wrapping up the regular duathlon season

this is why multisport pwns bike racing -- we get to race at venues like this while poor roadies spend their weekends hanging out in crappy industrial parks. after the race yesterday i swam in the ocean and lay insensate in the sand until my stomach began to pule.

the last duathlon of the regular season started inauspiciously. i miscalculated the race start time and barely got my bike racked before the transition zone closed: i showed up just as the national anthem was being sung and got busted by a volunteer who told me to PLEASE stand still for the national anthem, so i did, only i was so discomfited that i dropped my bike, and in trying to catch it, i dropped my helmet, which rolled and came to rest at the feet of a woman who just glared at me for putting her in the awkward position of either standing still for our national ditty or politely returning my helmet. she returned my helmet, and i curtsied, because i don't know if you know this but it is okay to move during our national anthem if you are curtsying.

it would have behooved me to warm up for the first run because 1.5miles isn't far at all and should be run quickly, not at the 7min/mile effort i put forth, but instead of doing striders minutes before the start-gun sounded, i was on my hands & knees, following a deer trail through thick multiflora rose, in search of a bathroom spot because whatever stomach virus i had last week came back full force. sorry if i pooed in anybody's bed.

so the first run was slow, but no other women challenged me. out on the 14mile bike course i overtook a rolling block of half-a-dozen guys, who responded by repeatedly passing and then pulling right in front of me, which is really motherfuckin RUDE because then I have to jam on the brakes and drop 5meters back to get out of the drafting zone, and then ramp up and pass your ass aGAIN. at mile 10 i thought i'd broken my boyz until we made a hard right over the drawbridge and there they were, buzzing at my heels like that cluster of deerflies that assailed me in maine.

though it was annoying at the time, they motivated me to ride faster than i would have alone -- i was still feeling thursday's hill intervals in my quads and would have been content to putz along with grandpa and his cruiser bike on the way to the Silver Spoon Diner.

commenced the 5K run alongside one of the pack boyz. our strides matched exactly, tamping out the beat to BRMC's American X in my head.
- oh dear - i commented to him - we run the same too.
- naw, you were faster than me by the end of the first run. i was really working to keep up with you on the bike.
- you guys were good incentive out there.
- yeah, you were definitely the leader of our pack.
i left him behind as i tripped merrily on my way. there were no women in striking distance -- the 2nd place woman finished 3min back -- so i ran relaxed, but vigilant. i ended up 8th overall out of 100, and demonstrated my cycling prowess by riding my bike into a culvert and doing an endo before the crowd gathered for the awards ceremony. yup, that's yer first-place woman lying in the ditch there. bring her a sammich won't you?