A Blog about our weight loss journey using triathlons and weightlifting for motivation: First Duathlon of the year!

Cooney Duathlon!

Well, this year we traveled down to Oconomowoc to take part in an early season race, the Cooney Duathlon. It was a 2 mile run, 21 mile bike and another 2 mile run. The weather was ok.....cool, around 50 and cloudy, but it was quite breezy also. At least the rain held off! Woke up at around 4:30. Thought it would be easy to find a cup of coffee in the hotel, I was wrong! Searched everywhere, wound up make a single cup in the room. Woke up Ann around 5:30. Found out no breakfast until 7AM on a Saturday, good thing I was prepared and brought oatmeal and bananas. Got ready, dressed and loaded the bikes.

Arrived at the event. Weather was cool, around upper 40's and cloudy. It was fairly breezy out too. Got our tribags and bikes off the rack and headed to transition. Found our spot and prepared the area for T1 and T2. About 40 minutes before race start I got in line to go to the bathroom one last time. Ann jogged around warming up There were only 4 porta toilets, so I stood in line until about 10 minutes before race start so I didn't have as much time to warm up as I wanted to.

The race started in waves, we were last which I don't like because it makes me feel like I'm back of the pack! LOL! The buzzer went off and so did we. I was wearing my new Hoka's and trying to run with my new "faster cadence" stride. I felt a little winded but held out enough and made it to transition. Time - 7:51mi. Grabbed my bike and off I went! Heading out I knew I needed to practice more transitions. I had a hard time getting my feet into my shoes and took longer than I should. These early season races usually give me a reality slap or two! As I kept pedaling, I realized I made a HUGE mistake. A few days earlier I posted my fit on ST and had responses of "Your seat is to high". So, I lowered it almost 2 cm and then it rained and I had no time to test it out prior to race day. The entire 21 miles felt like I was under powered and too short on my peddle stroke. I also made the mistake of not trying out my new fabricated water bottle mount prior to race day and couldn't get anything out of my drink tube, so no hydration! The roads were ROUGH with potholes and it was windy which didn't help. Result? One of my slower rides clocking in at 19.7 MPH. I had every intention of hitting a constant 21+MPH day. Came into transition, racked the bike and off I went. My lower inside quads were really sore (from too short seat height) and I was exhausted from the bike and knew my run wouldn't be great. It wasn't. I posted an 8:35 per mile time. Came into the finish line and frankly was happy it was over, grabbed some water and a protein bar and watched for Ann to come in on the bike. A few minutes later she came in and looked tired. The wind and rough roads got to her also and her magnet came loose on the front wheel so she had no clue what her speed, or anything else was. She looked like she needed a little push so I started to give her some positive reinforcement that she was doing great and to keep it up! She asked if I would run with her. I hesitated because I was still tired myself but I sucked it up and did. She did great and finished. All in all it was a learning experience. I thought my run would suck ( I suck at running ) and my bike would be good. It was the exact opposite! I broke every rule of racing (don't do anything new on race day) and I paid the price for it. It wasn't my worst race, but one I will remember. Next up....a Sprint tri in a few weeks!