I won 3rd in Athena group!

I guess that I should have stayed for the awards... I won 3rd in my group today!

My finisher's shirt

The official finish time at the Willow Duathlon was 1:53:44:

• Run 1 (5K) - 33:36 (10:49 average pace)
• Transition 1 (run to bike) - 1:35
• Bike (20K) - 43:16 (16.7 miles per hour average)
• Tranistion 2 (bike to run) - 1:10
• Run 2 (5K/3.1 miles) - 34:13 (11:01 average pace)

Total time: 1:53:44

Sweet T on the rack

Athena 3rd place - and if I raced age group, I would have been 3rd in the 30-34 age group as well!

Pretty cool! I am really happy that I did this. I know that I could have gone harder on the bike, but had no idea what that would have done to my run. My goal for the next month is to hammer on the bike and try some speed work on my running. Swimming will just have to be the slow sport!

The cool thing is - I found out that I don't suck on the bike. In fact it was a lot of fun! I made up a lot of time on the cycle leg, and completed it in under 45 minutes which was my goal.

The funny thing is that I had been focusing on 33/45/35 all week long - my goal times for each leg. I actually met them and came in faster on the bike. For a first multisport event this was a great experience. I finished strong and happy and feel so much less worry about my tri in June.

My age group - 30-34 YO's. I raced Athena instead

After the race I went to Lana's house in AA and got ready to head out to the grand opening of the new REI in AA. I got a $30 gift card and since I am a co-op member I got 20% off any full priced item of my choice. Guess what I got?

Sweet T is now officially ready for some serious riding!

Sweet T with her fancy new Aerobars and Aerodrink system

I love it! I also got a new tri top (tank style, not jersey style) which will rock under my wetsuit. I am measuring myself this weekend and will order it Monday. I hope to get it before May 30th, because I have my first open water swim that weekend and want to try it out.

I feel like I ran a half marathon in tiredness, but not soreness. I love cycling for that exact reason! Tomorrow I will go out for a recovery ride - 20 miles or so at a slow pace. I decided against driving all the way back down to Willow for the Metrogrand 20/40/60 mile tour due to gas prices etc., so I nice loca recovery will be perfect.

Well I wanted to thank all of you that have cheered me on during the past few months of training. :) Thank you!

Keep running,

})i({Runnergirl Jenn AKA Duathlete Jenn.

Because that is how it goes.

A familiar bell rang for me this month.

Travel for work.

Miss some workouts.

Get sick.

Race is near.

Runnergirl fears that she is going to not do well in race.

Runnergirl gives up and accepts defeat.

Well with this bell ringing one thing has changed... I am not giving up.

Heck no! Not this time. I have fought too hard for too long with myself to succumb to those negative thoughts again!

I had to take a few days off from training to deal with the illness that I am still recovering from. But I did not give up. My first multi-sport race is NEXT WEEKEND! Oh my goodness!

Instead of freaking out... well completely freaking out... I have decided to treat this duathlon as training for my triathlon June 8th. And now I feel a lot better. Truth be told I am still nervous as all get out, but that is expected, right?

In an effort to preserve my last few days of training before the du, my week has looked like this so far:

• Monday: Ran 30 minutes to get back into the groove as I needed to start back in with training
• Tuesday: My first real brick workout with F.A.S.T. - 20 MILE bike followed by the worst 5K run *cough*walk*cough* ever! (More on this later)
• Wednesday: Swim 30 minutes, bike 30 minutes
• Thursday: Strength train for 45 minutes, run 30 minutes
• Friday: A well deserved rest day

I am wrapping up the week with Swimming, strength, and a bike clinic (maint. not riding) on Saturday, and a dry run at the Willow course early Sunday AM.

Next week I have the same planned - a lot of biking, a lot of bricks. I am as ready as I can possibly be at this point.

In a way I am excited for the Du to be over with. Not because that I am not looking forward to it, but rather because it serves as a benchmark. I really am curious as to how my training has been preparing me for the multisport test. No matter what - it will be a PR, and the only place for me to go is up.

I am completely inspired by a lot of the people that I have met in the past few months - members of my tri club, members of my tri website, you fellow running/tri bloggers... the list is large. But every time I see a post on someone's blog about a PR, a new endurance feat, or another goal being met I feel good knowing that we are all moving forward despite any number of potential setbacks.

Every time I am out and about and I see someone kitted up on the bike, or out running the road, I feel a connection with them. And then it hits me - I truly love this.

I feel that there is an important thing to realize in all of this. Setbacks happen. But in light of all of the fast balls that we are thrown, we manage to get out there and accomplish these great things every day!

Lacing up the shoes is always the first step in taking action. Somedays it take a lot more inner dialogue to get out the door and go, but the end result is usually always the same - I am so grateful that I went out and did that.

We can only get better if we work harder. I am not only talking about sports, fitness, or athletics here. I am talking about schooling, relationships, work, LIFE. We can only achieve our goals if we put effort into them. If our performances suffer as a direct response to the lack of attention that we are giving to our dreams... well then it is time to really look deep down and see if this is something that you want for YOU or is this something that you are doing for another reason.

If you truly love something and get enjoyment out of it, then working hard for it will be a bigger reward than any finishing time could possibly be.

Stay positive out there, and keep on running!

~Runnergirl