…So forget all your duties, oh yeah…

45. Compete in a cycling race
54. Compliment 143 strangers

Rewind to 1997:  I’m working in Sea Girt, New Jersey as a beach lifeguard, a skinny 16-year old rookie with no license and no car to get around.  My co-workers, eager to help, were more than happy to lend me a bike, much to my chagrin.  You see,  I had never learned how ride a bicycle  growing up – there was no need living in a small housing development sandwiched between a major highway and a busy county road.  After plenty of shaming and ridicule from my co-workers, I resolved that by the end of that summer, I would master riding a bicycle.  I ended up teaching myself by riding the downward slope of Seaside Ave. from the beach down to 1st Ave on a grey and cold day with no beach patrons.  As a reward for my dedication and achieving my goal, my parents bought me a Trek mountain bike that served me faithfully for many years.  However, once I got my driver’s license and my own car, my bike became unneeded and found a happy home in my parents’ shed.

Fast-forward to 2010: I had been mulling over triathlons ever since my friends Brian, Jen and Jon did a relay tri last summer.  I did some research and decided the most cost-effective way of getting a ‘new’ bicycle was to retrofit my old mountain bike (which had sat unused for a better part of a decade) for road racing.  I brought it to Beacon Cycles in Freehold (supporting my local businesses), and emerged with new road tires, a racing seat, a tune-up and parts replacement (chain, brakes, wires)  as well as a brand-new set of derailleurs and a sweet helmet.  Was it a real performance machine with aerobars and clipless pedals?  Nope, but it was good enough for what I needed it for, which was to see whether this whole multi-sport thing was for me.

I had mentioned the Pier Village Duathlon to Blog Buddy Rob, and he was all about it since he had just bought him and his wife a pair of amazing bicycles (supremely jealous of his kick-ass Cannondale).  I was pumped to do another race with him, especially since this time we’d actually be racing together!  I had never heard of a duathlon before, but the distances didn’t seem to be too outrageous – a 2 mile run, a 9.5 mile bike, finishing with another 3 mile run.  Easy, right? Wrong!

I got a good laugh with the people standing behind Rob and I on the starting line (one of whom I complimented on her sweet hot pink Nike Free 5.0′s) about how it didn’t matter whether or not we heard the course directions from the race director, since we didn’t have to worry about being in 1st place.  Before I knew it, the starting gun sounded and we were off!

I felt really good during the 1st run.  My goal was to stay long and strong for the first race, keeping my stride open but without really exerting a tremendous effort.  I kept a pretty nice pace and stuck to my game plan, averaging an 8:19/mile, which is pretty sweet considering that was my race pace for the first 5K I did back in April.  I was surprised how fast I was going and how well I felt.

Let me say something about the bike portion: I was pretty freaked out about the cycling, since I was suffering from a bit of an bike inferiority complex as I was looking around at the other competitors.  I saw lots of really amazing bicycles, both tri and road bikes, and all I kept thinking was “How am I supposed to keep up with these people?”  Then I saw other people riding mountain bikes, and even some hardcore racers riding beach cruisers, and I relaxed a little bit.  The cycling felt good, despite I was on platform pedals with no clips and the fact that I seemed to have a headwind in every single direction I rode.  I didn’t turn in a bad time, averaging just under 4:00/mile, which is definitely faster than the pace I’d been training at.

It was great seeing Steph waiting at the bike reentry area to cheer me on, it gave me a great boost to push forward.  I needed it, since this was the bike-to-run transition.  I can’t even begin to tell you how dead my legs felt as soon as I got off the bike and started to jog – it was one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had.  My mind and body were willing me to move forward, but my legs weren’t having any of it (and it didn’t help I had dropped a Gu packet and couldn’t find it).  For the first half-mile after the transition, I felt so stiff and slow, but all I kept thinking was to just keep moving and to stretch out my stride, which I eventually did.  Once I got to the 1 mile point, I was back into rhythm and moving at a great pace.  I was passing people and feeling great, up until the last tenth-mile before the finish line, when my body finally decided it was having enough – my thighs cramped up in the worst possible way, and I was having difficulty running without intense pain.  Runners who had passed previously were overtaking me.  I could see the finish line.  I would not be denied.  I saw the end and I willed myself across.  Not a moment too soon.  Here’s the breakdown of my splits:

• Run #1 (2 miles) – 16:37
• Transition 1 – 1:27
• Bike (9.5 miles) – 37:58
• Transition 2 – 1:02
• Run #2 (3 miles) – 25:52

In the end, I was very happy with my total time of 1:22:55 and my performance during the race, and was thrilled to have enjoyed an excellent Sunday morning with Steph and Rob.  Next time, we’ll throw in a little swim and we’ll make it a triathlon.  I’m already registered for the July 11th sprint tri at Pier Village – hopefully you’ll all show up and cheer me on and participate in a Cocktail Triathlon with Steph!