Cyclist and Runner turned Duathlete: Toeing the line for the fifth time: 2015 USAT Duathlon Nationals

St. Paul, MN

Every year my training and competing gets more challenging, whether it be family or work obligations, or some niggle with my training, but the lure of the National stage and the goal of making it to the World stage keep me coming back.

Unlike last year, my training for this Nationals was more structured, and I followed a specific duathlon training plan (Eric Schwartz Advanced Duathlon Plan). I pretty much stuck to the plan, with some extra cycling, but the running volume and intensity was in line with the plan, sort of. My hamstring didn't cooperate at the beginning of the training block, and I sought the intervention of Physical Therapy and a Strength training plan about 4 weeks into the 12 week program, and continued PT up through the event.

It really helped me to have a training plan to follow, because the family calendar can be pretty overwhelming at times. On any given day, my training brick might include a longer transition from bike to run, as I drive my youngest son to a baseball game, and finish up my run in the ball park.
Mom's just do what they have to do in order to get the workout done!

Chris at Bat

In spite of a challenging family schedule and a pesky hamstring injury, I made to St. Paul in pretty good shape, feeling ready to race! Along with my loyal group of running girls, who pushed me on the track and long runs, I had the added benefit of training with my hubby who is an accomplished cyclist and all around athlete, with coaching skills to boot! If I wanted to push myself on the bike, I followed Dan on his training rides and suffered to keep up :) !

If I had to say there were any weaknesses in my training this year, I would point out that my lack of racing affected the sharpness in my race specific fitness. Besides that, I'm quite thankful to have overcome my hamstring injury (with the assistance of Physical Therapy, Lisa Azhar, and strength training guidance, Mark Brown, PT). I made it to the start line feeling pretty good!

Getting to the race...
Last year I flew to St. Paul, which really eliminates most of the travel fatigue, but this year the race was a family event, followed by vacation in Waupaca, WI, so it made more sense to drive. We all piled into the Yukon early Thursday morning, and made the 775 mile drive straight North on I-35, arriving in pretty good shape, and ready to walk to a nearby burger joint and shake the legs loose!

Burger Moes, downtown St. Paul

St. Paul has some nice eateries, and we were able to pick up a few items to stow in the Hotel Fridge,so the diet was reasonable throughout our stay. We were a bit crowded in the small double rooms at the Crowne Plaza, so I left the 3 boys in our room, and trekked down one floor to share a room with my favorite race companion, Ms. Jerianne Davis. This gave us a bit more room, and I was very happy to have a quiet place to sleep! After the requisite Food Network episodes, I got a good nights rest.

Course Preview
Dan and I set out first thing Friday morning with the race vets, Wolf, McCarty, Geno, Jerianne and Amol and his wife to preview the bike course. Geno was feeling pretty spirited and blasted "the Hill" first time around the course. Dan and I took off with him and enjoyed opening up the legs, then we spent a little extra time on our second lap to evaluate the road, turns, hazards, etc. It was a challenging course, and I was feeling heavy going up the hill, but I focused on learning the course and enjoying the scenery. On the flat section of the course I spotted Mr. Tim Yount shoveling water off the road, so I stopped to visit with our wonderful USAT COO.

The California Wolf Pack

I enjoyed the last bit of course through the serenity on Lilydale Road. I caught up to Dan and we reviewed the bike mount/dismount areas, and jogged through the transition. We picked up our race packets and some really nice swag, then rode back up to the hotel to get the boys up for breakfast. After they finished eating, we all walked back down to the transition area to review maps and to preview the run course.

While we were checking out the course maps, we ran into fellow athlete Patty Peoples, multi national champion duathlete and former Olympic Cyclist. I introduced her to my husband, and started talking about race preparation, pre-race nerves, etc., and at this point she just looked at me and told me I was a competitor and once the "cow bell" (as it was this year) went off, I would know exactly what I needed to do. I don't know if Patty realizes how much of a positive impact that had on me, but it did, and I'm grateful for her gracious attitude and support she shares among her fellow competitors. We are surrounded by such a talented bunch of masters women, I always lose a bit of confidence during the time leading up to a race of this caliber. Kind words cannot be more appreciated! We also ran into Kristin and Yvonne on the run course, and they were looking strong and ready to race.

Onto the run course, I knew it well from last year, though there was an extra loop around a small island. There are quite a few turns, and opportunities to check out the competition during the run. It is very spectator friendly though. After our run, we headed back to the room to prepare bikes, put stickers on helmets, and contemplate our next meal. Alisha was joining our motley crew for dinner, and we were all a bit indecisive about where to eat, so I settled on a restaurant we had visited last year, Pazzaluna Urban Italian, pricey but nice. After dinner, we finished up race prep, laid out items for the early morning start.

Running into T1

Chris snuck down to Jerianne's room to sleep with the girls, but we got to sleep fairly early. I woke several times during the night, then got up for real around 5:00 am, made some coffee, and put on my race tattoos. Chris got to sleep in since Jerianne's race started much later. I headed down to the boy's room to get some food, and prepare my on bike hydration - Alisha and I have the support of Osmo Nutrition which is hydration designed for women. Tastes good and keeps the cramps and bonk at bay! I grabbed a couple GU gels as well. I have a hard time eating much before a race, but I consumed some Greek yogurt and a banana.

Race Day
Dan and I rode our bikes down to the venue and did a ride up "the hill" to open the legs, then set up our transition areas. I'm always nervous in transition, checking out the competition, checking and rechecking shoes, helmet, gears, etc., but then I ran into Jocelyn Schilling, another super athlete in my AG. I had zip tied my hydration system to my bike and she asked me if I liked the X-Lab torpedo system. I told her my bottle kept launching and she graciously asked me if I needed her to take a look, as it should have a screw underneath that keeps the bottle in place...hmm, I don't recall seeing a screw, will check that after the race, the zip tie is keeping it in place. Should have read those instructions after all!

Just chatting with her reduced my nerves somewhat, but I was fretting over the "square" bike rack, which didn't really accommodate my seat. I left the bike racked by the seat anyway, it is what I am accustomed to, and didn't want to change anything at this point. I went to see how Dan was doing with his set up, always the calm one, he had no worries, except that he forgot his Gel, so I gave him my extra. We set out to do a warm up together, a little dynamic work, and some strides, then I headed to the start line...

Headed out onto the bike course

Now the nerves really kicked in - I try not to look at anyone, palms are getting sweaty! Jocelyn was on the front line with me, and she could see how nervous I was, so she gently reminded me to have fun, trust in my fitness, basically just suck up buttercup! Her kind words were greatly appreciated! Then the announcer pointed out the 2014 Master's Duathlete of the Year, that was me, and the big target hit me squarely on the back, gulp! I could not wait for the start any longer, and at last the clang of the cowbell sent us on our way.

When I crossed over to the 50+ AG, I lost the ability to "compete" with the Masters field, as 50+ women are in a wave of our own with the 60+ men. This can be challenging, and I have suggested to Tim Yount that the 50-54 year AG should compete with the 49 and under women, since masters includes 40-54, Grand Masters is 55+...he said he would consider that. Anyway, Run 1 was under way and there is always someone who goes out super fast. I remembered this woman from last year, she did the same thing, so I let her go and essentially caught up with her in about 400 meters. After passing her there were only two men in front of me, and they are both seasoned athletes with good pacing ability, so I kept them in my sights and settled into my own pace. With the first turn around I could see that I had a comfortable lead over the other women in the field, so I simply maintained my pace and focused on having a smooth transition.

Out onto the final run

Chris got some nice pictures of me coming into transition, he did a good job of finding his way to the race venue from our hotel, while Brennen snoozed back in our room. No problems in T1, and I was quickly out onto the bike course. There is an incline out of transition, shoe straps tightened at the top and a tight left turn, followed by a fast right turn and cross over the first timing mat for the QOM competition. I didn't realize that the QOM was a cumulative total of all 3 times up the hill, so I used the first climb to get a decent rhythm going. Again, 2 cyclists in front of me at this point, so I kept them in my sights.

Eventually the lead male disappeared, but second place was right there, so he was essentially my rabbit. After the winding climb, the course continues to ascend for another mile or so, and getting a decent pace was challenging. but then the descent comes along. Being a lighter rider I did get passed by one guy on the first lap, but as soon as the course flattened out, I was around him, chasing my rabbit. On the second climb, I thought what the heck, give it a go for QOM, so I hit it harder and passed my rabbit. He came back around on the descent, what can I say? Now there were more cyclists on the course and the fast guys started coming around, and eventually I saw Dan fly by. I kept in my zone, which was probably complacent with no one to chase, and by the third climb there were plenty of competitors an spectators on the hill (I did hear Patty Peoples yelling on the hillside), so I hit it hard again (it was actually my fasted time up). Again, no female cyclists had passed me, so no one to chase...

Headed toward the finish line, spent

My dismount was good, but the shoes were a little off balance and started hitting the ground while I ran - this was the longer run through transition and I really wanted to sprint, so the flopping shoes was frustrating, but I had good run through, and exited T2 without issues, onto the final run.

Out on the run, some of the elites were finishing up, some fast guys were flying past me, my goal was to get under 7 min miles and stay there. When I hit the turn around I noticed one female was fairly close so I focused on keeping my pace steady, and started trying to pass a few guys without blowing myself up. I was able to put some distance on the second place 50+, she actually had a faster bike split, and was gaining, but I held her off, and lost her on the second lap of the run. Coming down the finish shoot, I felt good, and they even held up the winner tape for me to cross, being the first AG female to cross, though not the actual winner. It was nice! I wouldn't know my final finish position until all the women were done. I later reprinted my finish receipt and it looked like I was 4th overall, pretty good.

Post Race

Best Part, Chris at the finish line!

I had a great race experience in St. Paul, loved the course and especially loved having my family there, watching Dan breeze to a top spot on the podium and seeing my good friend Alisha his the podium at her first National event. After a post race meal of pasta and cookies, we met up with Alisha for some good down home cooking at the Buttered Tin. The "scramble" was awesome. Then we invaded Alisha's room to rest our weary legs before the awards ceremony. We stopped back by our hotel and picked up Jerianne and headed to the award ceremony.

I was surprised, but very happy when I was awarded the Master's QOM - it was a cumulative time of all 3 climbs! I also finished as first master female, and top of the podium for my AG. All of the Okies finished on the podium, Alisha 3rd AG, Jerianne 2nd AG, Dan and I first AG. We done good!

As usual, I'm indebted to the family and friends who put up with my pursuit of excellence in Duathlon. I'm grateful for the support of Schlegel Bicycles, TRI-OKC, Trek Bicycles, Osmo Nutrition and my husband and my running girls (Tiffany, Sue and Pam) for helping me achieve my racing goals, year after year. And I can't say enough about the women of Duathlon who are supportive and loving, Yvonne, Kristin, Jocelyn, Patty, Jerianne, Alisha, just to name a few... Keep pushing me, next up is Adelaide, Australia for World's! I will see you ladies in October!