To the extent that anyone cares 4 months later, racing twice in the same day is not something I recommend and I can confidently say I won't do it again. As I get ready to start blogging the 2010 season, I figured I'd tie up some loose ends of the 2009 season.
After my strong showing at Harvest Moon, I scooted up to Boulder for the Tri For Your Cause super-sprint. The weather was cold and threatening and just as I pulled into the Res, I saw a big lightning strike on (or really close to) the water. Swim cancelled. At least I wouldn't have to go through the the discomfort of pulling on a cold, wet wetsuit.
But now I was facing a duathlon--2 mile run/23 mile bike/4 mile run. With the 70.3 race in the morning, I was already 13.1 miles of running into my day. Swapping out a swim for an extra 2 mile run wasn't exciting and a lot of folks bailed on racing altogether, but I was committed to this stupid idea so I toed the line.
This race wasn't about "racing"--I was merely "participating." This was painfully clear within a few seconds. I was off at a jogging pace and finished several minutes behind in 17:17. I took my time through T1 and rode off to a 1:19 bike split in the soaking rain. I have to admit I was a little self-conscious on my fancy tri bike and aero helmet riding at the back of the race. But it hurt if I tried to push so I basically softpedalled around the course and came back into T2 with a smile. The point here was to finish without getting hurt.
The second run was ridiculous slow. 44 minutes for 4 miles. That includes a comedy porta-potty stop where the combination of being exhausted and really having to pee had me cracking up as I tried to wiggle out of my tri suit.
Finished near the bottom of the AG and overall. I'm super-proud of my morning results and I attacked that race the right way. A word of advice from experience: don't do what I did--I won't do it again. I have to say that the reality of the day was pretty rough (but I still think it's pretty cool to be able to say I raced twice in a day...)
More frequent posts to come--full recap of last season & plans for next season.
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