Hub City Duathlon

This a post I did last week for Wisconsin Outdoor Fun, one of the sites I blog for at work.  I realized I hadn't blogged in a bit and am slightly bogged down by other things, so I thought I would share.  Not quite a photo post, but I have been busy editing photos and not so much taking them lately :) My summer, or at least July consisted of running, biking, and photographing.


Last Saturday I participated in the Hub City Duathlon in Marshfield. This was the first time for the event, and it drew over 500 participants! It was also my first time participating in a bike race and multiple sport race.

I was a bit nervous before the race, as I am before all races. In high school I would cry before my races in track meets. My coach would always yell at me before the race, “Schmitt! Shut up and run!” Yeah…. it was a problem. It also didn’t help my time when I was sniffling and crying as I ran my 400. One time I was crying really hard (this is ridiculous, I know) that I fell tripped and fell off the edge of the track. Thankfully, I don’t cry before races anymore. Anyway, I was curious if my training had paid off, although I hadn’t biked for about a week. I obviously wasn’t that strict with training. It was about 80 degrees too, so I was concerned about the heat. I usually try to bike or run before 8 am and if it is too hot, I run inside otherwise I get pretty wiped-out of the rest of the day. I also had never worked on transitions from running to biking to running. I knew it would be painful, so I just avoided it, ha!

The race started at 10 a.m. and I took off for the first two miles. I tried to pace myself and tell myself that it wasn’t “just” two miles. I think the first two miles was a bit longer than the second two miles, since my split for the first two miles was slower than the second split. After the first two miles, I felt pretty good, so I was pumped to bike.

I’m not sure of my transition times, but I did pause to get some water while changing out of my running shoes into my bike shoes. I was considering the bike portion a bit of a rest time, since I had no idea how to race on a bike. The bike ride was pretty fun though and once you get going, biking doesn’t take that much energy. The few hills weren’t too bad. I also really like to climb hills… which is kind of weird. I love biking with my fiance and racing him up the hills. Which is a bit mean, but I like to go all out on the hills. So, that is what I practiced on my bike rides, which worked for me on this race. My odometer/speedometer is broken, so I would also  just try to catch the person a few bikes ahead of me. What can I say, I am a bit competitive!

After the 15-mile bike, which I finished smiling, was the final two mile run. I think this run was a bit shorter, because I was feeling really  s-l-o-w, but my split was a few minutes faster than my first split. This second run was painful for me. It was after 11 am, so totally hot, and not that shaded. The heat was just rising off the pavement. Ew. I took off from my bike, with my legs more than a bit wobbly. After the first few steps, I cramped a bit and then realized that I should have worked on transitions, whoops!  After about half a mile though, my side-ache dissipated and my legs were a bit more stable. The rest of the run went well, and I was able to finish with a strong stride.

All-in-all, the race went really well. I got second in my age division, and eighth overall for women, which was way better than I expected. My running splits were about where my normal race pace is. My bike portion was 51 minutes, which was about where I planned. I think I am going to do another duathlon! Any suggestions?

My transition area. I chose a spot that wasn't congested so that I could get in and out quickly. Well, as quickly as it takes to drink water change shoes and catch my breath.

 Start of the race.

 Taking off for the bike portion.

 End of the bike!

End of the race!

The photos were take by my lovely fiance, except for the third one, which was taken by my co-worker, the Stevens Point Journal photographer, Doug.