Weekend Race Reports + Nationals Prep

This past month has seen me focusing aggressively on duathlon training, with specific work geared towards building fitness on my run. As I...

This past month has seen me focusing aggressively on duathlon training, with specific work geared towards building fitness on my run. As I've said before, I've never been a particularly fast runner, and it's my biggest weakness in the du.

I found an open track up in North Edmond that welcomes (adult) public use. I haven't had a proper track to run on since my visits to Austin! (Stillwater had no open public use tracks.) I forgot how much I miss that forgiving surface. While I've never been a fan of track repeats, preferring the work of a long run or tempo over the shorter bursts of speed, I can find that I can really dig into the pain on them now. In fact, I had some of the best speed sessions I've ever had on that track, reminding myself that "It's just 6 of these, and they're just two laps... You can do this..." over and over and over. I also found a sweet pair of wireless, waterproof headphones, which helps with energizing those sessions, too.

Because of all the extra running, I found I've had to focus on recovery even more. I finally found a yoga studio I really love here in Edmond. And while I still dearly miss my Monday night yoga at Red Earth with all my friends and Waleah, at least now I can go to yoga classes with my sister, which is a really special thing for us to do :) I've finally put an unlimited monthly class membership to use, going to several sessions a week now just to aid with stretching and combating fatigue. But I still had to make an extra, unscheduled visit to my massage therapist, after some extra downhill running really pushed my quads past their limits, and I found myself cramping just trying to walk!

Intermittently, I've also been able to race, participating in a Sprint Duathlon and the See Spot Run, both located locally in Guthrie, OK. My first 10K race in more years than I can remember nearly knocked me on my ass (this was the extra downhill running that killed me), but it's a good wake-up call for much further I need to go if I want to compete in a standard distance duathlon on the world stage someday.

Oh, and Oklahoma has turned into the central flood plains for the U.S.

Until this weekend, nearly all my workouts have been cold and soaking wet, forcing me into a daily bike cleaning ritual which feels more like a losing battle than anything else. The rains and flooding have made for some interesting rides. Routes change on the fly as yet another road is forced closed by high waters. For the first time in my life I've actually considered investing in one of those $15 ass savers.  And I found that fatigue is no match for the strength you can find when caught in the middle of a monsoon with a pressing need to return home asap! (Also, traffic is much more friendly and will give you a wider berth when caught in said monsoon - they're probably too confused as to why a cyclist would ever be out in that weather.)

It's been an interesting month.


Guthrie Sprint Duathlon

1.5/14.5/1.5 you're done


Need to work on that turtle
Headed up to Guthrie to participate in this race for the first time ever (somehow I missed it last year). According to sources, the race has completely been rerouted onto a less hilly route, the 1.5 mi run an out and back around a town landmark, while the bike course went out on a very scenic, very wonderful stretch of Highway 77 headed north towards Mulhall. (I don't know why I have never biked that road before, but after experiencing it on the duathlon, I plan to do it again...)

The weather was, of course, as was normal all month, stormy and cool and expected to continue dumping rain all weekend. We lucked out. It was cool and overcast during the race for sure, but the rains held off just enough for us to do the race and most of a post-race spinout before coming in to resume once again. 

The Race

Kirsten was participating again, finding her hamstring had healed up enough that she could finally test it out. So I knew, of course, that I wouldn't be getting any medals for best bike today ;) Steve Schlegel was also racing, and I was curious to see how his newfound badassness on the bike would play out. The co-owners of Terra Tri were also there - Dan to compete, Emmy to coach and cheer on her athletes (and even me, which was a very welcome surprise and quite nice, honestly :)

Personally, this was just a training race, so I curious to test out and see exactly what I could on the run with the speedwork I'd been doing so far, especially given the shorter distances.

Running star
While I can't report any groundbreaking paces in the world of duathlon, I did manage to bust out a first run well over a minute faster than my coach had targeted for me. The second run was still about 20-40 seconds faster, while the bike was basically exactly as predicted.

I also managed to beat somebody whom I had never managed to yet (a male), whom my friend affectionately calls "Little Steve."

And as for Steve Schlegel? He even managed to pass Kirsten on the bike, who was probably about as surprised as I was when he passed me in Okarche. Dude is kickin' ass and takin' names now. The Master's Mens categories better watch out!







See Spot Run

Ouch... this 10K really hurts...


No equipment needed but this bib. Feels weird.

The next weekend, I drove back up to Guthrie, on yet another windy and wet Saturday, this time in the evening for the annual See Spot Run. It's kind of a neat event. Starts in downtown Guthrie where Hoboken Coffee Roasters graciously supplies coffee, drinks, cookies, food, and one of the local OK breweries (can't remember which one, sorry! I did not partake that evening) even supplied a wealth of beer. To the best of my knowledge, the proceeds benefit a local animal shelter, and in a neat event twist, owners are encouraged to race with their pets! (Fortunately, pets and owners start behind the rest of the running field.)

The event coordinator who runs the show apparently based the run course off the route his brother did when training for USATF races. I'm not sure what happened to the brother, but I was sad to hear this, and after running the course it was apparent why it helped him get so strong!

We managed to luck out again, the rains just holding off long enough to finish the run course and awards ceremony, though they began again immediately after, making it impossible for me to do the cooldown run I would have liked. In a cruel twist, instead of being cool and rainy, the day was actually quite warm. Coupled with the pressing humidity, the conditions felt fairly miserable, at least as far as running was concerned.


Racetime

I had a goal time in my head. Two goal times, actually. A conservative/realistic one set by my coach, and another, more personal one I had in my head which was my "ultimate" goal. I fell way short of my ultimate goal and barely made the one my coach had set. 

The route was hilly, and the large amount of downhill running took its toll on my legs and completely wrecked my quads. The heat and humidity made me dearly wish I had a bottle halfway through. Holding the paces I'd been holding in duathlons was not nearly as easy as I thought it would be - apparently that bike portion that separates those two 5Ks is a very important recovery period for my legs, and it was everything I could do to keep it together during miles 4 and 5. 

Imposing... and beautiful
The time of day was non-ideal, too. I am a morning runner. As all runners know (or find out very quickly), your body's GI system is on a schedule, and you run and follow that schedule if you want to train successfully. My body is not geared up for evening runs, which became apparent during my warmup. Add in another 6 miles and by the end of the race, my gut was in intense physical pain, the likes of which I have never experienced before, ever.

That finish line had never looked sweeter.

I ran in, the finish located in the middle of a football field, down on the other side of Hoboken (how did that happen?), and the awards ceremony was under way for the 5K finishers, meaning the 10K would begin shortly. Plus they were giving away gift cards for coffee, apparently calling out the random bib numbers they saw, so I made my way over front and center to make sure my number got called out (it did). At least I won coffee :) I desperately wanted something to drink, but my gut hurt too much for that, so instead I waited around for 20-30 minutes or so until my body finally told me I was allowed to drink water again. I collected my gift card, and a medal for AG top finish (maybe 3 or 4th female overall, huzzah), and left.

While this was anything but a pleasant experience for me, the race itself was well organized, and fun, and I would consider running it again, though even moving it to an afternoon time would be a great benefit. 

If the Standard World Championship duathlon involves a 10K in just the first run, I sure have a long way to go before getting to where I am good at that... Glad I only signed up for the Sprint Distance this year. I've got over a year to train up my 10K. New goal for next season.

I'm an amateur duathlete and cyclist in Oklahoma. I cycle for the Tulsa Wheelmen and am on the Schlegel-Trek Oklahoma Elite (STOKE) multisport team. My sponsors are in OKC and . You should help me support them support me by clicking on their names and checking them both out! Seriously, they are legit.

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