It's That Time Again

Race season is here!  My first race of the triathlon season is Sunday - the PT Solutions Cartersville Duathlon.  It's a 3.1 mile run / 17 mile bike / 3.1 mile run.  This race first popped up on my radar given it's proximity to home.  Triathlons are growing by leaps and bounds, yet the lack of lakes in the Atlanta area make it difficult to host many races close to home.  Duathlons, on the other hand, require none of the wet stuff.  I've never raced a duathlon before, but it seemed pretty straight-forward when I submitted my registration fee.  The idea that I wouldn't have to swim - the leg where I lose the greatest amount of time to the wicked fast swimmers - sounded like a dream come true.  However, I've since learned that duathlons are hard, and according to my coach, downright painful.  Short course = high speed + high heart rates = wicked tough!  Over the past few weeks she's made that very clear with the run/bike/run workouts I've dragged myself through.  I don't necessarily have any specific goals for Sunday since this is a new event for me, but my hope is to race as hard as possible and cross the line without a drop left in the tank.  We'll see how it goes. 

In the meantime, I've got the typical pre-race taper jitters.  I'm never really get nervous about racing itself, I just don't do the inactivity well.  Some people really enjoy the taper, while others don't.  There just simply isn't an in-between.  I like the idea in theory, but my type A/high-intensity personality isn't such a fan of the laziness of taper week.  To add to that, I seem to have developed a pesky knee pain that's cramping my style.  Can someone explain how I can go the entire base season without the slightest nagging pain, yet just as the race season is starting things start to break down?!  Dear knee, we have a race on Sunday.  I've babied you, iced you down, and filled you with Advil, now it is time to behave!

I'll leave you tonight with a picture of one of my most prized possessions.  Aside from my car, she is most definitely the most expensive thing I own (although that doesn't really say much).  This week I treated her to a couple days at the spa.  Big thanks to Curtis at Cannon Cyclery and The Sport Factory for pimping my ride and giving her some TLC before the big day.  See you at the races!