Rode in my first ever duathalon this morning. Temperatures were in the lower 60's to start, so I wore the arm warmers. The bike route was an out and back from the house to Old Fort Parkway. The first transition wasn't to bad. I wore my running shorts under my bike shorts. (not a real tri-guy, huh) Carried my running shoes, locks and camera in a small back pack.
The run went really well. I've only run after riding the bike a handful of times. This time the pace clicked in really quickly. Before I knew it seemed like I was clipping along about 30 seconds per mile slower than marathon pace and it felt great. I'd brought the camera along to take some pictures of the the wild flowers along the way. Ended up only stopping a few times on the way back. Most of the flowers were either with the sun directly in the lens or the flowers had already bloomed.
T-2 was quite a bit longer than the first transition. I went to the restroom to change out of the running shorts and into the bike shorts. Felt great to have the wind in my face and cooling me off after the run. Headed back out on the greenway with plans on doing a few loops of the Stones River Battlefield to get some extra miles on the bike. Changed my mind rather quickly after a swarm of walkers, runners, bikers and dog walkers had descended on the greenway. Only had one close encounter. One of the big benefits of the greenway is the shading effect of the trees and bushes, but they also block the view around corners. I was coming around some walkers and headed right towards a couple of kids running at a pretty quick pace, I had to grab a handful of brake and the back end of the bike skiddes sideways about a foot to avoid the collision. I was going slow enough that I was able to do this without a crash. But, I'd bet some of the bikers who blast down the greenway a little bit quicker wouldn't have been as fortunate. (I know I've been that biker on one occasion, lesson learned.)
Ended up with only a total of 12 miles on the bike. Six miles out and back. The run was 6.7 miles.
1 comment:
First, congrats on your running streak! The Wildflower Duathlon race looks beautiful - where is it? I've been looking around for duathlons and they're not easy to find.
Also enjoyed your burrito blog this morning. Cracked me up!
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