Apple Duathlon - High Caliber Competition

Saturday was the Apple Duathlon, which many say is one of the most competitive duathlon in America. I definintely think it was! The event was also a Worlds Qualifier, and the top three earn Team USA berths. I decided to go ahead and race elite just to see how I would do against the top.

It was a beautiful day and I felt good going into the race. The first 5K was brutal - I knew that the girls I was running with could run fast. There were 5 that did sub 6:00 miles. I would have liked to run a faster first 5K but I didn't know if I should conserve a little, but now I know what that feels like and to push harder. Coming into the first transition, my coach had told me that there was a hill at the beginning of the bike and I practiced getting into my shoes and felt comfortable with having them clipped into my bike, however, that didn't work out that well. I tried getting into my shoes too soon and I actually had to stop on the middle of the hill put my bike down, clip off my shoes, put my shoes on and then get back on my bike. I am thinking this cost me like a minute - AHHHHHH!



The picture above is me coming out of transition without my feet in the pedals. I was right there with a couple of girls and this mistake really cost me.

I made up a little time on the bike and passed three girls so I knew going into T2 that I most likely wasn't in contention to have a spot on the podium but still wanted to finish strong. The run was the same as the first 5k so I knew where I needed to push it into gear. I passed one girl on the run and just could see another runner in front of me but just didn't have enough at the end to catch her. I finished 7th overall so I am not overjoyous about that placing but know that I did well and should be proud. With being new to the sport I know I am going to make mistakes, I just need to learn from them and go on. Next race is Buffalo Triathlon and really looking forward to this race as I know the course pretty well.