Many of you have been following on Facebook or on these pages my exploits into the world of distance/endurance sports-- namely, running and biking. While I don't pretend to be a Maureen O'Donnell or a Tom Coale, I do do what I do and my goal is to have fun. (psst, their goals are the same too, but those two young whippersnappers are in far, far better shape than I and always will be!) I've been fortunate to run some decent 5ks, I've run up to 14 miles at a clip, biked 42, and I run the Baltimore half-marathon on Saturday!
So back in February, I signed up to do a duathlon-- that's a triathlon withtwo running legs instead of a swim leg-- in western Howard County. Woe be onto me, about three weeks out from the race I broke two bones in my left foot and my aspirations for multisport race glory for the year were done. Or...were they?
Enter the Cape Henlopen triathlon and duathlon in Lewes, Delaware, held October 9. Held the week before the Baltimore half, this race seemed like a good opportunity to taper my mileage down so I'd be ready for the half six days later.
I am proud to announce that I finished the duathlon last Sunday! Below is a report on the race that I sent to my fellow athletes (guess I can call myself that now!) in the Mid Maryland Triathlon Club. (BTW, MMTC is an awesome group of people!) Report below:
Racer: Bill Woodcock
Race: Cape Henlopen Duathlon
Date: Sunday, October 9, 2011
Location: Cape Henlopen,, DE
Race Type: Duathlon - Sprint
Age Group: Male 40 - 44
Time: 2:00:04
Overall Place: 126 / 134
Age Group Place: 11 / 12
URL: http://www.midmdtriclub.org/view_result.php?racerid=6371
Teaser/Summary: My first multisport race!
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Race Report:
On the opposite end of our members who've just completed Kona and other
tris in exotic locations, there's me...
Having missed the Du the 2 with a broken foot, I decided to sign up for
this race in Cape Henlopen, Delaware. Seemed like a good idea, and well,
it was!
Cape Henlopen is a tri and a du. The du race consisted of a 1.5 mile
run, 13.5 mile bike (down from 14.5 due to road construction) and a 5k
run. I'd worked out locally at these distances so I knew I could handle
it. Only thing I was concerned about was time. My fastest practice time
was a shade over 2 hours, 8 minutes.
As to my age group, I wasn't in other men from 40-44; no, men of my, err,
robust size (over 200 lbs) signed up in the "Clydesdale" category.
Actually, if there was an over 250 category for "Manatees", I could've
signed up in that group instead! : )
Anyway, my times and comments:
Run 1: 20:40. Very disappointed in my run results overall. Just found
it hard to get a rhythm going. I'm typically an 11-12 minute miler. Not
helping was having to keep retying my shoes 2-3 times (grr...) Not happy
there. Time ranked 129 out of 134 overall.
T1: 1:59-- on with the bike helmet and bike shorts, and away I went!
Bike: 54:12. Hooray! I typically bike 13 miles/ hr (I ride a Gary
Fisher hybrid due to my size) and on this flat course, I was very happy
with this time! Time ranked 124 of 134.
T2: 1:33-- off with the bike helmet, quick drink, and off I went.
Elected to keep the bike shorts on.
Run 2: 41.39. Only a little off my pace of the first run, which isn't
saying too much. Legs were more numb off the bike than normal-- probably
took about six tenths of a mile for me to get back feeling normal, such as
that is. And I had to do more retying too. Double grrr!!! Time ranked
#123 of 134.
Pros: flat course, plenty of volunteers to direct everyone on the bike
course, lots of supportive spectators and fellow athletes cheering on
slugs like me, great weather today! Oh, and another club member did zoom
past me on the bike-- yellow helmet-- had on MMTC shorts (are you out
there?)
Cons: If I do this race next year I'll sign up earlier. I had to stay in
Seaford, about 30 miles away. Oh, and the finishers' medals were kind of
cheesy.
Summary: I joined this great group about three or four months ago and I
am glad to know what finishing a multisport race is like! For me, total
agony at points during, and total accomplishment after! So this was my
first such race-- won't be my last though.
