Twinsburg Du - June 5, 2011

A few days ago the opportunity came up for me to do the Twinsburg Duathon, so I went for it! It's run by a great guy, it's close to home, and I knew lots of friends that would also be there participating. It's a two mile run, ten mile bike, and two mile run.

Sunday I got up around 5 am, drove to the Twinsburg Rec Center, and was setting up my gear in transition by about 6:15. It was GREAT having so many others there that I knew! I had fun chatting with everyone, but I still managed to fit in a short warm-up. The weather was good, too, no rain, no wind, and sunny.

The race was a mass start at 7:30 am. First was a 2 mile run that was out and back with a loop in the middle. (like a lollipop) With only one speed workout so far this year, I wasn't sure how my time would be, but I was quite pleased with 17:31.

This was my first "sprint distance" multi-sport event in almost two years. So, I did a short transition practice the night before. I think that paid off.

At packet pick-up the day before the race I drove the bike course. Minus one hill around mile 7, it was really nice. It was fun passing people all throughout the course. I'm quite happy to say that only ONE person passed me, and it was while I was standing on the side of the road putting my chain back on at mile 2.5. My bike time is listed as 37:45, but that includes T1 AND T2. On my bike computer my time showed 34:52. The extra 3 minutes are from both transitions and the time spent putting on my chain.

Bike Computer Stats:
Distance - 10.36 miles
Avg Speed - 17.8 mph
Max Speed - 31.1 mph

Like always, it took me awhile to get my running legs back on the second run. Around the one mile mark I finally caught my breath and felt good. Of course, during that first mile several of the people I passed on the bike passed me back.

Once I was feeling good, I heard footsteps behind me and I decided that I wasn't going to let anyone else pass me. I powered up a short hill on the loop and tried to stay strong. At the next turn I was able to see it was someone I knew behind me. Sorry Marsita! She had really given me the push I need though. I tried to just continue to push harder and harder til the finish. Once I could see the finish line I gave it my all, and came in at 1:14:10. Run #2 took 18:54. I was thrilled to beat almost all the goals I had set for myself!

Post race included a Grunt Girl Racing team photo from everyone on the team that came out to race. What a GREAT group of ladies! (I'm on the far right with my hand on my hip.)



To top it all off, during the awards I found out I placed 3rd in my age group for females 35 - 39. :-) The frame was I given now holds the GGR team photo above.