yesterday at 8:30am i found myself at the starting line of the gear west duathlon. i was feeling very lucky to have made it there since fifteen minutes previous i had been driving about the countryside completely lost and in a state of despair. but i made it in time thanks to some driving luck and my brother-in-law hector who helped me get my bike set-up and my butt to the start. at 8:43am my wave left the start line and i began my journey. two hours and seven minutes later i finished.

i’ve done a couple other duathlons and while i went slower during this one my endurance is actually better this year. i have hope that at some point during the summer my speed will improve and i will be better than ever. of course my better would still be pretty bad, but i am just thankful to be fit enough to compete at all.

the course was a 5k run, 28k bike and then a 4k run. it was kinda hilly during the bike and we ran a lot on grass; not my favorite course. my least favorite part of the day was the bike. it was so cold and i couldn’t generate enough heat to stay warm. i spent at least 10 miles on the bike where i was pretty miserable. by the end of the bike part of the course my legs were numb from my knees down to my toes, brrrr.

a shout out to the hector-man who saved my butt getting me all set up and ready to race. as i was getting off of the bike and set to run the last 4k, he had already finished. did i mention that his wave also started about five minutes after mine? he’s pretty good at this stuff; he’s training to do a full ironman triathlon this summer. crazy stuff – go hector go!