Dustbuster Du Race Report

Seven Spectators....that should tell you something about the Dustbuster Duathlon yesterday morning! And my poor husband was one of them! The entire time I was racing the thought, "this is so stupid" kept running through my mind.

Woke to a warm morning and heading over to the race the car temperature said it was 57...but all of that was soon to change because that arctic front that is all the talk of the nation this week was headed our way. It arrived with some really welcomed 18-20 mile an hour winds and rain just before the race was about to start. Nice.

Competitors ran for cover and the race crew scrambled as the finish line inflatables began to blow down. The temperature dropped 17 degrees. Hmmm... racing at 40 degrees with 20 mph winds and rain. Stupid!

I talked to my friend and fellow COSST coach Linda while setting up transition and she said that she didn't think she was going to race. She hadn't been on her bike in a year and a half and the roads were wet; she was worried about slipping. I said, "It's a really neat shirt". I got a look back that said, "??What are you talking about?" So I told her that she should at least do the first 1.5 mile run so she could wear the shirt. No race, no shirt.  Here we are lining up for the start! Yes, she raced and came in 2nd in her age group! I saw her at T2 and she said her fingers were so cold she couldn't get her helmet unbuckled.

Frozen toes. The first run wasn't bad at all, it rained on us a little. The trouble came when you had to get off the bike and get your socks soaked because of the puddles in the transition area. I had little "hot hands" under the toe covers on my cycling shoes but wet socks, even if they are Smartwool, combined with those temperatures means really, really cold feet.

Smiling at Bill!

The bike was a double out and back shaped like a "T". Of course it ran pretty much north and south...guess which way the wind was coming from? So a total of 8 miles, including the last leg, into the wind. I saw 14-15 mph on the headwind sections, tried to keep it over 15. I was almost blown off my bike by some side gusts, that was scary. But oh.. the downwind sections? 24-26 miles and hour!  Maxed at 28!

Frozen Feet!

I dawdled in the second transition. I didn't want to put my hat on the ground after the first run because it would have gotten soaked. (Should have worn a beanie). So I dropped it into my transition bag that was hanging from the bike rack. Normally I put my bag way off somewhere out of the transition area so it won't get in anyone's way, but a lot of people didn't show up for the race because of the weather so there was plenty of room.  So I first set my helmet on the ground... grabbed my hat, and then didn't like seeing my brand new helmet on the wet asphalt so I picked it up and put it in my transition bag. I know, I know.. but it was a low key race and I'm not in great shape so I wasn't that concerned about the extra time in transition. It was still only :45 seconds.

Still smiling "Hi Bill!"

Out onto the second run  .75 into the wind... my feet were like blocks of ice! Haven't felt that in a long time. Couldn't feel them at all, had no idea of what kind of pace I was running...felt like a turtle. At the turnaround I got some encouragement from another Sunrise Tri Club member, Eric, who said "ride the tailwind back in". What a difference! My feet finally loosened up and I finished strong - funny how a little encouragement at just the right time make such a difference!

Didn't hang around at all! I grabbed my stuff and Bill and I headed out immediately. Bill was frozen from standing around in the cold for 2.5 hours, what a trooper! He hung out in the freezing cold and took all the awesome photos!!! Thank you, Bill!

We headed to IHop for breakfast!! Yum! Multigrain pancakes!

Saw the results later in the day. Not great but all things considered an okay day!

My friend, Cheryl out there in the cold!
1st Place Age Group!

"What is the Dustbuster Du? This is your opportunity to see who is in the worst shape possible. Why else would anyone race in the midst of recovering from the holidays!! Oh yeah, it is a run, bike, run format event sanctioned by USAT!! So nobody cheats, Dustbuster will be Chip timed."