Just Du It

I raced another duathlon in August, and the heat was pretty brutal. After dealing with four flats in as many bike rides the week prior, I was just hoping I'd gotten all the tube-puncturing glass out of my rear tire and that the dollar bill I'd used to line the tire would bring me a little luck. My tires held up fine, but I regretted leaving my cycling gloves at home. The time I saved not having to take them on and off was not worth the difficulty I had shifting gears with sweaty hands. There were times when I stood up in the pedals to climb hills where it was all I could do to keep my hands on the handlebars. Lesson learned. I was glad I took a teammate's advice to check out the race course the weekend prior. It helped to know I had some monster hills to look forward to. The first 5K of the race was the toughest. My pace was good, but I'd tapered too much the week before and felt sluggish. For part of the run I questioned why I was even out there, which is highly unusual for me. Fortunately those thoughts vanished when I got on the bike, and I finished strong on the last 5K, adding less than 30 seconds per mile to my run pace. I was pleased to finish 6th in my age group, and that I found enough reserves to sprint to the finish. Back in July, I'd overtrained prior to the Couples Tri and flatly refused to race for the finish line when challenged, which was also highly unusual for me. My legs had nothing left because I'd spent my reserves on an 18 mile bike ride the day before.

Conclusion: If Transition is the "fourth sport" Tapering is the "fifth"