Two Wheel Blogs

5-mile run: 38.20
Tranisition: 3:10
15-mile ride: 47:00
Total: 1.:29.30

All things considered, today went about as well as could be expected. Here's a recap of the timeline.

4:30 a.m. I woke up, but not by design. (My alarm was set for 6:15 a.m.) I staggered to the kitchen and ate a bowl of cereal and a banana, then went back to bed.

6:15 a.m. My alarm went off, and I woke up abruptly. I racked my bike, gathered up the last of my gear that wasn't already in the car, and took off for Highland.

6:55 a.m. I stopped at McDonald's for a cup of coffee and ... how to put this? ... to take advantages of facilities that, while portable versions would be available at the race site, are more comfortable and better maintained when part of a permanent structure, such as a McDonald's.

7:15 a.m. I put my bike and gear in the transition area, then pick up my bib number: #468. I spend the rest of the time drinking water and stretching.

8:00 a.m. The air horn sounds, and we take off. I try to fight the temptation to go out too fast, and I coach myself, "Easy does it. Slow down." But the rush of finally being underway after so many months of training is too strong, and despite my best efforts, I let the pack carry me along faster than I intended.

8:07 a.m. I go through Mile 1 at 7:17. My split time serves as a wake-up, confirming "Yes, you're running faster than you should, and if you don't back off to a sustainable pace, you will die before the finish." I back off the pace.

8:15 a.m. I go through Mile 2 at 15:08, running a 7:50 pace for second mile. "That's more like it," I tell myself. We are running on country roads outside of Highland, so we are totally exposed. Not only is there no shade, but there's no breeze to speak of. The heat is oppressive.

8:23 a.m. I go through Mile 3 at 23:04, for a 7:55 pace for the third mile. Until now, the course had been mostly flat, but this mile had a long climb in the middle of it. The hill wasn't that steep, but it was long -- it's length compounded by the heat.

8:30 a.m. I go through Mile 4 at 30:44, a 7:40 mile. I benefited from the downhill on the other side of the climb, and my spirits were buoyed by the knowledge that, after I passed the Mile 4 mark, I was only eight minutes from the finish, where I could stop running and get on the bike.

8:38 a.m. Throughout the race, I would pick people to pace myself off of. I would try to run with them for as long as I could. When I had to let them go on, I would look for another pacer. During the last mile, I found myself running with Crystal, a member of Team Godzilla who I've seen on the Tuesday night rides at Whitesides. Trying to keep up with her kept me running through the Finish. I crossed in 38:20.

8:41 a.m. I know: every second is precious. To protect your time and position, you're supposed to run through the Finish the transition area, change as quickly as possible, and get out on the bike. I knew that. I just didn't care. I was weak, hot, tired. I slowed to a jog, then to a walk. Once at my bike, I immmediately poured a bottle of water over my head. Staging that bottle there was my best decision of the day. I then changed as fast as I was able, which was not particularly fast, but as I said, I didn't care. I rolled out of Transition after 3:10, an eternity in biathalon terms, but I needed every second.

The Ride After that, the rest of the race is mostly a blur.

• It was good to be on the bike, even though my legs felt like lead.
• The first five miles, I was trying to recover from the run. I drained my Gatorade bottle and ate a Hammerhead gel pack. I spent the next five pushing myself to maintain a consistent pace. For the last five, I tried to race. I set my sights on whoever was in front of me and tried to summon everything I had left to catch them.
• My chain came off twice: once while trying to shift to the big chain ring on a downhill; the other time, while trying to shift to the small ring on a climb. While both were frustrating and affected my finish time, I don't think they changed my position in my age group.
• Overall, more people passed me on the ride than I passed. But that's okay. Anyone getting up on Memorial Day morning to do a biathalon is probably in pretty good shape. A lot of runners and riders are faster than me. I shouldn't be surprised to find myself racing against them, and that means being passed by them.
• I was thrilled when the bike route rejoined the run route. I now knew exactly how far I had to go to the Finish line -- and, it meant a return to the shade of tree-lined streets.

9:29 a.m. I cross the Finish line in 1:29.30. I am, of course, exhausted, but it's a good exhaustion. I hung around to check the results. Unfortunately, they had posted only one page for the biathalon, and that list ended with those who finished in 1:27. I would be listed on the next page, once they posted it. I checked the 50-54 age group, and I figured I probably finish 8th. But that didn't matter.

12:00 noon I drove home, arriving there just in time to unpack my car before it started to rain. After it stopped, I fired up the grill and got everyhing ready for a family cookout -- including opening a bottle of Bouleard Single-Wide I.P.A. In the language of suds, "I.P.A." means "India Pale Ale." But today, since this bottle was my reward for my first road biathalon, "I.P.A." stood for "Individual Personal Achievement." Or at least, that's what I told myself.

Five years ago, before my knee injury, I ran the 5-mile race in 34:55. My goal that day was to go under the 35-minute mark, and I met it. But that was five years, one major knee surgery, and a lot of rehab ago. Today, my goals for the race were more modest:

• My "satisfied" goal for the run to do finish in under forty minutes. My "delighted" was goal a time of 37:30. So I was more than satisfied with my time of 38:20.
• My goal for the ride was just to do it and see what happens. I really didn't have an expectation. I figured a 45-minute ride would be great and a 50-minute ride would be all right. So again, I was more than satisfied with my ride time.
• Overall, my goal was to complete the biathalon in under 90 minutes, and I did that -- with 29 seconds to spare.
  So that was it: my first road biathalon. It was fun and gruelling, very much like my first cyclocross race on an unusually hot September day last fall.

As I posted last night, I have no immediate plans to do another. I know there is one in Millstadt, Ill., in October, and that's not out of the question. But right now, I'm just looking forward to resting and getting back to riding for its own sake. (Okay, this fall's cyclocross season is at the back of my mind.) But in terms of racing, I am on hiatus until the Granite City Invitational on Saturday, September 4.