After a season full of injuries and a bike crash I have been fortunate enough to finish the season on a high. On Sunday September 26, 2009 I participated in my 5th World Duathlon Championships in Concord, North Carolina as a member of the Canadian Duathlon Team. It would be my 2nd race of the 2009 season, my first being Guelph Lake 1 only 3 weeks prior. My coach thought this may prove to be favorable as my legs would be rested while everyone else may be mentally and physically fatigued from a long season.
I arrived in North Carolina by airplane on the Tuesday prior to the race. I arrived at noon checked into the hotel, put my running gear on and went out for a run. This proved to be a bit more challenging than I thought as Concord is Nascar country and not pedestrian friendly at all. What that means is that there are no side walks and no bike lanes and lots of cars on the road who don't expect to see people crossing the road. I managed to get in a run by doing out and back loops on the side of the road being mindful of the traffic. Did I mention how hot it is hear this time of year. The days leading to the race the temperature was an average of 82 degrees and extremely humid. The hottest part of the day between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. Fortunate for me my race was scheduled to start at 3.40 p.m. - just kidding. For those of you who aren't aware the distance for Duathlon Worlds is 10km run/40km ride/ 5km run. I certainly wasn't looking forward to running the first 10km in the heat.
The days leading up to the race were filled with short workouts on the bike course getting familiar with the 29 turns on the 20km x 2 loop course and to keep the body from getting lazy. The race was set to start and finish in the Lowes Motor Speedway with several laps of the bike course actually on the Nascar race track. We were unable to get a good sense of the run course as it was not open to the athletes prior to race. Not a welcome surprise when we actually made our way through the run course on race day. The remainder of my time was filled with ensuring I stayed hydrated, focused on nutrition and staying relaxed and visualizing how the race would unfold.
On Thursday we celebrated the opening ceremonies down at the Lowes Motor Speedway. The town put on a parade for all the athletes with each team filing behind their nations flag and in their team uniform. It is our "mini" Olympics of sorts. Canada was represented with the second largest field at the start line on race day next to USA, with 90 athletes from across the country. The opening celebrations is usually where teams come together for the first time prior to the race and the excitement starts to heat up. It is when we share stories from the time we saw each other last, which was the World Championships in Rimini, Italy 2008. Unfortunately, the heat was also in the air. By the time the ceremonies wrapped up, we were all saturated in our own sweat as it was over 90 degrees with humidity and not a cloud in the sky. Great if you were at the beach and not trying to stay hydrated with two sleeps left prior to the race. We were all hoping for overcast and 60 degrees for race day.
Race morning was just what the weather man called for and we cried for - well almost; i.e. temperatures of 69-70 degrees, and winds of 10-20 mph and rain (we didn't ask for that). Race day leading up to the race start proved to be mentally challenging as I was not scheduled to start until 3.40 p.m. It was important to be mindful of rest, relaxation and fueling properly throughout the day which was challenging as most of us had never raced in the late afternoon. I also had to be prepared for a drop in temperature and rain showers. None the less I managed the day by preparing my race bag with all essentials i.e. sleeves, legging, sunglasses, and extra layers in the event I needed them. Once we arrived at the race site we realized that although the day was gloomy and rainy the temperature was warm and humid and no extra layers were needed. The remainder of the hour and 1/2 was filled with preparing my bike in transition and rehearsing in my mind the run in, bike out, bike in and run out. Then off to the bag check in to get rid of the remainder of my items with the exception of my pre-race drink.
With 20 minutes remaining, I headed off to warm up for my run. I was extremely nervous, however as ready as I was going to be. The final call came for all remaining women to line up at the start line, so I made my way over. My strategy was to place myself at the very back of the pack, pace myself as I had discussed with my coach i.e. 4.45 for the first 2km to gauge how I was feeling and then decide how to manage my pace for the remainder of the 10km. I had to be mindful that it was only my second race of the year and only had 5 weeks to prepare for the race. I have to admit although humbling to stand at the back of the pack at the gun it definitely felt better both mentally and physically to find my own pace and then pass those who went out to fast and struggled after a few kilometers. The first 1.4 km was in the race track with a slight decent into a flat and then an unexpected incline for 100m. The next km was a quick descent and then a turnaround back up the hill for about 1km and over an overpass. The next 500 m was a quick descent followed by flat and then a very steep, long climb up a hill and over an overpass. My legs felt great however my chest could not take the hard work and a fast pace. I ended up walking for about 10"s on both hill climbs. The remainder of the run back into the raceway to complete the run was a mix of flat and rolling all on paved drives or concrete sidewalks. It was great to return into the speedway and feel the energy of the onlookers and those calling out to me by name "go Lucy go" or "go Canada go". The rain went from light showers to pouring rain by the second lap. By the sixth km I was asking myself what I was doing here, however quickly snapped remembering I should be celebrating the fact that I got to the start line at all.
My shoes were soaked, and heavy by the time I finished the run into transition at 46.02' which I thought was respectable for me and I was pleased. In transition I quickly put on my helmet, dug my shoes out of the plastic bag I tucked them into prior to the race, and put on my glasses (which later proved to be a bad idea). The rain was coming down quickly and continued to fall throughout the majority of the bike. Caution on the ride was definitely key as there were many crashes in the a.m. in the elite races. It took me about 5km to get into a rhythm and to ensure I stayed focus on the task at hand as I saw an ambulance taking away an athlete on a stretcher who crashed coming down on a fast and sharp decent . There was lots of pooling on the road and lots of painted lines within the perimeter of the raceway and the dragway which are extremely slippery. The multiple turns together with the rain and puddles slowed the bike down as I was more tentative on the bike than usual. The second lap was significantly faster as I knew when to "go" and went to "slow" and how the turns and climbs fared in the rain. I finished strong on the bike, although my time was slower than I had wished.
I tried to quickly transition to the run however it proved to be a bit of a challenge as my calf was starting to cramp when I was putting on my flats. I had to focus and make sure I didn't flex my feet which was causing the cramping. My legs felt great out of transition and onto the first few km of the run. I was able to manage the run up to the last long climb, my legs felt awesome, however my chest was not so. I walked for about 20" to get my breath back and then ran the remainder of the way to the finish. I finished with grace a smile and a curtsy at the end holding the Canadian flag proudly in my hand feeling very proud of my accomplishment. I know that I could have done this race with better results with an injury free year!
I finished with a 2.24 time, 46.02, 1.11.58 on the bike and 24.15 for (5km). That placed me 17th /27 for my age group. I'm good! My body felt good the morning after the race despite the fact I didn't sleep much from the after race celebration. As my coach kindly said in an email to me after the race "The effort is more important than the results and I'm not sure anyone at the race can say they put in more effort into GETTING to the start line. I'm proud of you!". On August 5th we were ready to pack up the season, however I had to give it one more try. See you in Edinborough Scotland in 2010.
Happy Healthy Training
Lucy
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment