My First Age Group Win!

I added this little Central Park Duathlon to my race schedule a couple of weeks ago.  I didn't feel like waiting until October 2nd to race again and I knew it gave me enough time to properly recover from Placid.

This race was SO MUCH FUN!  It only took me 1:12 to finish instead of 13 hours like the Ironman.  Winning already in my book.

So the course was a 2 mile run/12 mile bike/2 mile run. The run course was actually longer than 2 miles - I clocked both runs at 2.3 miles.  This course is literally what I train on 5 days a week so I know every hill, bump, tourist trap there is to know about.

The one great thing about this race is my friend Paul was racing his first duathlon.  He's testing the multisport waters and I have a feeling we'll be seeing him at some triathlons next year!

Paul setting up transition for the very first time!

Roo and I are ready!

After setting up we lined up at the casual start line.  Someone yelled go and off we went!

Run 1 - 17:23

First lap of the run

Even though the run is only 2 2.3 miles, it is challenging because you have to run up the second longest hill in Central Park, Cat Hill. I decided that even though I was wearing my Garmin I was not going to look at it.  I wanted to reline this entire race and I was afraid if I saw certain paces I would get nervous and back off.  Let's just say the plan worked.  I ran the fastest I've ever run in a long, long time.  It was awesome
mile 1 = 7:18
mile 2 = 7:25
mile .3 = 2:29 (7:37 pace)

ON the way back to transition.  See bra top lady?  She's part of my story...

T1 = 45 seconds
I recently bought a new pair of my trusty Asics and a pair of those quick laces.  I really wanted to save time in transition for this race and my next Olympic and I have to say I love these laces!  Not only do the pink laces look amazing on my grey & lime green shoes but they stay put and I'm able to pull my sneaks on and off with no problem!

Bike = 36:14  20.2 mph average

Heading out on the first loop of the bike

I know I say it a lot but I LOVE riding my Roo!  My biking has only gotten stronger and stronger and I am so confident riding in Central Park.  While my heart rate was up from the run, my legs felt good to go!

Paul rocking the bike!

The first loop went by pretty fast and I was seriously passing everyone!!  I passed about 4 chicks and even more dudes!

Chicking all the dudes behind me. 

Grrrrr... Go! Go! Go!

The second loop went by just as quickly and before I knew it I was back in transition.

T2 = 42 seconds
Again it was easy breezy! Bike shoes off, sneakers on.  Run Run Run!

Run 2 = 17:55
My heart rate was sky high at this point.  But I knew I had to keep the pressure on myself to see what I had in me and my legs.  The run is an out and back you can see where the other competitors are.  Since I passed a bunch of chicks on the bike I knew I was somewhere in the top 10 of the field but I also know there were much faster runners out there.
mile 1 = 7:53
mile 2 = 7:35
mile .3 = 2:28 (7:02 pace)

So yes, Cat Hill slowed me down quite a bit more than the first time.  I just focused on my heavy gasping for air breathing and tried not to think about how my legs were screaming at me.  As I hit the top of the hill I saw two women coming back down so I knew I was somewhere near the top but any hopes of a top 3 finish left my head.  When I came to the turnaround point I saw the bra top lady again.  She was within striking distance!!

I picked up the pace and I caught up to her about a quarter of a mile away from the finish line.  Then, the inevitable happened.  She heard my disastrous heavy breathing and started to speed up!  Crap!  I pushed as hard as I could down Cat Hill, got to her side and she surged again.  Then she made a tactical move that I don't know I would have done.  She got in front of me in the narrow finishers shoot and stuck her arms out wide so there was no way I could pass unless I barged right through her.  I was happy with how I performed so I ran through right after her.  Here are some great photos Simon took capturing my sprint finish.

racing down Cat Hill

I almost got her!

but I couldn't quite get around

What a fun, sprint finish!

So I ended up finishing one second behind her.  We shook hands, said great race and chatted a bit.  My ego was slightly wounded because she was in the 50-55 age group!!  Major props to her for kicking my 30 year old butt and racing smart!

Duathlon Finishers!

I finished with a time of 1:12:59 which made me 6th woman overall and 1st in my age group!  Also my bike split was the 4th fastest out of all the women.

Picking up my nifty little FIRST PLACE plaque!

Couldn't have done it without my Roo!

This was my first ever age group win!!!  I was super excited!  Even though it was a small race, I really pushed myself and I'm proud of how I did.  You can't control the other competitors times, fitness, etc... you can only control what you do.  I did that.  I liked racing "naked" and not knowing what my run splits were.  I have a feeling if I looked down at my watch and saw a 7:xx I would have freaked and slowed down.  I was hoping to stay in the low 8's so the fact I could hold a mid to lower 7 minute pace was AWESOME!   Thanks to Paul for the racing company - you rocked your race!!

Now, I've got just less than a month to focus on smashing my Olympic Triathlon PR out in Montauk October 2nd!