Dousman Duathlon - Duathlon

I went a little too hard with running in the spring and ended up with some really ouchy knees over the summer that made it uber painful to run. So I had no idea what to expect with this race. I just really, really didn't want to go slower than I had gone at the Paper Valley Discovery Du in June. That was my first du and I surprised myself with (for me) fast times. All I could think was aaawww man... it's gonna suck if I'm slower this time around!

It's dumb, but that was all I could think about.

So I was really happy with this time. I felt strong - I pushed hard... probably could have eeked out a bit more but after a summer of not doing much, I'm happy!!

Peggy was there and let me borrow her watch (THANKS!!!!) Mine decided to be a turd and die this week. So Peggy graciously loaned me hers right before the start... I'm so glad I had it!! Knowing that I had a good run in the first section just made me feel awesome. And I ended up being able to get on the bike with a lot of confidence. It felt great.

Davey was in my wave and it was awesome to see him bust out in front like a little jack rabbit. He seriously was a good 100 yards ahead of everyone about 2 seconds after the start. I felt fast by proxy ;)

ummmm.... run more. Starting now.

le sigh..... So SOMEONE is always giving me crap about taking wrong turns and for awhile I tried to defend myself. Well, now I just embrace it. Because... yea, turns out I kind of suck at direction!!

I got LOST in transition! (Similar to Lost in Translation, but with less Bill Murray) totally couldn't find my bike. I have no excuse for a slow transition time - I don't have bike shoes! argh.....

Find my bike - but like, find it RIGHT AWAY.

My main goal for Dousman was to shave 5 minutes off my bike time. Since the course was longer than the paper du - I think I did! My time was only 1 minute shorter but it was one mile longer, so I think that counts. My math skillz are weak but I'm pretty sure I hit my goal.... 'ish.

I really, really enjoyed the bike. I felt strong - except on the hills. But even those weren't too terrible. There was a group of us sort of going back and forth for about half of the race. Me in a black tank and then a girl in bright orange, a girl in bright blue and a girl in bright green. When I was behind them, I felt like I was chasing crayons.

And then I got this song stuck in my head.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtU2cF_yGU4

I have a bad habit of getting truly terrible kids songs stuck in my head when I bike.

The one good thing about that song is that it made me speed up and fly on by the box of crayons. "See ya later wax! I'm a sharpie!"

Nothing - I felt quite happy on the bike.

Hooray - I found the rack right away! I kept repeating to myself in the last portion of the bike... "5 racks down. 5 racks down. 5 racks down" (in between my terrible renditions of kids songs of course)

Dropped the bike, tried not to touch Shark Bait (Davey and I were racked right next to each other) but Shark Bait kept looking at me pleading eyes. I said "No Shark Bait! I have to go run now!" He kept pleading so I did a little waltzing with him and then he felt better.
And then I was off!

I found my rack right away so hooray!

Ohhhh.... snap! Who tied 17 waffle irons to my legs? Ouch! That first bit I felt soooo slow. I just kept moving, remembering that at the Paper Valley du, I had thought I was going soooo slow but ended up having the exact same run time as my first run. So I was hoping that same thing would happen.

Close enough! I was hurting a bit towards the end but I felt fairly strong. Again - shoulda/coulda eeked out a bit more but hey.... I had waffle irons on my legs! Who can run like that? sheesh.

sell the waffle irons to the Duggars - surely they could use more kitchen items.

Grabbed some eats and water, found terri - who totally killed her runs. Pam - who kept talking about how all these crazy fast people were in her group this year and there was no way, NO WAY! she would place... and then she won. YAY!!! So cool - she's mighty speedy. Jim - who owes davey pizza. Davey - who technically didn't EARN his smiley face cookie, but I gave it to him anyway since he beat his goal by a few minutes. Figured that deserved some cookie. Peggy - sporting the DTFU sign that helped me get through the end of that run (and I DID return the watch - THANKS!!!) schwimmycoach, who had nearly killed her friend by pushing him too hard on the run, hehehe - poor guy. schwimmycoach does not mess around. That's one fast chica.


I think I performed about as well as I could to expect to do here. I finished and felt fantastic and that was my goal - to feel like I gave it my all and to finish and just feel great.
Accomplished!


So the race was fun, but the POST RACE was hilarious. I should have written down all the random/hilarious things said but I don't think I would have had a notebook big enough, ha!

Some highlights:
- It took THREE people to finally lead us to an appropriate place to eat. One of those people NOT being the only guy who lived in the area (coughjimcough)
- clint stayed at home and did laundry while terri drank a bloody mary...what a beautiful marriage ;)
- Pam dies her dog blue. No wait - her pond. Is your dog named pond?
- Pam said "do you know what I can do one-handed?" (I didn't want to know but the answer was 'kayak')
- Davey had ball cramps. Everyone's hands went up in the air - Wasn't me!
- I like spleens. Jim doesn't have one. That's a real shame as it's my favorite organ.
- Pam doesn't know how many pounds a one pound bag weighs. Jim wagers it's 1 pound. Nicole had no idea what just happened. Davey was laughing so hard I think he almost pooped his pants.
- Pam had a bad habit of sucking and biting.. at the same time.
- Pam: "Charles Benson wants to do this!" (points to self - we all die)

ooohh man... I can't even remember all of it. It was honestly, one of the funniest lunches I've had in a long time. My stomach hurt from laughing so hard. Awesome time! Awesome fun! Awesome day!