NCSUMechE
Ahh, Reno...what a place to have a triathlon. After hearing the water temp was 48 degrees several weeks prior to the race, I figured the swim portion might be an issue. We ended up flying out on Thursday afternoon arriving in Reno around 1am (10pm Reno time), however our bikes decided to stay in Phoenix until the next afternoon around lunch.
Friday we slept in and had a nice breakfast at the local Denny's resturant. Nothin like a Grand Slam Breakfast to start a day! Then we got back to the hotel to build the bikes and go for a test ride before packet pick-up and the team captain meeting. Needless to say, bike building wasnt as easy as it first seemed due to some aero-bar issues. So we just left the bikes and headed out to the "Circus Circus" hotel and casino to get packets (and all sorts of cool free stuff!) After the race meeting we found out there would be no swim portion, but a 1.8 mile run instead. Honestly, that was fine by me. At this point my only real motivation for swimming was to try out the new wetsuit I bought right before we left. So we went back to the hotel and finished putting the bikes together and went for a test ride around the race venue. I have to say they picked a beautiful venue, just a little cold at this time of year. We all tested out the water and agreed the no swim decision was a great one, no chance I was gonna get in that water at 7am the next morning. After the ride the host hotel put on a free pasta dinner and we got a chance to see all the other crazy teams that were there. Then we headed back for last minute tune ups and some sleep.
Race morning we got up around 4:30am and started getting stuff together to ride to the race. Thankfully, a teamate wasnt racing and was able to drive the rental car to the race and keep track of our stuff (not to mention we were able to keep warm after our transition areas were all set up).
Ive never been in a duathlon before and I was a little nervous because Im in no way a runner. The race went off in waves of about 80, alternating guys and girls. At 7am the first wave of guys went off and it looked like they were at an all out sprint. I figure I could have kept up with their pace for about 8 seconds before my heart quit. There were 2 minutes in between waves and I was in the 7th wave. By the time my wave started the top guys in the first wave were finishing their run and heading out on the bike...pretty amazing to see how fast these guys were. I started the run at what I thought to be a good pace, however everyone was passing me which started to get me worried. I didnt want to try and keep up and blow up in the 1.8 miles before the bike even started, so I decided to chill and just let most of the wave go ahead of me. I think I finished the run in about 14 minutes which is a lot slower than I thought I was running.
Transition went fairly fast and before I knew it I was out on the bike. I forgot to mention that it was pretty chilly (around 43) when we arrived at the race so I had on a long sleeve jacket...good call for the bike, I was cold. For the most part the bike was flat and I averaged a decent speed there were two hills which were nice to break up the flatness. The second lap I wasnt such a fan of these hills, mainly because my rear derailleur was being weird and decided not to let me shift any lower than the fourth cog. My legs had started to cramp a bit and I tried to make sure to spin as much as I could, but that just didnt happen in a big gear on the hills. I stood up for most all the hills, just for a change since it was more comfortable then just sitting in the aerobars the whole time. The backside of the bike course was great...probably a mile or so straight downhill then it was flat until the finish of the bike. The heavier guys had no problem going well over 35mph and blowing by my swerving in and out of cones on the way down. Keeping up with traffic is always a nice feeling too! My bike split was somewhere near 1:13 plus/minus a couple minutes. Im fairly pleased with that considering the hills on the course.
Then the run...ohh grand, we get to run again. At least a mile or so of each run lap was on concrete which wasnt at all pleasant for my feet. I started the run feeling decent, but as always I got excited and nearly sprinted out of transition because everyone was cheering and watching. I passed a UNCW guy about 1/2 mile into the run and he yelled "Hey...NC State!" so we ran together for a while. He been in a wave that went off before me and had hit a cone and had some pretty sweet road rash on his hands and fingers. We ended up running the whole 10k together. A teamate of his ran by us and yelled "Are yall gonna hold hands or yall gonna run!?!" so we took that to mean speed up. We held a higher pace for the next 5k then saw the same guy again who yells "Stop chatting and push each other!!!!" By this point neither of us had said a word to each other in about 3 miles due to lack of oxygen but we both sped up again and tried to finish strong. At the end I finished about 2 seconds before he did and thanked him for running with me (This was definitely the fastest 10k Ive run in a race situation)
Overall, the race went well...2hrs 20min and some change. Ill have to wait for the race results to find exact times and splits. Definitely a fun weekend too, although as I sit here in the Salt Lake City airport not studying for a final I have tomorrow Im wondering if racing this weekend was such a bright idea or not.
Friday we slept in and had a nice breakfast at the local Denny's resturant. Nothin like a Grand Slam Breakfast to start a day! Then we got back to the hotel to build the bikes and go for a test ride before packet pick-up and the team captain meeting. Needless to say, bike building wasnt as easy as it first seemed due to some aero-bar issues. So we just left the bikes and headed out to the "Circus Circus" hotel and casino to get packets (and all sorts of cool free stuff!) After the race meeting we found out there would be no swim portion, but a 1.8 mile run instead. Honestly, that was fine by me. At this point my only real motivation for swimming was to try out the new wetsuit I bought right before we left. So we went back to the hotel and finished putting the bikes together and went for a test ride around the race venue. I have to say they picked a beautiful venue, just a little cold at this time of year. We all tested out the water and agreed the no swim decision was a great one, no chance I was gonna get in that water at 7am the next morning. After the ride the host hotel put on a free pasta dinner and we got a chance to see all the other crazy teams that were there. Then we headed back for last minute tune ups and some sleep.
Race morning we got up around 4:30am and started getting stuff together to ride to the race. Thankfully, a teamate wasnt racing and was able to drive the rental car to the race and keep track of our stuff (not to mention we were able to keep warm after our transition areas were all set up).
Ive never been in a duathlon before and I was a little nervous because Im in no way a runner. The race went off in waves of about 80, alternating guys and girls. At 7am the first wave of guys went off and it looked like they were at an all out sprint. I figure I could have kept up with their pace for about 8 seconds before my heart quit. There were 2 minutes in between waves and I was in the 7th wave. By the time my wave started the top guys in the first wave were finishing their run and heading out on the bike...pretty amazing to see how fast these guys were. I started the run at what I thought to be a good pace, however everyone was passing me which started to get me worried. I didnt want to try and keep up and blow up in the 1.8 miles before the bike even started, so I decided to chill and just let most of the wave go ahead of me. I think I finished the run in about 14 minutes which is a lot slower than I thought I was running.
Transition went fairly fast and before I knew it I was out on the bike. I forgot to mention that it was pretty chilly (around 43) when we arrived at the race so I had on a long sleeve jacket...good call for the bike, I was cold. For the most part the bike was flat and I averaged a decent speed there were two hills which were nice to break up the flatness. The second lap I wasnt such a fan of these hills, mainly because my rear derailleur was being weird and decided not to let me shift any lower than the fourth cog. My legs had started to cramp a bit and I tried to make sure to spin as much as I could, but that just didnt happen in a big gear on the hills. I stood up for most all the hills, just for a change since it was more comfortable then just sitting in the aerobars the whole time. The backside of the bike course was great...probably a mile or so straight downhill then it was flat until the finish of the bike. The heavier guys had no problem going well over 35mph and blowing by my swerving in and out of cones on the way down. Keeping up with traffic is always a nice feeling too! My bike split was somewhere near 1:13 plus/minus a couple minutes. Im fairly pleased with that considering the hills on the course.
Then the run...ohh grand, we get to run again. At least a mile or so of each run lap was on concrete which wasnt at all pleasant for my feet. I started the run feeling decent, but as always I got excited and nearly sprinted out of transition because everyone was cheering and watching. I passed a UNCW guy about 1/2 mile into the run and he yelled "Hey...NC State!" so we ran together for a while. He been in a wave that went off before me and had hit a cone and had some pretty sweet road rash on his hands and fingers. We ended up running the whole 10k together. A teamate of his ran by us and yelled "Are yall gonna hold hands or yall gonna run!?!" so we took that to mean speed up. We held a higher pace for the next 5k then saw the same guy again who yells "Stop chatting and push each other!!!!" By this point neither of us had said a word to each other in about 3 miles due to lack of oxygen but we both sped up again and tried to finish strong. At the end I finished about 2 seconds before he did and thanked him for running with me (This was definitely the fastest 10k Ive run in a race situation)
Overall, the race went well...2hrs 20min and some change. Ill have to wait for the race results to find exact times and splits. Definitely a fun weekend too, although as I sit here in the Salt Lake City airport not studying for a final I have tomorrow Im wondering if racing this weekend was such a bright idea or not.