My first Duathalon, Cannon Falls

I need to give you all a weekend recap, the lineup was:

9 am Saturday morning, just me; Cannon FAlls Duathalon

2 pm Saturday afternoon the whole family; Colordash

9 am Sunday morning, just me: Spring Fling Diva Dash.

Seriously!

I have to tell you that I was so excited/nervous that I barely slept Friday night, plus Jon worked an overnight shift, which means that none of us slept very well, it is weird how the kids just sleep differently with him out of the house.

I had breakfast made, everyone organized, all my gear set out and we left on time…..and got 17 minutes away when i realized I did not have my helmet…*&$%….this is the one thing that I could NOT race without, my Garmin, fuelbelt, gu champs, all of those I would have been OK without, %&$*!

I RACED back home got my helmet, RACED to the start, which was in a town 45 minutes away, praying not to get pulled over, called my friend who was racing with me, she picked up my packet.

I got these pinned on my number, got body marked, parked my bike and just got the last satellite signal on my Garmin and we were off.

I was already racing at this point.

2 mile run:

14 mile bike….yep thats me on my old GT mountain bike, and skater girl helmet (yes I have a helmet!!!).

I came in from the first 2 mile run in about 16 minutes, so i was feeling pretty good, then I started getting passed by people pretty quickly, my bike is heavy, not really meant for racing, but I am not serious enough to invest in a road bike…yet.

One lady passed me and I turned and said “great job”…she said, “wow, you are doing really well on that kind of bike”….thanks!

3 more miles, this last transition was the hardest, my legs were a little wobbly and felt heavy, I kept going and actually kept up a solid pace. I passed a few runners, HA, I might have a heavy bike, but I know how to run.

Finish time 1:40:XX, my goal was to come in under 2 hours, because I really had not idea how long the bike portion would take, with wind and hills, I guess I was a little off on my estimation.

Here I am in my Patchworkreality cover shoot 😉

This was such a fun experience, I love the challenge that I got in training for and participating in this event, as a runner, sometimes all I do is practice running, I noticed a difference in my pace and even shed a few pounds, but mostly toned up some new parts of this old bod. I am already planning to participate in another Du in September, and am going to see about borrowing a road bike from someone to see if I can finish a little faster.

A huge thank you to all the volunteers and FInal stretch for putting on this event!

Du you want to join me?

Posted by Patchwork Reality

A dear friend of mine that I really do not get to see very often, but is my tried and true running partner, just asked me last week to join her in a Dualathon. I have done this race before in a partnership, I ran and a guy rode the bike part. We took 4th, not bad!

This friend of mine is going to “du” the whole race herself, would I like to join her. Of course I would I love a challenge, mind you I am just starting week 2 of Intermediate 1/2 marathon training, however the folks at Final Stretch, who do a fantastic job on the races they put together, kindly laid out a training plan. Which actually will ~~force~~ provide me the opputunity to cross train on a two wheeler.

Here is the training plan for a dualathon that is a 2mile run, 14 mile bike, and 3 mile run. I think these are great lengths for a beginning duathaloner.

I really like to have a race planned for each month, sometimes if there are races locally that support a great cause as a family we will participate in more than one, but for now I am committed to:

April: Cannon Falls Duathalon

May: Med City 1/2 Marathon (and I will probably run the 5K the day before)

October: Mankato Full Marathon.

Looks like I need to find something for March still!

New Year’s Day Race

Posted by Patchwork Reality

What is the best way to start a new year? With a 5K of course. That is exactly what I did. It was a balmy -32 and probably about 20 less than that with the wind chill. The wind was fairly mild but present. I was a little late getting to the check in, the race started at 11 AM, giving the earth a few hours to warm up in the sun and some runners to shake of the ringing in of said new year before braving the tundra for 3.11.

One thing about running that I am still learning is how to be properly dressed for the weather. This is something I struggle with whether running or not, comfort V. performance V. fashion, I almost never get the trifecta correct. This morning was no exception, I had a base layer T-shirt s mid weight hooded north face layer and a wind/water resistant hooded Columbia jacket, one knit hat, a pair of yoga pants, which should be plenty because running really warms up your legs, and a knit pair of fingerless gloves. The gloves were a last minute decision because I needed to be able to start/stop my Garmin.

As I am pining on my number, there is a lady giving a speech in the back of the Running room, about not allowing bare skin to be exposed to these elements for more than 30 minutes!!! I look around and notice there are many runners wearing something similar to this. Doubt about my material preparation sets in.

The race starts, already I think my nose is frozen. I can barely feel my fingers, so I tuck them up inside my gloves, hoping my fingers huddled together will keep each other warm. Not happening. Doubt again about whether or not I am going to make it in this cold. I keep running watching the persons feet in front of me, if they can do it so can I!

See no fingers…they are huddled.

At the halfway turn around I am feeling good, it usually take me about the first mile to get into my rhythm be it a training run or a race. I finish the race and head into the Running room for post race snacks, feeling great and smiling at all the other racers who are also smiling, we have our noses and our fingers and conquered the tundra! We already know it is going to be a great year.

Happy New Year!