Greater Gator Duathlon

I know that is has been ages since I've blogged and I miss it, so here is my latest adventure -

The Greater Gator Duathlon at Payne's Prairie is a 2 mile run, 10 mile bike, followed by another 2 mile run. The temperature this morning was 38 degrees!! For this Florida girl, this temperature was like waking up in Antarctica. I got my bike loaded up and headed out at 6:30 am for the 7:30 am start.

Here is the view that awaited me as I headed south on 441:

As I pulled into the park, I saw a deer on the side of the road! It was so cute and I stopped to get a picture. That's when I noticed that there wasn't just one deer, but five of them! Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to get that picture to download, so you'll just have to trust me that I saw it.

I reach the starting area and head over to registration where I sign in and get my numbers. I head back to the car, get my gear and head over to the transition area to set up my stuff. At this point, I'm cold, but it's not too bad. Yesterday, I went shopping and found some arm warmers to wear under my long sleeve shirt that I wore under my Under Armor shirt. On top of my head I have ear warmers and a fleece beanie hat. The only thing that I wish I had was a better pair of gloves, as my pink, chenille gloves are not suitable for my bike ride. (Later, I'll be wishing I had sucked it up and worn them anyway.)

There were about 140 people braving this cold weather to compete today, and the race director called for the pre-race meeting to explain the course. We were to run the first leg of the race around the parking lot, then head out onto the lake trail for an out-and-back course, then into transition to get our bikes. The bike course was a little more complicated. We headed out to the main road, took a right and headed towards the main entrance. At the main entrance, we did a hairpin turn and headed back the way we came. Instead of turning and heading back to the starting area, we continued straight and followed the road to the Visitor's Center. Another hairpin turn at the Visitor Center and then it was back to the main entrance where we turned around and headed back to the Visitor Center. Then we made a turn and headed back to the starting area. Sounds complicated, but it was pretty easy to follow and they had people at all the appropriate places to guide us in the right direction. After finishing the bike course, we were to head back out onto the same run course as the first leg, but the last 400 yards, we divert from the original course and stay straight to the finish line.

Everyone, lines up for the start and they director says there will be two waves. Wave #1 is men and wave #2 is women and relay teams. The excitement is building, if not to just keep up warm.

The men take off and 3 minutes later the women and relay teams follow suit. We run around the parking lot and I'm trying to get my iPod shuffle to play, only to realize that when I synced it to my new computer, I forgot to add music to it, so the iPod is now useless. I resign myself to a tuneless race and as I look up, I realize that I am quite near the back of the pack. I pick up the pace and pass several ladies as we head to the trail part of the course.

I get to the turn-around and look down at my watch: 8:15, that is minutes and seconds, not the time! Holy crap! I am flying! As I head into transition, my time is around 16 minutes!!!!! My fastest pace ever! I reach my bike, strap on my helmet and head out of the transition area. I mount my bike and take off down the road.

Here is where I start to reconsider my choice to do this race. Back in August, it seemed like a good idea, but I had no idea it would be 38 degrees when I woke up either.

The course was mostly flat with a few elevation changes, but here's the worst part: 85% of the bike course is in the shade, which made for a frigid ride. Seriously, my poor fingers were frozen at mile 3 and I couldn't feel my feet after mile 6. I had snot running down my upper lip that I kept using my sleeve to wipe away. (I haven't quite caught on to the use of the "snot rocket.") At mile 7, I thought to myself, "I cannot continue on. I am freezing and miserable. But, I figured, I was already cold, so I might as well stick it out for 3 more miles.

When I reached the dismount area for the transition, there was someone there taking pictures and as I dismounted I warned the course monitor that I couldn't feel my feet and I might fall down. I asked the photog, to please not photograph if I fell.

I managed to stay on my feet and there were even a few people there to cheer us on, which was nice, since my hubby was at home snuggled in his warm bed. I re-racked my bike and took off my helmet, which was a difficult feat, since I couldn't feel my fingers!

I headed back out onto the trail, but I was hurting. I couldn't even feel my poor toes! It felt like my right big toe had shattered into a hundred pieces. I had to stop to walk once or twice because the circulation in my feet was taking forever to come back. Finally, I reach the turn around and head back towards that finish line. I even managed to pass two people on the way back :-)

The director told us pre-race that he set up signs as we neared the finish that told us when we had 400ft, 300ft, 200ft, 100ft left. There is an older gentleman about 100 feet ahead of me as I pass the 400 feet sign. Usually, this is the point where I turn it up and sprint to the finish, and even though my poor feet were screaming in protest, this race would be no different. I passed the older gentleman about 30 feet before the finish line for a time of 1:24:47.

I then made a beeline for the first patch of grass because I felt like I was gonna hurl! Turned out to be a false alarm, so I walked over to the transition and picked up my bike. After loading it onto my rack and changing out of my running shoes and putting on a sweatshirt, I poured myself a HOT cup of coffee from the thermos I packed. As I was getting ready last night, I thought, "It's gonna be cold tomorrow, I better make some coffee for after the race." This turns out to be one of my brighter ideas of the day and I instantly feel warmer the moment the hot liquid passes my lips.

After getting the bike situated, I head over to the registration tent and help myself to some of the breakfast goodies the race has provided. Here, I meet up with Beth, a lady that works with the county that I ride with occasionally. She and her friend, Leslie, competed as a relay team. Then the director makes that announcement that the awards ceremony is about to start. Everyone gathers for the awards and after handing out the overall winners and the Masters winners they begin on the age groups. I registered for the Athena division which is for women who weigh over 150 pounds. They begin to announce the Athena winners and I hear the director say, "Third place goes to Kristina Patten!" Yay! I placed! I go up and get my medal. How exciting! Here is a picture of me with my awesome medal. :-)

They finish the Athena division and then announce the Clydesdales (men over 200 lbs), then they announce the relay winners. Beth and Leslie as team Du Tortugas (Du for duathlon and Tortugas for turtles) win 2nd place in the relay!

What a great race! It was worth braving the cold and having snot run down my face just to add another medal to my collection and prove to myself that I can compete.

My next race is the Women's Half Marathon in St. Pete in two weeks! I just hope the weather is a bit warmer for that one.