Wenatchee Duathlon

Lily, me, Richard, Heidi & Bill before the race

Yesterday, we left at 5am to go to the Wenatchee Duathlon.  Other than Lily, none of us have done a duathlon.  I've done one sprint distance triathlon, but never a du.  This race was a 5K (3.1 mile) run, 17 mile bike ride, and another 5K run.  I was thinking that it didn't sound too hard.  Well, I was wrong. 

Here's a tip...always check the course before you sign up.  I assumed that the course would be relatively flat because it's near a river, but that was a very bad assumption.  It was the hilliest bike ride I've ever done.  It was also the hardest race I've ever done.  Yes, even harder than the five marathons I've ran.  Yes, I mean harder than Chicago, where I fell down a flight of stairs three days before the race.  Oh, yes.  That hard.  No wait, I'm not done complaining.  I've cried once during a race and that was during the Paris marathon.  In that case, I had bronchitis and wasn't supposed to race (according to the Dr.) and I lost 8 of my 10 toe nails.  In this Duathlon, I actually cried because I was completely wiped out during the bike ride.  I'm not talking about a dainty wimper.  Nor did I have tears glistening in the sun as I gritted my teeth and pushed onto glory.  No.  There was audible sobbing from mile 14-16.  I finally got it together before I reached the transition area.  I wanted to give up.  I wanted to disqualify myself, but there was no way I could.  I had to get back somehow.

By the time I got to the transition area, I knew I was going to finish, even if I had to crawl to the finish line. 

Heidi, Bill & I finishing.

 My friends thought I was injured because I was not looking good.  Lily even asked if I fell and she was looking for some signs of blood or other injury.  No, I was just tired.  My friends gave me the encouragement they could: Richard tried to give me a high five (then got scared when he saw the look on my face), Heidi told me "You are tougher than this race," Bill gave me a hug on the course, and Lily turned around after her finish and ran the last mile in with me.  That race was a big kick in the butt and it makes me want to train harder.  It made me really doubt my athletic ability.  On a good note, though, both Bill & Lily got 2nd place in their age groups.

Lily teaching Heidi how to use Mel's bike.

Lily laughing at Heidi.

Heidi cliping in for the first time.

At the beginning of the race, we noticed that there were quite a few elite athletes.  They were there early warming up on their wind trainers and sprinting in the grass.  They had their pro bikes and tri suits on.  This was serious stuff.  Then it was our casual group.  Heidi borrowed Mel's bike and actually used clipless pedals for the first time.  Lily gave her a 10 minute lesson on how to use the bike in the parking lot before the race.  And Heidi never fell.  She did great!

Richard prepping the bike.