30 out of 132
Division place (Males 25-29): 3 out of 25

We were both so surprised when we saw we had placed! In addition to these little hanging plaques, we both also got a pair of 2XU compression sleeves. Now I have an orange and green pair! Woot! I'm all about those practical prizes.

Seriously, though, this was one of the most enjoyable things we have ever done together. It was Team Welsh all the way, and I loved just knowing my racing buddy was on the course, facing the same obstacles, and cheering me on. Writing and remembering makes me think it's time for another tri soon. Maybe one with a swim? :)

See! I told you he was cheering me on! :)