Be warned: there are a lot of exclamation marks in this report :) Duathlon! No official results yet, and I'm on my way to the airport, so just a quick report now, I will add to it later. Hot morning! I arrived about an hour ahead of start time, jogged, did strides, and obsessed about my little bike transition area. I had my gear all tidy in my area: bike shoes, helmet and glasses, plus two gels. I figured I'd eat one at each transition. I wore my biking gloves for the first run, since they are difficult to put on and I wanted to save time. I sort of figured I'd be clumsy and fumbling at the transitions anyway, and wanted to eliminate as much fuss as possible. I did not stop and restart my Garmin for each leg, so its all one big race in there. The first couple of miles of the first run were 7:07 and 7:37 (slower than my 5K pace, but its quite hilly). I felt the effort by the end, but managed to switch shoes, eat a gel, get on helmet and glasses, and get on the bike. The bike ride is also hilly, with an uphill start, then a long downhill. I have a hard time going really fast on the downhills, because I don't have such massive body weight, so I got down on my bar and really tucked up just like I saw Andy Schleck in the Tour do it. It was exciting and faster, but felt a bit dangerous! Anyway, I was surprised how strong I felt on the bike! There is a really long uphill at the almost end of the 14.5 miles, and I was standing up on my pedals and passing people on the hill. Whoo Hoo! This felt great! I was hurting from the bike and the effort on the uphill by the end, so running seemed like a great thing to do! Felt a bit clumsy in this second run for a 1/2 mile or so, and my calves were cramping, but I ran through that in the hill, shady section, and by the flattish section that was in the sun, I was picking people off. I ran past two people who I was biking near earlier. My last two miles were 7:47 and 7:54 (quite a bit slower than the first time around!). Total time was 1:34:09, with official time 1:36 something because of transitions. I am sure that I did GREAT overall, but don't have official results until they are posted on line, and by then I'll be in Paris! Great weekend everyone! | 