Race Report: Bayou Duathlon

Oh!  The Bayou Duathlon was this past weekend.  I neglected to mention it or even do a race report for it.

In lieu of the Katy Flatlands Century Ride, I did it as a relay with "Hombre", my training buddy -- the better training choice since I have that crazy brick this weekend, and according to SC*, "you can ride 100 miles any ol' time."  LOL

Anyway, "Hombre" did the run(s) and I did the bike.

A group of us headed out to ride the course before the race (11.5 miles) at 5:30 am. There was absolutely no wind and we were chit-chattin' keep ing 17-18 no problem... not even breathing heavy.

SC:  "I think you'll average 20 today."
Me:  "I think you're smokin' crack.  I've never averaged 20."
SC:  "What's your goal?"
Me:  "I don't have a specific goal; only to do my best.  Then I can't be disappointed if I don't reach a magic number."  "Because today my best might be 17 or it might be 20."

Secretly though SC laid it out for me and I thought just maybe 20 was possible.

SC probably also knew exactly what she had just done.

The race started and Hombre had a great first run. I hit the bike hard over the levy and knocked the breath from me.  I get so excited when I first start!  By the time I finished the downhill and turned onto the feeder  I was okay.  I looked down and lo and behold I was going over 20!  Whooohooo!!  It was about a half mile before the u-turn and I was feeling so good, because if I was going over 20 headed south, I'd be faster heading north!!!  A bunch of tri club folks out for their long ride were on the hairpin waiting to root us on.  It was nice to hear them cheering.  I made an awesome turn (if I do say so myself!), but then WHAM!

Wind?  Really??  Where did this come from???

That was so weird... and from the Northeast, at that -- according to OC**, that happens, what, like once a year?!  Quickly my aspirations of averaging 20 were squelched as my legs were burning.  "Really?", I thought, "they're burning already?"  "There's no way that early ride could have possibly have drained me, it was so nice and easy!"

I just figured I  had to push through it and do my best!  On the first long lap I was able to keep right around 18 heading north into the wind.  I made the turn, headed south again, and kept mostly 19-20 with a max of 23.  That last loop was tough -- this was like a time trial, you know?  An all-out effort.  On the last length heading North it was all I could do to keep it above 17 mph.

Hombre did a great job with the 2nd run too and we finished in 1:12

Our relay team was up against the others who train with the same coaches.  Their teams were stacked with super he-man cyclists and super fast runners!  I finished, averaging 17.9 officially (18 on my computer), but it looked so yuck compared to their averages of 23.something mph!  LOL

Still I did my best.  It was a good ride for me, and was my best for that day.  Really I couldn't have done anything differently or tried any harder than I did, so I'm pretty happy.  

*SC ("She-ro" Coach)
**OC (Our Coach) he coaches all of us, including SC