This is a great race! http://www.irongirl.com
Was out of bed at 2:30 am and ready to roll at 3:00 am, Chad met Tyler and I at my house, and we were off by 3:15 am. On our way to Bloomington MN we had some fun stuff happen. The biggest thing is when we hit a dead skunk; wowza did that stink not only for the ride there but for the ride back. My advice to everyone is not to get skunk juice on your car!!
At the race: We got there about 5:30, it was still dark I had to get my race packet, get everything organized, and get my bike racked/ready to roll. I did have to make my good luck call to my mom whom I’ve called for the past 3 years before every race; no matter what time it is I call her. Fast forward to 7:30, at the race start there were 600 participants-- wow that was way cool. I started 3 rows behind. I will not do that again!! I'm usually a front line starter however, I didn’t this time for some reason, so when the gun went off I got caught up behind slower people thus I had to hop around them when I had the chance. My first run went really well. I did back it off just a tad because I thought I have the bike, and then run again. My Achilles were just a little bit hurting-- just a little! I came in at 14:40 then I took way tooooo long in the transition. My glasses got fogged over and I couldn't see my cycling shoes “duh”! I finally put them in my cycling jersey thinking I will put them on when I have the chance then I was off.
The bike course was a 2 loop course, so I wanted to see how the first loop was because I was a Yahoo and didn't drive it prior to the race. I would recommend this to everyone, but we just didn’t have a chance this time. So I took it easy and watched where the turns and railroad tracks were at. I let some women stay up with me but watched them closely "not that I'm competitive or anything"! So come up to the 2nd loop and I hear “Danni great bike time” from Chad, then I hear go Danni go? Who was this? I don’t know yet. It wasn’t Tyler as he was a sleep in the car, however it was go time! I didn't play around, I didn't back it off, I did talk to the women whom needed encouragement saying things like "Keep it up your doing great”, “great job”. I played cat and mouse with one lady for about 5 miles then that was enough I was off! I was feeling great!
Getting back into the transition was a wonderful sight, I very happy to see only 11 bikes racked; “wow” that was a great feeling, I was in 12th place. I got off my bike, put my running shoes on, and wowza, ouch, I felt in both of my Achilles as they were on fire and then my right IT band started to act up about mile 1 this really slowed me down BIG TIME! Seven women passed me, yea I was counting. I just couldn't go as they hurt so bad. When I finished Chad was there waiting for me telling me I tore it up! I thought man oh man seven women passed me I didn’t tare it up…
When we went to look at the results come to find out I was 8th in my age group so most of those seven women were in my age group. “So that’s it” Time to work on the run.
When is the next Duathlon? I’m going to be ready to run!
I have to admit this was fun race and it is really, really different then a triathlon. Other then the obvious, water and land, you work have to work your legs a ton more, and to me this is bigger challenge.
Was out of bed at 2:30 am and ready to roll at 3:00 am, Chad met Tyler and I at my house, and we were off by 3:15 am. On our way to Bloomington MN we had some fun stuff happen. The biggest thing is when we hit a dead skunk; wowza did that stink not only for the ride there but for the ride back. My advice to everyone is not to get skunk juice on your car!!
At the race: We got there about 5:30, it was still dark I had to get my race packet, get everything organized, and get my bike racked/ready to roll. I did have to make my good luck call to my mom whom I’ve called for the past 3 years before every race; no matter what time it is I call her. Fast forward to 7:30, at the race start there were 600 participants-- wow that was way cool. I started 3 rows behind. I will not do that again!! I'm usually a front line starter however, I didn’t this time for some reason, so when the gun went off I got caught up behind slower people thus I had to hop around them when I had the chance. My first run went really well. I did back it off just a tad because I thought I have the bike, and then run again. My Achilles were just a little bit hurting-- just a little! I came in at 14:40 then I took way tooooo long in the transition. My glasses got fogged over and I couldn't see my cycling shoes “duh”! I finally put them in my cycling jersey thinking I will put them on when I have the chance then I was off.
The bike course was a 2 loop course, so I wanted to see how the first loop was because I was a Yahoo and didn't drive it prior to the race. I would recommend this to everyone, but we just didn’t have a chance this time. So I took it easy and watched where the turns and railroad tracks were at. I let some women stay up with me but watched them closely "not that I'm competitive or anything"! So come up to the 2nd loop and I hear “Danni great bike time” from Chad, then I hear go Danni go? Who was this? I don’t know yet. It wasn’t Tyler as he was a sleep in the car, however it was go time! I didn't play around, I didn't back it off, I did talk to the women whom needed encouragement saying things like "Keep it up your doing great”, “great job”. I played cat and mouse with one lady for about 5 miles then that was enough I was off! I was feeling great!
Getting back into the transition was a wonderful sight, I very happy to see only 11 bikes racked; “wow” that was a great feeling, I was in 12th place. I got off my bike, put my running shoes on, and wowza, ouch, I felt in both of my Achilles as they were on fire and then my right IT band started to act up about mile 1 this really slowed me down BIG TIME! Seven women passed me, yea I was counting. I just couldn't go as they hurt so bad. When I finished Chad was there waiting for me telling me I tore it up! I thought man oh man seven women passed me I didn’t tare it up…
When we went to look at the results come to find out I was 8th in my age group so most of those seven women were in my age group. “So that’s it” Time to work on the run.
When is the next Duathlon? I’m going to be ready to run!
I have to admit this was fun race and it is really, really different then a triathlon. Other then the obvious, water and land, you work have to work your legs a ton more, and to me this is bigger challenge.
