Ultramax Duathlon.....

Back in January I was talking with a friend.  We needed some motivation to exercise.  I find that when I'm committed to do some sort of race it causes me to stress enough to hit the treadmill.  We decided since we didn't want to do a half marathon, our other option was a duathlon.  They were holding one in Columbia Missouri.  They were having both a long course and a short course.  The long course was 1.5 mile run, 15 mile bike, and a 3 mile run at the end.  During the summer when I'm outdoors training all the time, the long course would have been easy breezy.  So that's the one we signed up for.  Plans often change.  January and February were snowmagedon around here.  March was rainy.  Point being, my running was suffering and I'd only been on my bike twice.  That's two times.  And I only went 10 miles both times.  The long course was seeming, well, long.  We decided to switch to the short course.  1.5 mile run, 7.5 mile bike, and then finish with a 1.5 mile run.  That sounds so pansy to some people.  Myself included.  But let me tell you.  When you haven't trained for a race, regardless of the distance, it's kind of hard.  Add 20 mile an hour winds and it gets even more complicated.
When we arrived at the race course Saturday morning we were so grateful we'd switched to the short course.  The long course racers were hard core.  They were mostly men who ran 4 minute miles and had bike helmets so aerodynamic they looked like space aliens.  The short course people looked like us.  Just joe schmoes out for some exercise.  We started and I was running a pretty good pace.  The thing that was so weird for me was that I didn't have to really pace myself going slow and steady because it was only a mile and a half.  I was done before I had a chance to get too tired.  I have to say it was kind of awesome.  I spent too much time in the transition zone getting my bike though.  I was trying to put my gloves on and just as I went to strap them I realized I'd put them on backwards.  So I put them in my pocket.  I put my north face jacket on because the wind was fierce and I thought I'd be cold.  Wrong.  Five feet into the bike course I knew I was going to die of heat.  I tried to unzip my jacket to get a breeze.  I got it most of the way unzipped.  Which was great.  Until I was facing a headwind.  My jacket basically turned into a kite.  Lovely.  All the things bikers do to be more aerodynamic and here I am billowing like a kite.  Amatuer.  I tried to zip it back up but couldn't get it with one hand and didn't want to stop on the course.  So I managed to unzip it all the way.  It was irritating having it flap around me, but it was better than the kite flying effect.  After the bike was another run.  This run was harder than the first.  It was the exact same route as the first run, but my rubber legs took a bit to adjust.  My pace was quite a bit slower than the first go round.  But.  It was only a mile and a half.  Such a short distance!  When I was finished I realized that I just might actually get a medal.  Crazy.  I've never in all my races had a reason to stick around for the awards.  This time we stuck around.  Jennie placed third in our division, and I placed first.  It was crazy!  There were only 4 of us in the division.  But I finished 10 minutes faster than the 2nd place winner.  I'll take it!  (It's probably my only gold medal so I need to own it!)  I'm pretty sure I've found my new spring event.  This one is a keeper.