One down - more races to go

I hate getting in the pool in the morning.  That first rude splash never seems to get easier.  I'm always glad I swam once I'm in the pool..but getting there is tough.

Well, I kind of had the same feeling for my first race which was this weekend and I whined about last post.  This was the "Spring Classic Duathlon) with a 5K, 15 Mile, 5K format.

Weather was rainy/misting and in the 40s with a light wind from the east. 

In typical first race fashion I forgot stuff and packed too many things that I didn't need.  I forgot my water bottle and for some reason didn't pack any rain gear for the race but seemed to have every jacket and blanket I owned for after the race. 

My goal was to run a sub 20 minute 5 K and I failed on the first 5K.  I ended up with a 20:04 which was close but felt like a brick wall (well maybe wooden wall).  My bike felt good, especially the down wind leg in which I was going 23-25 miles per hour.  The pavement kept getting rougher and peblier (more small rocks for those afraid of good new words).  The turnaround at 9 mile point was pretty demoralizing.  From 24 to 17 MPH is pretty tough to take, especially watching the other people zipping by on the other side.

I finished the bike and started the run.  I couldn't feel my feet.  I think they were down there but I wasn't sure.  The run went up a slight incline and then into the wind (wish I could have written "Jaws of the gail" but it really was more of a breeze).  I really wanted to break 20 minutes but was hoping for under 25 minutes.  I just ran as fast as I could.  Felt okay and so ran faster.  Before I knew it I was headed down toward the finish, they were mispronouncing my name and I heard the beeping on the second mat and discovered that the end was not under the "Muscle Milk" inflatable arch.  I was done with a time of 19:28.  I set a 5K PR! Total time was 1:27:08.

Overall it really was an encouraging race.  I've not been working on speed because of my knee and yet was able to run at a good speed and my knee feels great.  I finished 31 out of 169 overall and 8 out of 19 for my age group. 

It was a fun race and I was glad I did it.  There are some really fast people out there and I look forward to seeing whether I get closer to their finish times next year.