Okay, that title is not quite how I see myself, but I thought it was fitting.
This morning was the Saratoga Lions Club duathlon. For the past few years, I have volunteered to be the course marshal. I got to ride on a motorcycle (wheee!) and yell at people who were drafting. I was feared.
This year, I decided to race. I'm pretty sure I was no longer feared, but I must say that I had a great race.
Before the race started, I ran into an old high school friend, Cortney, who was racing. It was so great to see her and her parents (her dad is my favorite former music teacher). Cortney is doing her first Ironman this fall and just finished her first marathon. We ran the first 5K together. The run is two loops, which I thought would be annoying for a 5K, but it was kind of cool. You get to see everyone and mentally it felt shorter since you were never more than a half mile from the transition area. I must admit that it helped. I'm sure I would not have pushed myself if I had been on my own! Of course, my sister Lisa was just in front of us and I didn't want to let her out of my sight! I clocked a 24:07 which is a new 5K PR for me (by one second!).
We came into transition about 20 seconds behind my sister. Now, I am most definitely not known for my fast transitions, but I can't figure out what was taking Lisa so long. As I was running out with my bike, I think she was still taking off her running shoes. I lost sight of Cortney too.
The bike course is a lollipop with three loops. My plan was to hammer the bike and see what happens. Since I don't ever really hammer the bike, I knew I would have enough for the next run. But, I worked hard and felt great. I was able to spin up the hills and I passed many people and only got passed by about five men. My bike time, which includes my super fast (ha!) first transition, is officially 1:02:12. Unfortunately, I didn't remember to reset my bike computer before heading out. I think I was still basking in my Lake Placid ride from last week.
Back in transition, I had to sit down to change my shoes. I think it was just easier and faster than trying to change standing up. Off to run #2...
Hmmm.... I had no one to pace me this time around. But, I had the Garmin, so I could keep an eye on the pace. I really didn't know how to attack this run other than to just keep going. I managed to maintain an 8:16 pace with my last mile at 7:50 (fastest running mile of the day for me). My second 5K, which includes my second transition, is 26:31, for an overall time of 1:52:49.
I was fifth in my age group (who are these seriously fast women???), but I'll take it. Next year, I'll have them all trembling in fear...
Thank you to the Lions Club (including my mom and dad) for putting on another spectacular event! It was so well run and everyone is so friendly and helpful!
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