I'm starting my duathlon training for the spring, and decided to kick things off doing a small local duathlon, the Hel of a Du. I'd done this race its very first year back in 2006. On Friday, Suellen flew back to Austin for the Christmas holiday, so she was here to drive with me down to Helotes, TX (just outside of San Antonio), to cheer me on.
When I did this race three years ago, it was COOOLD. 35-38 degrees if I remember correctly. This year it was a bit warmer (45) but a foggy morning with near constant mist & drizzle. We kept hoping the weather would clear as we drove down from Austin, but after going through several patches of dense fog and bits of rain, I resigned myself to the fact that it was going to be wet and chilly.
When we got to Helotes, we could tell it would be a pretty small race, about 70 people. The weather probably caused a few of the smarter folks to stay home :) But I love small races like this, it just feels so much less stressful and more casual. I was a bit nervous about the slick roads- the last two times I'd biked in the rain, I'd taken a spill. So I planned to go extra careful around the turns on the bike.
The course was challenging, a 3.5 mile run through neighborhoods with some hills, a 26-27 mile bike with about 7 miles of constant climbing up 700 feet. Then repeat the first 3.5 mile run.
After milling around the start for a few minutes, we got the "ready set go" and everyone took off. As usual, lots of folks went out like a shot. I'll never understand why you'd run til you are out of breath in the first mile, when you've got a couple more hours of running & biking ahead of you! I tried to settle into a comfortable pace, with my goal being 7:05 to 7:15 pace for the first run.
I was pretty bundled up (arm warmers, two pairs of gloves, ear warmers), so I actually got a little warm on the first run, but I knew I'd be glad to have the protection on the bike. After the crowd thinned out I found myself running along with a group of about 4-5 guys. The farther we went, and then up into the hills, the more we got strung out. I at least could always see a couple people ahead or behind, but it was definitely a quiet race scene!
I finished the run in about 25 and 1/2 minutes, a 7:18 pace. I might have backed off a little too much, but wanted to have a strong bike & second run. Coming into transition I saw Suellen cheering, and found out I was the first non-relay woman to come in! I had a bit of trouble getting my helmet buckled with the gloves on, but eventually got everything set and ran out with my bike.
The roads were bumpy and slick, and I was really jumpy about riding in the rain. The first turn was about a half mile down the road, and I slowed down almost to a stop, since you had to dodge both a puddle and a giant pothole. I just hope no one was behind me cursing at how slow I took the turn. There's nothing like the memory of your bike going one way and you going the other (downwards towards the pavement) to make you a little hesitant to take chances.
Luckily after the first turn we had a long straight stretch. I finally got comfortable in my aerobars and started to get up to speed. I passed a couple guys, including a 10 year old kid. I'd get to know him pretty well over the next 6 miles...
We came up to the next turn, and as I slowed down to carefully go around another big puddle, I looked behind and noticed the 10 year was right behind me. Hmm, I thought, I wonder if he's been drafting off me since I passed him? Sure enough, I kept an eye out for the next several miles, and he was glued to my rear wheel. Geeez. Either he didn't know that was against the rules or didn't care. It didn't really impact my race, but I could just see him not noticing me dodge a pothole or changing my water bottles, and then plowing into my back wheel. I figured even with his advantage of drafting off me, I'd drop him going up the hills.
Sure enough, when we got to the seven miles of climbing, I looked back after the first hill and saw no sign of my little buddy. At least from then on I didn't have to worry about someone taking me out from behind.
The climbs went on forever! I'd averaged about 21 mph for the first third of the course, before the climbs, but things were definitely grinding down as I went up and up. I concentrated on pedaling smooth and knew I'd get a chance to make up some time after the top.
Finally I hit the summit, and had a nice downhill for a half mile. Unfortunately the roads were still so slick I was pretty conservative going down. Plus, at the bottom we had a sharp right turn onto the highway that took us the last 7 miles back into Helotes. And I remembered we had one last big hill right after the turn.
That list big climb killed me, even though I knew it was coming. I was down to 7 mph by the top, and struggling. But after that we had some rolling, mostly downhill, fast roads to the finish. I shifted into my higher gear and started flying. I averaged around 25-30 mph for the next several miles. Now that was fun! The only downside to this final stretch was I noticed my right eye was getting blurry from the wind. As I feared, I'd lost my contact. So now I could only see clearly out of my left eye.
Coming into transition, I glanced at my bike computer (with my good eye!) and saw I'd finished the bike with a little over a 20mph average. With all those hills that was quite good. And one of the volunteers yelled that I was the first woman to come in off the bike!
As I racked my bike I proceeded to get rid of a few layers - off came one pair of gloves, the arm warmers and ear warmers. I took off my bike shoes, put on one running shoe, then got all confused and started to put my bike shoe on the other foot. Ooops! That wouldn't work so well :) Finally I got things straight and grabbed my running cap before jogging out for the final run.
It was still cool out, but I was so relieved to have made it through the bike in one piece I was quite enjoying the run. Without all the extra layers I felt better pushing the pace, and passed a guy I'd been going back and forth with on the bike down the last few hills. After a few encouraging words I went on ahead. I couldn't see anyone ahead of me, and it turned out I never saw another runner the entire rest of the race! It was a odd and lonely run, but it did help me just kind of zone out. I felt very strong, and was clipping along at a 7:05 pace for the first couple miles. The steepest hill broke me down a bit, and I really lost some steam, but recovered well on the back side. Then I was just cruising along, surprised I felt so good after a lot of climbing on the bike.
Finally I came on to the last street, with the finish about a quarter a mile away. I'd peeked behind as I rounded the corner, and saw no one in sight. I kept up a strong pace, and before I knew it I was at the finish. My second run was even faster than my first, just a second over 25 minutes, or a 7:08 pace! And my total time was about 2 hours and 10 minutes, 12 minutes faster than when I'd done this race three years ago.
I finished as the first overall woman, winning a $100 gift certificate for some new running shoes. What I didn't realize until one of the race people stopped by to chat was that they also had prizes for the fastest overall woman's bike split and fastest woman's second run time. It turned out I won both of those, getting two other gift certificates to spend at the local triathlon shop - that was quite a holiday bonus!
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