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Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Nancy. I decided to retire early and my last day at the Fire District was December 31, 2020. My dream to do this pigs 'n poultry thing full time started on January 1, 2021. So far so good...

Saturday, June 13, 2009

BLUE LAKE ROCKS!

Today was the big day! It was the most fun I have had in a long time. Nothing about the day worried me, because all I focused on was finishing each leg of the Du. Pretty smart on my part!

The purpose of this event for me was to challenge myself even more than I have in the past as a celebration of being 5 years past my brain cancer diagnosis. The Livestrong Challenge was not coming to Portland so I needed to find something to do that would give me a sense of accomplishment - I don't know how I stumbled on Blue Lake, but it just must have meant to be. I toyed with the idea of doing a Duathlon for a while, as a way to get in better shape, and this was just the perfect time to do it. During the time of year where the heat has cranked up yet, but just far enough into the year to do the training. Since this was our first Du I wasn't sure exactly what to do to prepare besides running and riding and the occasional strength training routine so I just went with my willy-nilly, kind of following a plan plan and did alright.

We did the first run at a nice easy pace so as not to overdo it before the ride. I'm not a great runner, so I was happy to be at the way back end of the group...back far enough to see the other runners, but not so much that we were last.

The Ride...well, I LOVE to ride so the ride was easy, and even more fun since this was a race. It was fun going FAST, and even more fun going fast AND passing other cyclists. There were a fair amount of people passing me too, a lot of people on tri-bikes with aero bars...SO COOL. I didn't mind being passed by those people...they were serious about their race. Made pretty good time with the ride and kept my average up above 16mph until we got back to Blue Lake and the average went down a little because of our having to get off the bike to go back to the transition area. The only thing I would change with the ride is not using my road pedals and shoes, definitely will change out the pedals to my mtn pedals for an easier run going thru the transition area.

Second run...I was not surprised at how slow I went...I can't even say it was a run or a jog...maybe a shuffle. All I thought about was that it was only 3 more miles and I already know what to expect so no surprises on the run. What I was happy about was that I kept running. My goal was to continue "running" no matter how slow and stopping briefly to take a drink at the water station (need to figure out how to run and drink at the same time). Oh and there was one spot on the route that was a short little downhill which had gravel and rocks...I walked that too. The second run definitely took longer, but the no stopping part was the best. I know that I can do it!

At the beginning of the second run Tom was hanging back a little as I was slow to start and at one point I just told him to just go and run his own pace. It was a liberating feeling having my own race to run as he ran his own - not relying on him for pacing and all that. While I was on my own I kept thinking about how much harder it was being a cancer patient and all the stuff I had to do...doing this event was easy by comparison. Not that it was, but mentally it seemed easier. Everything about going thru cancer is mostly about attitude...I had the I can do this attitude then and I still have that attitude now. It's magnified because of the cancer. That's pretty cool.

In the end it was a great experience, I wasn't sure just how much I would like multi-sport events. They are a blast! All sorts of people, fast, slow, in between, big, small, athletic, not so athletic. The whole race atmosphere is somewhat intoxicating...exciting!

The next Du will be at Blue Lake (again) on August 1 - the All Women Tri and Du. I'm planning to do that one and hopefully get a couple of my athletic friends out there with me....

I'M PSYCHED!

****UPDATE****

Results were posted... 2:11:13 overall time

Run #1 - 36:28
Tran #1 - 4:22
Bike - 44:05
Tran #2 - 4:02
Run #2 - 42:16

Not too shabby for my first Duathlon!

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