The trip had been made from Kansas to Richmond, Virginia. As the evening rolled on, I had checked my bicycle in and headed to Panera for my pre-race ritual of eating a nice big soup in a bread bowl. I placed my order, only to have them tell me they were out of bread bowls... wouldn't say I am superstitious, but I really wanted a bread bowl. So I smiled and threw some charm at them, and they decided they could cut a hole in a loaf of sour dough bread, making me the largest bread bowl in the history of Panera. Success!
Beep... Beep... Beep... my alarm is going off, and I am out of bed ready to race. The race wasn't scheduled to take place until 9:30 a.m., so it wasn't an early morning. I double checked the bike and got everything set up and felt like today was my day.
The race is on, and I am off with the leaders. Knowing that my strength is my running, I wanted to get a little gap from the top cyclists. I came into the first transition at 16:34 feeling really relaxed in a pack of 8 guys. I hopped onto my bike and was rolling... BUMP!!! and my aero water bottle bracket cracked.... BUMP!!! lost my water bottle within the first mile. Hope I don't get thirsty. As the race went on, I was in my first lap still and hit the crease where the bridge comes together and got a squish flat on the front wheel. Hopped off the bike and got it changed in under five minutest and went from 4th place till nearly last. As the race went on, I saw more and more people walking with bikes who were getting flats. I was using so much energy trying to work my way back into the race slowly catching guys. POP! on the third lap, same bridge I got a SECOND flat tire on the front wheel. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!! Luckily I had two tubes and two CO2 canisters. Hopped off and began fixing the second flat knowing I was nearly done. I decided to keep the tube not that it would probably do any good, but who knows with my luck. I finished the bike with a time of 1:12, knowing the flats alone cost around 11 minutes, not counting the effort wasted trying to catch up and just mentally being Destroyed!
Finally, I was off the bike and running again. Running, not really catching anyone, made it very hard to stay competitive. I ran a 18:55 for the last 5k. All I could think about was finishing. As I came to the finish line still with my tube, I held it up praying that this was the last of my bad luck.
All in all, the race was a success. It was my first duathlon national championship. I also learned that without the 11 minutes spent changing tubes, that would have been the difference in qualifying for Worlds in Scotland. I came, I saw, I learned, I gave everything I had, but most importantly I finished! Thanks to Brooks for giving me shoes to rock my run, another special thanks to ONETRI.com for hooking me up with the coolest uniform and the most comfortable cycling shorts. One more thanks to everyone who cheered and prayed for me. Without the support of my friends and my brother being here today, I would have most likely walked off the course. Thanks!
