Gar Williams Half Marathon

Well I am not sure what I was thinking but I decided to take part in the Gar Williams Half Marathon.
It is put on by the DC Road Runners.
This was an out and back course on the C&O Tow path trail.
There was not much support on the course. They had 2 water stops.
There were no spectators but then again it would not be very easy for them to line the course. It was bad enough that it was very congested with the runners we also had to watch out for other people that were just using the path.
All in all is was a very good day to run. the event was put on very well. I did not get the time that I wanted but I was using it more as a training run and not a race run, if that makes sence.

Annapolis Half Marathon - race report

Well here we go.

This was my first race as a Half Fanatic (number 1509). I was really looking forward to it. This was the inaugural running of this event. So with that in mind I knew there would be some, shall we say, hick ups. And there were.

First, was the traffic and parking. We could not believe that there was so much issues with getting cars into the Navy Academy parking lot and parked. Well it was a good thing that we left with plenty of time to allow us to get prepared and into the corrals.

Speaking of corrals, there were none. Thought that there was going to be some there but none of us saw any. Well we took our position toward the back of the pack. No big deal really. this was not that big of an event. there was maybe around 2500 runners.

They started the race just a little bit behind schedule, but then again it was no big surprise. We get to running. The temperature was in the mid to upper 40s with a cool breeze every now and then. So with that I went with a long compression tech shirt with my Half Fanatic tee over that. Cotton gloves with tights. I was debating on going with shorts and a compression Tee with arm warmers. I am glad that I did not. There were times when it was down right cold, especially when we crossed the bridge.

So we start running around the stadium and into some of the back residential streets. These were very crowded. It might have been a little easier if we did not have to dodge parked cars. Maybe they can fix that for next year.

So as we are going along, we noticed that there were no mile markers. was not too sure what to make out about it. I actually missed the first water stop as they were really short of help and there was no water available and I did not want to wait for a cup so I continued on.

We later found out that the person that was in charge of setting up the mile markers broke his foot that morning.

Well at any rate, it was actually kind of nice not having the mile markers to distract me. I could actually focus on my running.

Another issue that came up on the course was a small out and back section on the Baltimore and Annapolis trail. It was very narrow and to have two lanes of traffic was difficult enough we had some people that were running two even three a breast when they really should not have. I was waiting for someone to run into someone else. Not sure if it ever happened or not, but that part of the course really needs to be addressed.

I will say that spectator support was very good.

Coming up to the end I was feeling very good. Coming in strong. I looked at the clock and it read 2:02 and change. I then looked at my Garmin, which I was trying not to look at the whole time, and it read 1:57 and change. I was really stoked! I did it. I was able to run 13.1 miles in under 2 hours, or did I? Upon closer look, my mileage read 12.7. As did other peoples watches. What happened?!?!

Well, the course was short. it might have been the fact that the mile markers were not out there but we missed a turn thus making the course short by .35 miles.

I did do some math and calculated my pace for the last mile and it did give me the time of under 2 hours.

However, I was having issues with the time and my wife finally told me to just get over it. Well I am, because when I look back at the goals that I set for myself I realize that it won't be long before I am able to get to a 1:55 or below time in the half marathon. Then it might just be time to start looking at tackling the full marathon beast again.

Only time will tell.

Hershey Half Marathon - Mission Accomplished

Well the title says it all.

I had two goals that I wanted to accomplish with this race.

First I wanted to finish as it was my last race that I was using to qualify for the Half Fanatics.

Two, I wanted to get a new personal record out of it.

Well, not only did I finish and get a new PR, I crushed my old PR. I will get to that in a minute. Let me break it down for you as to how things went.

So we leave Friday late afternoon on our way up to Hershey. Instead of staying at a hotel we stayed at the Hershey Campground. We love to camp, so tying in a camping weekend around a race was just too good not to pass up.

We check in at the campground and found out that they were still rebuilding after the storm that came through in September. They were really flooded out. The bathrooms were still not operational. They had to bring in bathrooms on trailers. These were not portapotties but very clean executive type bathrooms. They also had another trailer that had showers. They were very nice.

Anyway, we get our trailer all set up and call it a night. We get up Saturday morning and take our time getting breakfast as packet pickup is not until 10 am.

We finally start to head over to Hershey stadium on a clear, cool and windy morning. This was the second year for Hershey to be doing this event and the first year they had an expo with vender's. With that in mind I did not think that it was going to be anything to write home about, and it wasn't but it was good to see some vender's out there.

So we go to the main tent and pickup my packet. Part of the package was that we were given two tickets to Hershey after dark plus we were able to get up to 4 more at a reduced rate. This was a good deal as we had our kids with us as well. As it turned out the person that was suppose to be selling the extra tickets weren't there yet. Being that the park did not open until 2 this was not that big of an issue. So I looked into my packet, so that my bib was in there, verified that I had 2 tickets to Hershey after dark and I saw a safety pin so I thought all was good. More on that later.

So we had some time to kill. What better way to spend it that take a stroll down memory lane and visit the place were my wife and I met. So we did. We drove down the road a piece to visit Lebanon Valley College. We went to the College center and to the bookstore. A lot has changed but a lot also stayed the same. We talked to our kids about the kinds of things that we did, where we hung out and just how things were. The campus was a buzz as it was homecoming. The Marching band was warming up in different areas of the campus and then they came together and marched around before going over to the football stadium. It was a good time. We think the kids got a kick out of it as well. Anyway, we got some lunch at a known college hangout, which brought back more memories and then it was time to go pick up our extra tickets for Hershey after dark.

We head back to the expo and actually pick up coupons for $7.99 off regular admission for up to 4 tickets. So instead of buying the tickets at the expo, we use the coupon and buy the tickets at the door. Ok. That works too. So anyway, while there at the expo I decide to visit a vendor and get some knit gloves and arm warmers. I did not look closely at the weather report. Am I glad I picked up those items.

So we had a good time at Hershey after dark, rode some rides and played some games. Then we went back to the campground to have some dinner and sit around the campfire. While dinner was cooking, I decided to get my gear ready for tomorrow. I pulled my bib number out of my packet and realized that there was only one safety pin in the packet. I started to panic but kept it together. I found two more in the trailer and figured I would be able to get one tomorrow before the start of the race. So after dinner I was surprised that no one was interested in going back into the park, which was fine by me. I already told my wife that I was not going to. So we let the fire die down and we all went to bed.

I had set my alarm for 6 am, it went off and I hit snooze (I thought) and closed my eyes. I woke up a half hour later and realized what happened. I almost went into a panic but then realized that all was ok for now. It was a chilly morning. I got the hot water going for my oatmeal and coffee. While the water was heating up I went to the rest rooms. When I came back the water was not quite ready yet so I got dressed. I ate breakfast and had a couple sips of coffee and then got my wife up so that she could drive me over to the start. I will say that I was very glad that I bought the arm warmers and gloves. They came in real handy as the temps were in the high 40s low 50s. It was a bit breezy but not like it was the day before.

So my wife drops me off and I walk over to the packet pickup tent. I was able to get a forth safety pin so that my bib would lay correctly on my shirt. So I go through my warm up routine, jog a bit, visit the portapotties, jog some more and do some stretching. I was feeling a bit nervous. This was my A race. I wanted to do well. Going into this race my ultimate goal is to get to a 2 hour time, but for this race I wanted to get 2:10 or under. Being that I got a 2:13 at a very hilly Freedoms Run a couple of weeks before I figured this should not be a problem.

So the runners are getting in the corals. An announcers voice comes over the air and makes some comments about the course and general information. I am listening to him but honestly not really paying attention. I am listening just closely enough to hear if there are any course changes or any other important things to keep in mind. Nothing. Time to really focus and concentrate and a last review of my game plan. That game plan was to run as comfortably as I could while keeping it under a 10 min mile pace. I figured that if I did that I would be under a 2:10 finishing time.

So as race reports go this is going to be real short as there is not much to say about the course itself. That is from what I can remember. I spent 4 years of my college life around Hershey that I knew what it looked like so I was not doing a lot of site seeing. I was focused on moving my feet forward, keeping my breathing under control and looking at my Garmin watch. The only thing that I was looking at my watch was the minute area of my pace. If it read 10 I was too slow, if it read 9 I was just right. If it read 8 I would evaluate how I felt. I only remember seeing an 8 once and I was going down hill so I did dial it back a bit. I felt focused. I took water at most aid stations and every other one I took Gatorade. At mile 10 I saw my wife and kids. She tried to take a picture of me, then ran a head. She told me to slow down so she could take a picture. I said, "no, I got this!". I was feeling really good. Taking it nice and relaxed. I saw them again around mile 12 and I knew it. I got this. But I kept to my word that I told my self before the race. Don't look at anything except for your min per mile pace, and maybe your heart rate every now and then.

I knew that I was going to get a PR. I was stoked. I turn the corner into the stadium and I am feeling good. I start to push it a bit. Instead of finishing on the field we run along the track and finish behind the end zone about in the middle. So I turn the corner and I look at the time. I am almost in shock. It read 2:02 and change. 2:02!!! I screamed in my head. Holy cow! I almost could not believe it. My official time was 2:02;36 not far off of my garmin time of 2:02;43. That is about 11 min PR from the Freedoms Run that I did 15 days earlier. I was beside myself. Now I am most confident that I can get under the 2 hour mark sooner rather then later. I can not wait to start focusing on that goal.

Speaking of goals, this was my third race that I was using to qualify for the Half Fanatics. I had my email draft all ready to go. All I had to do was enter the Hershey Half Marathon and the date and hit send. I did that. With in 24 hours I got a response back.

Hi Jim,You definitely qualify for the Fanatics at the Neptune (1 Moon) Level with your 3 races in 37 days.Congratulations.

All that I have to do is go through the process of completing the application on line and then I am in. I will up date with my id later once I receive it.

Now. Whats next. Not sure. I do have a couple of races planed but they are far enough out that I have not put down a clear training schedule yet. I am going to miss the Turkey Trot this year and I am rally down about it. I figured with what I was able to do at Hershey then I wanted to see what I would do at a shorter race. I am looking for a 5k or 10 for this winter but have not found one yet. We shall see what transpires.

Well that is all for now thanks for reading.

2 down - 1 to go Freedom's Run Race report

Well there is number 2.
On October 1st I participated in the Freedom's Run Half Marathon in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. It actually started on the campus of Shepherd University and headed into Maryland.
this is a running festival where they have a 5k, 10k Half Marathon and Full Marathon. They also have a kids run. All of the races start on the campus of Shepherd University except for the Marathon where they started at Harper's Ferry in the National Park.
For the Half Marathon we cross over the Potomac and run on the C&O Canal. We were told numerous times that even if you feel good to keep your pace down as there is a big hill at mile 3.
Well they were not kidding. But let me back up a bit.
I was not able to make it to packet pickup on Friday so I had to get up early to get up there for Saturday morning packet pickup. I live just under an hour away so instead of leaving at 6:30 for an 8:00 am start, I left about 5:45 as I really did not know where I was going. I wanted to make sure I got there and got myself squared away. I have a habit of not being a very good traveler especially when it comes to going somewhere that I have never been to and being alone.
Anyway, I got there with no issues as it was in the dark and raining. It was not raining very hard so that was a good thing. I had some oatmeal before leaving the house and I brought a peanut butter sandwich to eat a little later on.
I was able to find a parking spot in a lot right next to the start and portapotties. I went and picked up my packet and went back to my car to chill out and relax. I ended up going to the portapotties a couple of times before hand so it was good that I was parked close as it was still raining. It was not a heavy rain, it was more like a misting rain, one that is more of an annoyance then anything. The rain did help to keep the temperatures down. When we started it was in the high 40s to low 50s.
As it got closer to gun time, the rain let up. I got out of the car and started warming up a bit. With one last stop at the portapotties I made my way to the official start line. So there were a few announcements before the race got underway, one of particular was that when you are running on the C&O Path and are feeling good, so good that you want to up your pace....DON'T!
There is a big long hill coming up at mile 3 and 4. And just before gun time they sang the Battle hymn of the Republic.
And we are off.
I was set in my ways about just running a nice comfortable pace as I was not going for any specific time plus I knew that this was a fairly hilly course, and not that there were a lot of hills just steep ones.
So we cross over the Potomac and head down a steep hill toward the C&O Canal. There were police officers along the way that were holding up traffic. I try to make eye contact with them and say thank you for their time.
So we are running down the C&O trail and it is a narrow trail with some obstacles like branches and mud puddles that we have to deal with but nothing major.
So we exit the C&O trail and there it is. The big hill that they were telling us about.
It is a steep one and goes on for what seems like forever. I did hear a familiar voice behind me and it turns out that it was Doug from the local running group that I run with. I knew he was running in it but being that our schedules for before and after the race were different it did not make sense for us to car pool or we would have. Doug is training for the Marine Corp Marathon and was using this as a training run in preparation for the Marathon. He was looking to keep as close to a 10 min mile pace as possible and I was right there with him so we ran together for a bit.
We chatted a bit about things in general and nothing in particular.

I started to get into a zone and really started feeling good. We talked less and then all of a sudden I noticed that he was not beside me anymore. Well there was a water stop up a head and when I got up there did a quick turn around and he was no where to be seen. Well I kind of felt bad but kept on going. I figured that my orange hat would be a beacon for him to pace off of, plus we really did not discuss running together before the race anyway.

By now I was around mile 8 and still feeling good. I was not looking at my watch because I did not what to know anything. I was feeling good and therefore did not care what the time or the pace was. I figured I would analyze after the fact.

So I kept on plodding along and figured I would try to push it a little bit. I was really feeling good. My energy felt good as did my legs. I figured I would push for some negative splits and thought that it should be fairly easy to do as it was mostly down hill the second half of the race.

Well it seems that I was on pace to do just that.

We travel through the historic town of Sharpsburg and we are a mere 5k away from the finish. I start to push a little more, but not too much.

I see the bridge, I pick it up a little bit more. I start to pick people off one by one.

Here I go, coming across the bridge. I pass another person. I look ahead, there is someone else.

Coming into the home stretch, I look to the left and I can see into the stadium and the finish line.

I start to pick it up now, but not too much as there is a down hill that takes us to the stadium floor. I don't want to go too fast and fall forward. I have seen that happen and it is not a pretty sight.

There it is, the finish line.

I look at the clock and it read 2:13 and I think I AM GOING TO PR?!?!?!!? NO WAY!!!!!

I pick it up even more and cross the finish line. My garmin time was 2:13;30 but the official gun time was 2:13;58 I will take it. I was not trying for a PR but the weather was great for running in and I just felt great overall.

This goes to show that I fair better in the cooler weather then in the warmer weather races.

So at the half way point I figured I would try for negative splits, and I did that.

Here are my times:

Mile Time Avg Pace

1 10:12 10:12

2 10:19 10:19

3 10:30 10:30

4 11:09 11:10

5 10:13 10:13

6 10:39 10:39

7 10:39 10:39

8 10:31 10:31

9 10:07 10:07

10 10:03 10:03

11 9:32 9:32

12 9:30 9:30

13 9:04 9:04

14 0:56 7:48

Can not wait until Hershey. Hope I can improve on the time above. I know that Hershey is a fairly flat course so I am hoping that things go as well as they can.

That is all for now. Thanks for reading.

I don't feel that I am a very good writer so please provide any and all comments. I am hopping to improve my writting skills.

That's one in the books

So I am on my way to completing my next goal. Become a member of the Half Fanatics.

I took part in the International Peace Half Marathon.

This was an event that took place in Washington, DC on the C&O Canal tow path.

I was not looking to break any records, but I did have a good time.

I ran with a couple of "Purcellville Plodders". That is the group of runners that I am a part of.

I will say that I knew from a couple of people that this event is very low key. In fact they have a limit on the number of runners that can register. they will only allow 250. It was one of the cheapest half marathon events that I have run in. I was only doing this event so that it would count on my way to gaining membership in the Half Fanatics.

Anyway, there were a couple of items that came up that was a little upsetting. One was that fact that there were no bathrooms available. When asked about it we were told go and ask some of the shops or restaurants down the street. Really? Well it ended up not being that big of a deal. The other issue that I was going to write about I have decided not to as an email from the race director came out that covered it.

So now lets get to the meat of the story.

Race report.

It was a nice morning. Not too hot yet and almost not a cloud in the sky. This was not a chip timed event but rather timed by the clock. Again, not that big of a deal.

So part of this event was to acknowledge the lives that were lost on the attack of the US 10 years ago on Sept 11th. They rang a bell for each of the lives lost at the Pentagon. The National Anthem was sung (quite well) and then we were off.

Well for the past week we have had nothing but rain. So needless to say there were some puddles that we had to run through. The C&O is not a paved trail. It is more like crushed stone. So these puddles were more like mud puddles. Some of the runners were trying to run around then acting like they did not want to get their feet wet. Well for me I was more concerned about splashing the muddy water up on another runner. I was not too concerned about getting my feet wet. I did in fact bring a change of socks and an extra pair of shoes.

This was an out and back course with water stops about every 2 miles or so. The two other guys that came along were Dan and Mike. Well Dan is a faster runner then Mike and I so he went on ahead. Mike and I stayed with each other for quite some time. We were just chugging along having some very light conversation, taking in the scenery and just enjoying the moment. We did have to be mindful of the trail as it was not closed for our use only. There were a fair amount of other people out there ridding their bikes, running and walking and just finally enjoying a day without any rain.

Well like I said, Mike and I were keeping a very good pace until about mile 8.5. Mike had to take a break. I slowed down with him to keep him company. He urged me to go on. And even though I was not running for a specific time, I just wanted to have an official finish time. Which was good because this event did not have a time limit on it. Yet, I was torn. I enjoy the company of other runners, especially runners that I know. But I really did not want to slow down. I was feeling good. I was not pushing myself too much. Mike reassured me that it was ok to go on without him, so I did.

After a bit I felt myself getting tired. Well I only brought three Gu's. One I took just before the beginning of the race, one at about mile 5 and the last one at mile 10. I could feel myself getting tired. I could also feel the crust of dried sweat/salt stains on the side of my face. ***note to self - look into adding some electrolytes on the next one. The aid stations that they had set up were only providing water. Again, not a big deal.

I ended up learning a lot about myself on this run. This was a C race for me. I went out there enjoyed myself greatly. My A race that I am building toward is the Hershey Half in the middle of October.

Now I will say that my overall goal for my Half Marathon time is 2 hours. Right now my PR is 2:15 (and change).

I have been having some very goods runs as of late and feel that goal is definitely obtainable.

Not sure if I am going to try to get that accomplished in Hershey but maybe within a year.

Well that is all for now. Thanks for reading.

Earthquake then Hurricane.......

Well this certainly has been a very interesting week.
I started upping my mileage in preparation for my half marathons that are coming up. I have been feeling really good too.
Well on Tuesday we had an Earthquake. So there I was in my office at my desk and we hear this loud rumbling. Well for some reason I yelled out "it's an earthquake". At first it sounded like a helicopter was landing on the building and no we don't have a helo pad.
Now I did spend some time in Northern California and have experienced a couple of quakes so it was really no big deal for me. Some people were really shocked about it.
Then up comes Irene from the south. It was really no big deal for us as we were far enough away from the center of the storm. It was like we had a big thunderstorm. We had some debris in the road but that was it. I was able to get my run in on Saturday and Sunday with no issues. The one route that I was going to do on Sunday does flood quite a bit so I changed my running plans. I did miss going out with a group of people that I run with on the weekends but from all of the emails that were going back and forth it did not look like many of them were going out on Sunday anyway. Most decided to do their long run on Saturday. I was doing a short distance so I opted to run by myself on Saturday. I will say that I had a great run on Sunday. I kept it slow and steady. I have noticed that when I go out with the group on long runs that I end up going out too fast and have to walk a fair bit. Well not this past Sunday. I was able to keep my own pace and not worry about keeping up with anyone. I ran the whole time. Now I will say that it was a bit difficult to do as it was a hilly route and the wind picked up every now and then.
Well all in all I had a great week of running and looking forward to next week.
So my training is set up that I have two hard weeks then a light week. So next week is a light week so I hope that I wont get too anxious.

I am........A Duathlete

Well I did it.
One more notch on the shoe.
On August 7th I started and finished the Duthe2 Duathlon. It was great. I really enjoyed myself.
I can not remember how or where I heard about this event, but for some time I had been thinking about doing one. It all started way back when I started training for the Marine Corp Marathon, maybe even before that.
Anyway, the point being is that I started to do some cross training by riding my bike. I have 2 road bikes now. The first one that I was using I got off of craigslist a couple of years ago. It is a 1977 Fuji S10-S. It is a nice bike and I like it a lot, but as I started to increase my riding mileage I noticed that I was having some difficulty on some of the more challenging hills. This is a 12 speed bike with the Front crank set being 42 x 52T and the rear cluster/flywheel being 14 - 30T. I will say that who ever I bought it from either really took care of it or hardly ever rode it. It shifts really smoothly and just seems to glide down the road. I did some research and it would appear that it has all original components. Now that is not to say that they might have been replace with OEM parts at one time but it is hard for me to tell. Even the tires still say Fuji approved on it. So in looking at the Duthe2 Duathlon the distances are as follows: 2 mile run, 26 mile bike, 4 mile run. I am not sure if this is considered an Olympic distance or a Sprint. I started to look at the Fuji and the rides that I had been doing and thinking "I need more gears". I thought about looking at trying to upgrade the Fuji with a three ring crank and possibly doubling the flywheel at most but later decided that I did not want the change the vintageness of the bike. Who knows, I might even ruin the way it rides and I don't want to do that. So I started my search on ebay and craigslist. Why not go to a local bike shop you say? Well for a number of reasons, one major one is that I am not rich. Now granted I am not an expert on bikes and not sure if I am getting a good deal or not but I did ok on the Fuji so figured I would give it a shot.
Well I found one. A Trek 420. It has a three ring crank and a seven ring flywheel. It was very close by to my office so I stopped by on my way home. I took it for a little ride around the block. It felt ok. It would need some adjustment but not much. The brakes worked and the gears seemed to shift ok. I did not ride for a long time as the wheels were flat and he did not have a pump to inflate the tires. I did notice that the tires would probably need to be replaced. No big deal. Its time I start getting my hands dirty. I attended a couple of bike maintenance classes at some of the different bike shops so I have some knowledge about different things. Just enough to be dangerous.
Anyway, enough rambling. I guess when you don't post for a while you have a lot to say.
On to why I start to post to begin with. Race Report.
The Duthe2 was put on by Ripit Events and even though this was my first Duathlon it was not my first race. This event was top notch. From the day I registered (October 29th) until I crossed the finish line I was impressed about everything. The communications that they provided was excellent. Now lets get down to business.
I get up to get ready. I am nervous as hell. Kind of like that feeling you have when you toe the line for your very first race, or your first marathon. I was not sure how things were going to go but I did have a goal. I want to complete this in under 3 hours. Lets see how I did.
At first they said that there were about 550 participants, so they had about 6 waves. I was in wave 3. I arrived at the venue, get my bike off my car and start gathering my stuff. I was alone. None of my family or friends were able to make it. Yea this bothered me a bit but what are you going to do. As I opened my trunk to get my helmet out I noticed that I put my bike pump in there. Good thing. My tires needed air. I filled the tires with air, gathered my things and started to make my way to the transition area. After a good walk, I get my bike set up in the rack and get everything set up. I have clip in shoes on my Fuji but the Trek had shoe cages which I decided to keep those and not switch them out. I did not want to slip or hurt myself as I never got comfortable running in bike shoes. Well I get my water bottles set up and mix up my nutrition, just enough time for me to hit the portapotties and get to the corals.
So here we go. Wave one - off, wave two - off, wave three - its on!
The two mile loop has 2 water stations, one right after the start line and the other is at mile one. They have water and Gatorade. I get some Gatorade at the second water station and I am able to complete the first run in 19:05 that was good for 308th place. I get in and out of transition fairly quickly with a time of 1:16 and 56th place. I did not have to change out my shoes so that helped. I know no one has ever won a race with a good time in transition but you can certainly loose one. Not that I was even thinking of winning anything, I just wanted to finish.
So now we are out on the bike course. A 13 mile loop that you complete twice. This was a very hilly course with two really steep hills to deal with, which made me kind of glad I had the extra climbing rings on the Trek and that I was not on my Fuji. I finished the bike leg with a time of 1:44;09 this was 263rd. I was tired but ready to plod along for the last 4 miles. From my training I knew that the first mile or so would be a little tough getting the legs to move, and it was. I came out of second transition with a time of 1:54, 182nd fastest time. The run course was set up to where there is more downhill on the first mile so that made the second mile more uphill. I keep my feet moving forward. I make my second loop and here it comes, the finish line.
The time on the counter read 3:01 and change, but keep in mind, I was in wave three. Each wave started 4 minutes after the previous. So I actually had 8 minutes to play with.
My official time was 2:53;43. I was stoked! But then I was sad as I had no one there to celebrate with. Well I did get over that. I got my medal, a bottle of water and a banana and walked around to try and keep loose.
So when it was all said and done, my time of 2:53;43 gave me 36th in my age group and 269th overall. There were 389 finishers. I am happy. I got my base time and now I am looking to improve on that. The trouble is there does not seem to be many duathlon events around where I live, and I think I mentioned before that I am not rich.
So to end this I would definitely recommend a duathlon to anybody that is thinking about it. I had a great time and felt a wondrous sense of accomplishment.
I don't see myself doing a triathlon but I have also learned to never say never.

Next on the "bucket list" is to become a member of the Half Fanatics. This should happen by October so stay tuned.
Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any comments.