ITU Duathlon World Championships - Nancy, France Sept 23rd
A preface to my race report- I have been to Duathlon Worlds 4 times, and each time I am amazed at the athletes and so thrilled to be able to race with them.
Going into this year, I have been plagued with body issues/injury for weeks(maybe even months), so I was a little curious as to how exactly I was going to perform. I mean literally how was I going to run...And of course as most of you know, I crashed my bike so without Bikeway I would have been riding my broom for the race!!
Getting to an international race is always stressful. Getting the bike in the box and then to the actual destination is more than a chore. BUT luckily I have my wonderful fiancee/Sherpa/photographer/best friendmechanic, or whatever else I feel like calling him! This time travel wasn't so bad, just a little delay on the plane which makes a little late for the train (which we missed) but all worked out well and we arrived in Nancy on Wednesday afternoon. With the time change and travel we were super tired, but made it out for a short run just to get the legs moving. Thursday we ran the bike course which was 5 laps making up the 40k. Traffic was a little sketchy so I didn't want to venture out on the bike by myself, so we ran it instead. Very technical and lots of turns, two 180 degree turns as a matter of fact!
The next day I went out with a few friends and we rode the course, which didn't make it look any better. But come race day, it was super fun and different.
I met up with lots of old friends and made some new ones as well. And fellow Team Bikeway member Zuri Wilson was there to light up the young age group. So we all had a great time together. Food was fantastic and unlike the past, my stomach was not a issue. And my "systems" were working just fine.
Race morning was about 45 degrees, burrrr, I easily get cold so I went with the arm warmers which I knew I would need on the bike. My wave of about 92 women started at 8:40am, with just 2 waves before us. Zuri was in the wave after me, so I wasn't sure when I would see her. Starting out with the 10k run, I was feeling pretty good for the first 4 miles. But really my running has been suffering for the past couple months so I was laboring at a 6:45 pace which normally I would be comfortable at. So by mile 4 my foot was hurting and my pace has slowed drastically. I came into transition at about 43 minutes, which I was not overly thrilled about. But was super happy to get out on the bike. I jumped on the Cannondale that I really had only ridden 3 times, but felt very comfortable. 40k= 5 laps of lots of turning, slowing down and turning some more,,,very fun and I was pleased with my performance when I came into T2 at 1:09. As soon as I jumped off the bike and started running on the Belgium block (ugh) my body was screaming. My foot on the right and my SI joint/butt area on the left. Yuk, And I had to run a 5k... So I shuffled into transition and hoped it would get better. But really it didn't, so I did what I could and got over the finish line. That is always the best part! I ended up 12th in my age group of about 37 women from all over the world, so I guess its not half bad.
Just a great racing experience on a course that was very different than what I was used to. We got to enjoy some croissants, quiche Lorraine and of course wine! Oh and the macaroons.and chocolate!! SO thank you to BIKEWAY!!! and Jason and of course family and friends for all their support..
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