Final India Thoughts, First Career Win @ Cardinal Man Duathlon

Well, I've been home for a few weeks now and have had time to adjust back to normal US life.  It's been an interesting adjustment for sure and I've probably learned just as much after coming home as I did when I was over there.  A few final, concluding thoughts/experiences....

- I was able to come home on time Thursday, June 23.  My colleague was asked to stay an extra couple of days.  I surprised myself on how anxious I was to wrap things up and get back.  When considering the fact that he was staying extra time, it made me glad I wasn't also staying.  Odd.

- My flight home was pretty uneventful.  I ended up at the Hyderabad airport way too early.  Other than that, everything went about as flawlessly as it could.  I arrived in Chicago early and made it to my gate 20 minutes before departure.  Back in Rochester!  My only issue was at RST - no baggage and a dead truck battery.  Just the fact that I was home made them both seem pretty easy to manage.

- It was interesting how long it took my stomach to re-adjust back to US food.  If anything, I figured I'd not feel well when over in India, not upon returning home.  Quite the opposite occurred.  Enough details on that!

- There are so many little things that one takes for granted and you forget about until you're gone for awhile.  The biggest thing I probably missed was driving myself around and not seeing so much traffic.  It seems  minor, but the traffic situation both in the US as well as in this part of the Midwest is nothing by comparison. 

- It's been great being in my home, eating what I want (including fruits and vegetables - two things I didn't expect to miss), riding my bike, and being in somewhat of a moderate temperature (well, not this week, but most). 

Overall, I'm not sure I'd go back to India purely for pleasure.  While I respect the culture, history and everything India offers, I've perhaps spoiled myself with Western culture and nicities.  Perhaps I'm a pompeous American.  I guess I'll be okay with that.  This is the only time in my life where I've been really ready to go home.  I don't get homesick.  I don't miss my dog.  This time, I really did.


And now back to the American life...and racing.  Yesterday, I participated in the Cardinal Man Duathlon in LeRoy, MN.  I knew going in this would be a small, local and likely not the most competitive race, given it was only the second year for the tri and first year for the duathlon.  Plus, there were many competing races in the area.  Either way, I figured it was a nice tune up mid-year race and there weren't any other duathlons I'd found.  So...off to LeRoy we went!

Rain threatened the beginning of the race.  In fact, I was up at 4 AM (asleep about 6 PM the night before) and looked at the radar.  Uh oh.  The night before had seen heavy rain and thunderstorms.  I wondered what the running route might look like!  On the flip side, every race I'd done this year had been threatened by rain - what was one more?

We got to the race course around 6:30 after a short drive.  We decided to quick drive the run route so I didn't venture off course again.  I read through the race information and knew the bike route was a bike trail, so no driving that!  The run course was pretty easy and not many turns, though it was a half mile or so of gravel.  When we got to the transition area, it was pratically empty.  Hmmm....

I picked up my race information and looked around.  Very small transition.  Only a handful of people there....and not a lot of impressive looking bikes.  Okay....that's cool.

I went through my normal race routine, getting ready.  I had my pick of the spots to rack my bike and chose the area closest to the bike out route.  I figured I should run out on the bike route to see where I was going.

Oh man - gravel?!  I hit about 100 yards of pure gravel - no way to avoid it.  I hated to even ride over it as a warm up.  I got past it and hit the next obstacle - a fallen tree right in the middle of the path!!  All right - time to head back and let someone know....

They had no idea the tree was down and wouldn't have discovered it pre-race.  I perform my good semaratan act #1 and took off to warm up on the run.  I got back just as they were announcing the pre-race items.

We started walking to the start line and I took a chance to look over all the bikes.  Only 1 or 2 other tri bikes there, mostly road bikes but even some mountain bikes.  I looked over the field - hmmm.  Only a couple guys I recognized and relatively few doing the duathlon (indicated by a bracelet). 

Starting gun!  I decided I was going to play this race conservatively and slow to begin.  Even with that in mind, I was immediately in the lead.  I've never been in the lead before - it was odd.  I wasn't sure how to pace when I was in front!  I could hear footsteps but decided to just run my pace and see what happened.  As we started up a hill, I could only hear one set of footsteps anywhere near me.  I turned right onto a gravel road and a young kid went right by.  He looked like he was barely trying.  I glanced quick at his wrist - no bracelet.  All right.

The youngster took off past me and locked in about 30 yards ahead.  He kept looking back but never broke any faster.  As we turned right off the gravel road, I shot a look back over my shoulder.  The third place guy was pretty far back.  The youngster and I coasted into T1 about the same distance apart that he'd put between us on the gravel, at about a 6:30 pace for me (6:10 first mile, 6:40 second).  I felt pretty good I could catch him, even though I thought he was doing the tri.  I just wasn't sure enough to let him go.

I got into T1 and quickly transitioned out.  I had a horrible time getting clipped in but got there.  By just shy of mile 1, I could already see the kid on the bike.  I thought to myself, "All right, let's go get him."  The trail we were on was pretty high risk.  It was still wet from the night before, had some muddy patches, was winding, pretty narrow and full of sticks.  I just wasn't comfortable enough to sit in aero too long, especially on corners.  There were a few straight aways where I really cooked it.

I kept sneaking up on the lead kid when he blundered.  As we hit the short gravel patch, he misread the sign and kept following it around to the left instead of getting back on the path.  I couldn't let him go the wrong way and started yelling.  I got onto the path but he didn't hear me.  I kept shouting.  I yelled out one last time before I rounded a corner to the right and he heard me, turning around.  I yelled that he needed to get back on the path.  He looked annoyed for missing his turn as I turned and kept going.  I was now in the lead!

I got out to the turnaround at mile 5 and seemed to surprise the guys standing there....they weren't ready.  I turned around and came back.  It was awhile before I passed anyone else - probably a good half mile or so.  It was a little tougher coming back because you had to watch for others coming back at you.  I yelled on every corner and got back into transition without blowing a tire.  Yes!

I couldn't be sure how far ahead I was but figured it was pretty significant.  I hustled to transition out and started the run.  The first quarter mile was rough - I was breathing funny and a little more winded than normal.  I finished the first mile in 6:40 but was working fairly hard and starting to really feel the humidity.  I kept looking back seeing no one around.  I got up to the turnaround at 1.25 and still no one.  I came back down the hill and finally saw a couple guys at the 1.75 mile mark (or a full mile ahead).  Okay, that's a good distance.

It was at this point where the humidity really kicked my tush.  I started to feel every step and get a tad light headed.  I realized that this was a really poor time to kick it in for a strong finish.  Given how far ahead I was, I figured I had two choices:  slow down, finish and win or keep the pace/go faster, pass out, and DNF.  Hmmm, tough decision.

I dropped into second gear and ran a 7:09 second mile.  A half mile and I was done.  At one point, I really felt faint.  I took about 20 seconds to walk it off, no longer concerned about my time.  I only had a half mile to go...let's get this done.  I finished the race at just over 1:05, about a 7:00 pace on the second run and over 10 and a half minutes ahead of the second place guy.  Overall, a descent effort.

It was a good first career victory.  I felt a little undermatched but that is going to happen occasionally I suppose.  Overall, it was a good day and fun time!