Point Duathlon

           I decided to add the Point Duathlon to the schedule after I was finally seeing improvement on my run and having fun again.  Back in 2012, it was my first overall win, after which I also picked up Draft Cyclery as my first sponsor.  Taking time to recover after Nationals, and then attempting to squeeze everything in as we had our first week of volleyball practices, meant that this race was definitely meant to be just for fun!

            The kiddos made the trip down with us for this race – the only one this season that we planned to bring them along with us.  Despite it being an early morning wake-up, both kids had great attitudes and were awesome little fans!  The day was sunny, windy, and warm, so it was perfect for spending it outside too. 

            Toeing the start line, I was still nervous, as I lined up next to Bridget Witt.  She specializes in duathlons, and I’ve gone up against her a couple times before.  She took 2^nd to me at the 2012 Point Duathon, and then again at the 2013 Weston Duathlon.  I knew she would be good competition and it’d be a tough day.  The first run was just over 2 miles, and I averaged around 6:51/mile, which I felt good about.  Bridget stayed hot on my heels and we had 3 women ahead of us going into T1.  It wasn’t long and Bridget passed me on the bike.  She spent the last 2 years focused on the bike, and it paid off for her, as she put some good distance between us.

It was a short 16.5 mile bike ride and we were off and running another 2 miles to the finish line.  My second run averaged 7:14/mile, and while I was hoping to be able to make it a little faster, where I really needed to make up time was on the bike, where I had lost a minute to Bridget.  I came in 2^nd behind her by just under a minute, and 9^th overall including the men – not too shabby! 

While I’ve gotten closer to getting my run speed back after focusing on it for four weeks, I’m still about 20 watts slower on the bike than where I was as recently as May.  While it pains me to think where I could have been in that race if I could have put down 20 more watts, I also can also appreciate having lost to Bridget.  I know what it takes to win a race like that, and I know this hasn’t been my season.  I’m just not where I need to be in order to bring home the W right now.  My takeaways?  I have 4 weeks until the World Championships in Chicago and it is obvious that I need to spend it focusing on the bike.  Also, I’m looking forward to next season when I come back stronger than ever and kick some butt again!  Lastly, thanks goes out to Andy, for not only taking great pictures (as always), but for herding the troops while doing it so they could watch mommy race!