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Race Result

Racer: Jeff Wolfe
Race: Greeting of the Geese
Date: Sunday, October 24, 2004
Location: Upper Marlboro, MD
Race Type: Duathlon - Sprint
Age Group: Male 40 - 44
Time: 1:20:11
Overall Place: 61 / 185
Age Group Place: 7 / 19
Comment: Cold and Wet. Whose idea was this?



Race Report:



Pre-Race:
Woke up at 5:00 AM and it was pitch black. Looked outside and it was raining. Great! I don’t mind biking in cold weather or even in rainy weather but cold and rain together has to be the pits. Got my family up, ate some breakfast and headed out to the race. The temperature was 45 degrees and the rain didn’t seem to stop the whole way over there.

Got to the race site, picked up my number and t-shirt. Since it was the last race of the year, they were giving away other t-shirts so now I have t-shirts from 3 other races I didn’t do.

Set up my bike in the muddy transition area and tried to stay dry. Met my first RATS, Gwen and her fiancé Rob since I was wearing my RATS T-shirt.

1st Run:
I didn’t even realize the race was getting ready to start. I was still cold and it was drizzling so I left my tights and RATS t-shirt on. Run seemed easy at around 7 minute pace. I passed people most of the way. I passed the same people Amanda did since we apparently finished the first run 1 second apart. I guess we should have introduced ourselves.

T1:
The reason I like duathlons is that the transitions are usually easy. This time the ground was wet so it was a balancing act to take off the running shoes and strap on my biking shoes without getting my socks wet. My bike was on the far side of the transition area so I had to run it pretty far thru the mud.

Bike:
Although few people passed me, I am a wimp when it comes to biking in the rain. I ended up biking almost the entire way with a guy and a girl. Each downhill they would pass me and I would pass them both right back on each up hill. I hardly got in the aero position at all since I was on my brakes a lot due to the wet pavement. Coming in to the park was a real tough hill but overall I was pleased with the bike. The bike computer said I averaged over 19 MPH.

T2:
I turned into the transition area, dismounted my bike, racked my bike, looked down for my running shoes and they were not there. UGH!! I racked my bike on the wrong rack and I had to go find my running shoes. Now my socks were soaked.

2nd Run:
Still felt good. I don’t seem to have a problem getting off the bike in duathlons and running. My first mile was under 7 minutes. I caught the people I had been biking with who were ahead of me due to my long transition and I finished strong. Top third overall and top half of the age group. That was cool.

Post Race:
The best part of the day was still to come, the kid’s duathlon. I had to go get my 11-year old daughter’s bike from the car and get her set up. Both my wife and I coach the Reston Runner’s Youth-in-Motion program. You want your kids to enjoy the same sports you do. As a kid, I did no organized athletics. My wife was a competitive runner all through high-school and college and even now. We each compete for different reasons. My kids do ice skating, gymnastics, ballet and soccer. It is interesting to watch how each of our two girls each take competition differently. My oldest, Rachel, takes more after me. She enjoys the sport but she does not really care about winning or even comparing herself to her peers. The younger one, Hannah, wants to do everything her big sister does but she does not want to wait to get older. This was Rachel’s race however since Hannah still has her training wheels on her bike.

I forgot to make sure Rachel had the right clothes. She ended up wearing my sweats over her tights to keep warm. The kids ran .5 mile, biked 3 miles and then ran another .5 mile. Most people in my office probably could not do that! There were over 50 kids in the race ranging in age from 6 to 13. What a blast. There was even a false start. Rachel did great on the first run but the bike was a little tough for her. I bought her a bike over the summer but she has not really gotten how the different gears work going up and down hills (just like her dad).

Each of the kids had to rack their bikes. One parent was allowed in transition to make sure they got their helmets on. I was sure there was going to be some crashes since the road was still wet but everything went great. The winning time was right under 26 minutes. The second run was a little harder for Rachel but she finished in a sprint with another girl. And all of the kids got finisher plaques!!

Now the little one, Hannah wants to race so we are off the to Goblin Gallop 5K at Fair Lakes this weekend. They have a 1K fun run.

I know there has been talk about having a kid’s race in Reston before. I would gladly help out. How do we get it started? Maybe a kids duathlon right after the Reston Tri while the awards are being worked on. The kids race took around 40 minutes and a duathlon is certainly easier than a triathlon.

My 2nd tri-season is now done but I hope to try and make a Saturday ride before the year is out since soccer season ends in 2 weeks.

Jeff