Du Draper Twice Duathlons

I had a pretty busy weekend.

Saturday I did the Draper Lake Off Road Duathlon. This was a completely off road race with a 5k trail run, ~12 mile mountain bike ride and another 5k trail run. There were about 40 of us that started the race. I have never done a trail run race so it was a bit different to run in the woods with a bunch of people. It makes it a lot harder to pass and you have to go quite a bit slower since you are always looking at your footing. After the first rush of people jockeying for spots, we really started to space out. I was running toward the front of the middle group of runners and I was not hurting too bad. The weather in the trees was warm, but not hot and just a touch of humidity. Nothing real eventful in here, and I finished in 28:11.

I hopped onto the bike (with a new fork) and I was off into lap one of three. I used to ride mountain bikes all the time but I have not been on much lately. When I have been on, I tend to fall. I made it through lap one upright but I was working hard and still getting passed. Frustrating. The second lap I heard a guy coming up so I pulled off the side and was trying to stay clipped in. I thought I would have enough space to keep moving while he passed. Well I was able to stay clipped in, but not keep my balance so down I went. It was really just more embarrassing than anything. Later on in the lap I got caught in some loose sand and went right at a tree. Luckily I hit it straight on with my front wheel and didn't fall. On to lap three. I was really working hard (mountain biking is A LOT harder than I remember) and I am getting tired. I passed a couple people, and wrecked a couple more times. Once I just hugged a tree and got a nice scrape on my arm and another time I got a nice scrape on my knee. Nothing major though. As I was coming up the last road part I passed a guy who ran the 3rd lap with his bike. I finished the bike in 1 hour 28 minutes.

The third run started and I was beat. It was starting to get really hot out and my legs were toast. I had to walk quite a bit but so did a couple guys in my age group that I passed. I got to the 1.5 mile and there was a water stop. Was that great to see. I took two cups of water and I was walking away one of the people threw a cup on my back. Quite a surprise but man it felt good. I drank one and a half and poured the other over my head. After this I was able to finish out running, passing a couple more people. I finished the second run in about 32 minutes. Total time was 2:27:56. It was good for 3rd in my age group and 14th over all.

All in all it was a great time and good experience. I will be back next year with some more mountain biking under my belt.

On road duathlon report to come later.