A dry Gear West Duathlon

What a day! Spring in MN and it's been dry for a number of days leading up to this trail run duathlon. Conditions were about perfect.... the wind got old out there on the bike. I think it shifted a couple times? Ever had that? You're going one direction and you swear it is a head wind and can't wait to turn and there it is....more wind! OMG!

Alarm goes off at 5 am and Payton thinks it's another day of going to work... unfortunately she sees us packing up other goods and gets a little excited/nervous. "Am I really missing another event?" She loves the socialization and is a true kid magnet. Even tho we weren't both racing, I was and Erik was taking picture for Yndecam, Payton could not go to this one. She whimpered as we left. Poor thing! I always feel so bad not taking her - especially tri's where she can be running in shallow water and fetching sticks.

Anyway.... get to race site and there is the buzz in the air. It was almost the who's who of MN at this event. This race is part of the Very popular Midwest Multisport race series; it brings out the local Pros to newbies all to in venue. Jan, Kevin, Trent and all of the GW stores staff have always done an awesome job with this race. I've never heard a story of anybody getting lost or off course. (Love the flowers guiding the running path - what personality). Thank you to all the volunteers for making it a safe event.

Toeing the line was wave 1 "competitive wave". Umm who's not competitive? I think half the participants went in this wave. Way too congested out there. (Hint: I hope next year they do a competitive men's wave and a competitive women's wave.) For a race that has 75% of the run on a narrow mowed trail, bottle necks are frequent and challenging. A solid group of us were running about 1.5 miles into it and fellow GW elite studette Becky Youngberg was about 4-5 people in front of me when her race belt came loose and fell off. She noticed the slip a few steps later and turned around. I approached, picked it up in stride, had a quick hand off and she was back off and running really strong. It's great to have Becky back racing after taking 2006 off for starting a family. It was very fun as we kept swiftly moving thru this course still somewhat jockeying for position.... she thanked me for picking up her belt and we exchanged some kind and motivating words. I didn't think twice about the gesture and would hope that most people would do the similar.

The bike was interesting as I experienced a mechanical then mental challenge, is my rear break rubbing? the first third of the bike is against the wind, so it's really hard to tell what the heck is going on ... is it the engine, wheels or just conditions. just a couple miles in and we have our first quick out of the saddle hill climb. I eagerly pop up only to hear the first of several significant RUB.... RUB... CRAP! for real? Adorable Erik is on this hill taking beautiful photos and cheering loud. I grunt out MECHANICAL and proceed to say that my brakes are rubbing. He encouraged me to hop off at the top and get it corrected. GREAT! so I figure this short stop could help big for the rest of the way to go. there was space btwn both brakes - What was going on? so I get back on and work to get back on track. I start to realize that I only hear it on the quick out of the saddle hill climbs.

2nd run - trails historically full of character by this point -were still in tact thanks to our dry May. I leave T2 flat footed, with Gumby legs and do my best to find my lower appendeges and get this baby over with. Soon enough the roughly 3 miles are done. I felt like a slug, but gave it my all. thought I finished 4th overall, but a gal from wave 2-3 squeaked in to edge out 4th and I bumped to 5th.

One thing that is important to me when I race is to keep a positive racing spirit. I'm a true believer that attitudes are contagious and positive attitudes create positive energy. I don't want to be a race day curmudgeon (and hope I never would be) or an excuse maker. We've all either witnessed it or have been there ourselves, recognized it and corrected it knowing that releasing it in public is not in our character. Besides attitude on race day, I always take time to reflect on the race... what went right and... what went not so ideal and what was done and what could be prevented. I stopped at Gear west on my way back home and had my bike checked for a couple areas of rubbing. TK was there with top notch service (Thank you!!). He promptly came up when called from the busy basement, took my bike out for a quick spin and diagnosed a couple things. My rear hub was loose causing the rubbing when the wheel would go from side to side going up the hill. And thought my bearing between the crankset was probably dirty and rubbing. he fixed the 808 and with discussion changed out to an FSA ceramic bearing. We'll test things out at Black Dog on Wed. Wahooo!

Later that day E and I enjoyed a the great sunny day at our favorite home depot.... picked up lots of flowers to line the deck, took Payton for a walk and enjoyed some nice social time with a small gathering at Paul Phillips house (photographer extraordinaire).

Congratulations to all racers for opening up a great start to the season.

Enjoy spring!

Julie