Race Coverage
"...I Was Thrilled!"
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Friday, 22 May 2015 00:10
By Lisa Lendway
Gear West Du Race Report - Last year I did one duathlon – Esprit de She, the day after the Almanzo 100 gravel ride (see details about that ride here: http://www.almanzo100.bike/). That was a terrible idea and left a pretty bad taste in my mouth for duathlons. Who would ever think to replace a swim with a run? Agh! But, I’m stubborn and was determined not to let duathlons defeat me. Add to that what appears to be an insatiable appetite for competition (I think Dan Hedgecock referred to this as being “en fuego” in an old blog post but I couldn’t find it so sorry if I’ve misinterpreted the meaning, Dan) and my new found enjoyment of running, and boom, two duathlons on the calendar - Cinco Du Mayo sprint and Gear West....
The morning of GW was soggy and humid with a threat of rain. It rained hard for maybe 5-10 minutes that morning, which happened to be when I took my bike out for a warm-up ride. I guess I was prepared for the worst. I did a short run warm-up, checking out the “cross-country” course, and shortly after that, the race started. The women and relays left three minutes after the men. There was some good competition there – Suzie Fox, Elaine Nelson, Claire 
Bootsma, and Jasmine Carleson. And, those were just the ladies I knew!
The start of dus are still very odd to me because you can see who’s next to you and in front of you. And you can even talk to people! Elaine was chatting away with us as we started, which was wonderful because it took my mind off myself. But, she quickly pulled ahead of the rest of us. Suzie, Claire, and I stuck together for a while before Suzie pulled out in front. Claire and I stayed close most of the run, but I managed to sneak into T1 a bit before she did. I had a quick transition and was happy that I could see Suzie just a little ways ahead of me on the bike. I was determined to keep her in my sight as long as possible. I think I lost sight of her near mile 5 or 6. The bike course had some rolling hills and the wind was whipping me around pretty good. Around mile 8 or 9, I was surprised that I passed Elaine. That made me dig deeper. I knew I needed to have a good lead in order to stay ahead of her on the run.
After a terrible dismount (where I apparently lost a shoe which some nice guy picked up for me without me even knowing until the end of the race), I ran through transition as quickly as I could. As usual, my legs felt like jello. I always wonder if I even look like I’m running, but I must have been because I kept moving forward. The part I really like about this run course is there are multiple places you can see your competition. So, I saw Suzie maybe a half-mile in. She was about a minute ahead of me. She’d have to get stuck in the mud in order for me to catch her. I was more concerned about who was behind me. I saw Elaine about a minute later and estimated she was maybe 45-60 seconds behind me. I didn’t think that would be enough to maintain my lead. But, I just kept pushing. Near the end, there’s a short but awful uphill climb on grass. Matt Payne and Patrick Parrish were camped out on top, just watching us suffer. I yelled something at them, to which Patrick replied, “Shut up and run!” Hmmm, good idea. I gave them a nice grunt at the top of the hill. Right before the finish, you do a loop around the track. I was hurting pretty bad at this point and I saw Elaine on the track as I was getting off. I gave it all I had and somehow held on, only finishing 19 seconds before Elaine.
To say I was happy with that race would be an understatement. I was thrilled!
But … I would have been happy had I not finished second. Don’t get me wrong, I love competition. I enjoy winning. But, the group of women I competed against today is absolutely amazing! I can lose to any of them and still feel like I’ve accomplished a great feat. I don’t pay money to compete in these races only for the chance of winning. I do it to share in the positive atmosphere with some amazing people. Positivity is contagious, pass it on.
