Sneaky Race--Now with Picture

The dualthlon up the road was just too irresistible. Forget about operating on six hours sleep a night for the last two weeks. Don't worry about the total absence of mountain bike riding for the last ten months. Instead, just pack up some sports drink, a bike pump, six layers of warm clothes (none of which you'll need more than fifteen minutes after the starting gun) and race.

The event was well-planned and well-staffed. The course, a 3k run, 14k mountain bike, and 5k run was very nice and, with only one glaring exception (more on this later) well-marked. There were lots of good snacks, decent PA with good music and a good briefing fifteen minutes before the start. The crowd was varied. I saw some two or three thousand dollar bikes, but I also saw plenty of entry-level rigs as well. I wasn't the only person without those fancy triathlon shoelace gizmoes, which made me feel good, but there were examples of this strange multi-sport technology.

One of the best parts of the morning was overhearing a conversation about somebody's boyfriend whose job, "You know, racing" had gotten much better since Floyd has gone to Rock. Get that, not even a last name. I'm not saying that Landis deserves an over-abundance of respect, but how--in a monologue that mentions "Floyd" and Rock and Republic literally in the same breath--does one decide the proper direction in which to aim one's scorn?

Anyway we got going exactly at 9:00, and by 9:12, I (and twenty of my best friends) were heading back to look for the turn we had obviously missed. We found it and by 9:18, we were back on track. Best estimates suggest that this make our initial 3k into more like a 5k. After that, however, it was relatively smooth sailing. I'd been hoping for a 1:45 or better, but finished at 1:55:05. Considering the detour, however, I can live with it. The splits are:

Run 1-24:26 / T1-1:26 / Bike-1:00:05 T/ 2-1:27 /Run 2-27:43 / Total- 1:55:05
Obviously my transitions are slow, but I'm not too worried since I really only do the multi-sport thing for giggles. I'm relatively satisfied with the run times and, for a guy who hasn't been on a mountain bike for damn near a year, I can't complain about that leg either.

Tomorrow is the beginning of week six on the ten-week training plan for the half-marathon. I'm still hoping I can do 1:45 or better, but I'll have a better sense of what to expect at the end of next week.

Added: this must have been the most photographed race in which I've ever participated. Unfortunately, even with a photo count totaling well over two thousand, nearly every picture of me looks dumb. Go figure. Here's the one that doesn't out me for the prancing runner I must be.