Sunday, 7 October 2007

Not so impressive: my duathlon debut

So much for good intentions. My plan to end the season was to participate in my first duathlon, a 2.5 km run/19 km cycling time trial/2.5 km run. I had two sessions with a very experienced coach to go over training and transition techniques, I practiced riding my bike with my feet on top of my shoes, I bought a number holder and cool things to lace up my running shoes instantly, I paid the $65 (!) entry fee and even drove out to Cumberland, Ontario to check out the cycling course last weekend.

Since I came back to Ottawa the weather has been gorgeous, with nearly four weeks of sunshine and temperatures pushing up in the high 20sC. Friday was no exception, and I enjoyed riding to work again. I have put in around 160 km on Blackadder during my bike commutes. Then someone in the locker room at work mentioned that the weekend weather outlook was poor.

He was right. After a good night's sleep, I woke up this morning to the the sound of rain on the windows. And it was cold--only 10c. By 8:30 am it was pouring, and there was even a thunderstorm. I need a full hour to warm up for an event and I was not thrilled about the idea of driving for forty minutes, doing a so-called "warm-up" in cold rain, followed by the race itself, also in cold rain. By 9:30 it was obvious that I did not need to get packed up to go and so I waved goodbye to the entry fee. At noon the weather actually looked decent, if cold, but since the race only started then I would not have had a comfortable warm-up. Life is just too short to spend it cold and soaked on a long weekend. I will attempt to salvage something of my Canadian Thanksgiving workout tomorrow and Monday by getting on the bike again or at least going to the gym. Bah! Humbug! No finisher's medal...or even Yet Another T-Shirt.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Never explain—your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway." Elbert Hubbard

Will said...

Happy thanksgiving.

Real cyclists don't run anyway.

Regards

Anonymous said...

My first duathlon also, and I certainly wasn't happy about the rain either, but the rain stopped minutes before the race started and it turned out to be fine if overcast weather. I was easily warm enough doing the "long course" with my two short sleeve shirts (not recommended), arm warmers and shorts.

Glad I attended. I achieved my modest low 30's km/h speed goal for the bike and the whole thing was pretty amusing - perhaps the bug has bitten, not sure yet.

Still, I wasn't too sad returning my rented (for 3 weeks) Giant TCR C2 bike. Responding to Will's comment: Do non-injured fit runners really need to risk breaking bones going down wet Gatineau hills at 60+ km/h and always worrying about some expensive machinery being stolen or damaged, and do they really need spandex?

Sprocketboy said...

I see that 190 people showed up, indicating that they were tougher than me, and while the bug did not bite me hard enough on Saturday I will probably try again in Spring. At the least, my preparatory training has meant that I no longer hurt all over after 20 minutes of running. And, man, do I every look good in spandex...

Anonymous said...

In response to Will's comment: Lance Armstrong runs and he is an amazingly "real cyclist."

Sprocketboy said...

But Lance Armstrong was hurting a whole lot when he finished that marathon! Mind you, he was probably hurting a whole lot during the Tour de France but wouldn't admit it. And you don't read too often about cyclists dropping dead out on the course, as was the case at the Army 10 Miler in Washington, DC and the Chicago Marathon.

Anonymous said...

Hey, it was $65 well blown. The weather in DC for the Army 10 miler was a little different....but probably no better. They ran out of water.