Calaveras Duathlon

     Earlier this year when I was planning my race season I noticed there weren't a lot of triathlons planned during the winter. Even though winters are mild here in central Texas a lot of people just aren't keen on the idea of swimming in cold open water. So I started to explore other types of racing and I came upon a listing for a Duathlon. At first I thought that sounded kind of boring, only doing a bike and a run. But after reading the description of the race there was something that appealed to me. First off a Duathlon can be any kind of two activities done back to back but most involve some kind of running and biking.  There are winter Duathlons with cross country skiiing and running, XTerra Duathlons with running and mountain bikes, you get the point. Put two activities together and you got yourself a Duathlon.

     After some introspection I signed up for the race.  If nothing else it would give me motivation to continue training for Triathlons planned for later this year and a good idea of my fitness level this early in the year. The race was to be held 15 miles Southeast of downtown San Antonio at Calaveras Lake State Park.
     Since I already have an active training plan for an Olympic distance Triathlon scheduled for April I wouldn't need to do any other special training for the Duathlon. I'd use the race as a hard training day. The timing was perfect. The training planned for race day called for a 20 mile bike ride and a 6 mile run. The Duathlon course was a 5K run, followed by a 21 mile bike ride then finishing with another 5K run. The stars must have been aligned just right for this two event to over lap so precisely.  Some sort of cosmic coincidence.
     As race day approached I began to become a meteorologist almost to the point of obsession. Becoming obsessed is nothing new for me, anyone who knows me will tell you that. I did the normal pre travel stuff, I booked a hotel, packed my stuff, made a check list, unpacked my stuff, made another check list, repacked my stuff, I did this routine for days leading up to the race.
     The plan was to leave Friday afternoon after the kids were out of school and head to San Antonio to pick up my race packet, check into the hotel and scout out the location for the race.  I'm a pretty nervous traveler and I don't like to leave any thing left to chance.  After successfully doing those things I relaxed and focused on getting the kids dinner, pizza, my choice as it is now my pre race ritual and then head back to the hotel to watch Flying Wild Alaska and Gold Rush. I'm obsessed with those shows. At the hotel I unpacked, repacked and unpacked my stuff again another pre race routine.  The kids were asleep in bed, I set three alarm clocks and went to sleep. At 4AM I felt wet, no I didn't pee the bed but Lilly did. Why was Lilly in my bed to begin with? I jumped out of bed, turned on all the lights, stripped Lilly down and ripped all the sheets off the bed. Carrie dressed Lilly and now Reid, Lilly and Carrie are in one bed and I'm in the towel laden, pee smelling bed with only my thought of "I wonder why hotels don't have a water proof barrier on the beds", oh well not my problem back to sleep.
     5:30 AM, I'm up with a plain bagel and peanut butter. By 6 everyone is dressed, packed and ready to go. We load up the truck hit Starbucks and head to the race location. It's 60 degrees and raining slightly harder then a drizzle. At least it wasn't humid. I can deal with cool temps and rain. Humidity is a different story.

     At the race location I did all the prerequisites for racing. I checked in at the transition area, got my body markings which is a fancy way of saying some guy with a big sharpie gets to write my race number on both arms, the front of my legs and my age on one of my calves. I racked my bike in the transition area and laid out my gear for racing. I was a little self conscience with my one piece racing suit as I have never worn it before, but looking around I soon realized I fit right in with the other Lycra loving racers.  7:40 the race director held a pre race meeting giving instructions about dos and don'ts, giving course descriptions and telling us how to avoid be disqualified. 7:59 we lined for the start.
     3, 2, 1, go...after about 100 feet I realized I'm running much faster then I can sustain and I'm still not keeping up with the front group, I let them go. The run course was a 1.5 mile loop, we had to run it twice. It was pretty flat and went out and back along the lake. On the first return trip near the start I could hear Carrie and kids yelling "go daddy, go daddy". I was feeling pretty good so I picked it up to show the kids how it's done :-).  On the second return trip I thought mostly about the upcoming transition and bike ride.  I ran into the transition area stopping my 5K run at 24:11. I was pretty happy with that time it was my fastest ever. I fiddled around with my running shoes put on my helmet, grabbed my bike and ran to the mounting line.  On the road course I started passing people immediately. I was yelling "on your left". The course was a 10.5 mile loop we had to ride it twice. After the first loop I passed about 15 people, I was feeling strong. As we approached the turn off for the people who were doing the short course a lot of people were peeling off and heading back in.  I started out for another loop. I started passing more people at about mile 15 one guy passed me. He was the only person who passed me in 21 miles.  As I started towards the transition area I looked at my watch 1:04 for 21 miles 19.4 mph. I racked my bike, struggled to tie my running shoes and took in a Powerbar Gel.  I started out for my last 5K. Carrie and the kids were stilling yelling "go daddy, go daddy". The was a real spirit booster. I started running with intent of running as hard as I could. On my first loop back Reid ran next to me for about 100 yards before I started back out for the 2nd loop. What a rush! I felt great, I knew I was having a good race and I was feeling pretty good.  As I was nearing the end, I looked at my watch, I knew I was going to beat my 2 hour goal but it was going to be close. At the finish the announcer said "racer 152 Brad Askins will finish at 1:58:53".  At the end I got a hug from Carrie, Reid and Lilly we shared that great family moment as I tried to regain my breathe.  We milled around the finish area for awhile, I chatted with other racers about course and drank sport drinks and ate bananas.  Then we packed up the truck, headed to the hotel, showered and hit the road back home.
     What a great day and a great race. I'm so glad my family got to share in a race with me. I must have inspired Reid and Carrie, when we got home they signed up for a 5K. My next race will be with my family!