Metro Olympic Duathlon

When I signed up for the Metro Tri, I was planning for it to be my first olympic tri of the season and using it as a baseline for my next tri on the same course in June. Last Friday night we got an email from the race director letting us know that we were now going to be racing a duathlon. After multiple testing, the water at Almaden Lake was not safe to swim in. It's usually kind of nasty anyway but I really wanted another open water swim. I got over the disappointment fairly quickly!

Who knew that such a tranquil body of water would have nasty bacteria festering in it :)........well most of us locals think it always does!

One of the best things about a local race is we just rode our bike down. The park is only about 4 miles away.

One of the other great things is meeting up with friends. This is Joe with Dave and me. He is signed up for IMAZ too so we'll be doing a few races together this year.

Two of my Wednesday Women Cycling group raced too. Siobhan and Amy also did the olympic. This was Siobhan's first tri/du and she did great despite spending about 30 min with bike issues on the course. At one point, she said she had a police escort :) Amy got 2nd in her AG and 7th woman overall. There was a lot of competition and she rocked it! 

My niece Molly had a great race, 4th in her AG and she was looking pretty fast in her new Training Peaks race kit she gets to race in this year as one of their ambassadors.

My partner in crime, Dave! 

My sister, Evelyne came out early and spent the morning taking lots of pictures. 

Now for the race itself:

A week ago we had rain and hail, yesterday it was 92 degrees. With no chance to train in the heat, I was glad this was only an olympic distance race. The race organizers changed the 1500 meter swim to a 1500 meter run. I was in the last wave to start, all women 40 and over and relay runners. One problem with aging is most races let us go off last and it's annoying!

1st run: 1500 meters in 8:50 which was a 9:08 pace. I was surprised with that speed because I intentionally held back and I was in the last group to come in.

T-1: 1:29

Bike: 40K in 1:28:47 which was a 16.2 mph average. My goal for the bike was to stay in aero as much as possible, keep a steady cadence, push a little more than usual (trust that the legs would be ready for the run) and ride the course like I knew it. All successfully completed! I ride this course all the time so I knew where to conserve and where to push. Fun ride!

T-2: 1:34

2nd run: 10K in 1:01:34 which was a 9:50 pace. I thought I was going slower so I was pretty happy with my time. By the time I started the run, it was hot! Before the race, my only goal for the run was to just try to run well :) As I started I added more goals. It gave me something to do! I decided I wanted to run the whole time and I wanted to pass someone (anyone!). I got into a steady, little pace that I felt I could maintain. The heat was getting to me and I told myself I couldn't take a walk break until everyone I knew (this was an out and back run course) passed me or I passed them. I have to play these little mind games to keep me busy :) By the time everyone passed I told myself to buck up and just keep running. I did and I even passed a few people!

Overall time: 2:42:05, 6/8 in AG, 69/91 of women, 323/365 overall

Even without the swim, this gives me a good base for future training and races.

Tomorrow, IMAZ training officially begins. Woohoo!