05-02-06. Sunset at Fellows Lake.
I competed (ok, a better word would be participated) in a duathlon this evening around Fellows Lake. This was a 2 mile run, 11 mile ride event. I didn't even know anything about it until 2 days ago when Amy & Ellen were talking about it. I didn't actually decide to participate until today. Needless to say, I hadn't trained at all. 6 years of sitting behind a desk has definitely had an effect on me. Even though I knew I was in bad shape, I decided to give it a try.
Amy, Chris, and Ellen participated as well. We won't have results of the event until later, but that isn't too important anyway. There were probably at least 100 other participants in the duathlon. 75% of them were fairly serious competitors with fancy road bikes and flashy spandex. About 20% were there just for fun, and then about 5% of us were total slackers.
I rode my mountain bike, and I had to do some repair work on my helmet which hadn't been worn in over 6 years. My repairs involved replacing some of the inner padding with a cut-up can coozie. (you might be a redneck if...)
Anyway, I apparently didn't pace myself too well for this event. I started off about mid-pack during the run. I kept my pace up throughout the run and probably used up too much energy. When I got on my bike, I decided to take a breather and coast a little bit. I was quickly passed by numerous other riders. The course was fairly hilly, and my mountain bike didn't allow me too much momentum to carry me back up the hills. I gradually fell toward the back of the pack, but I didn't care too much.
There was one other guy there that I knew from work. He weighs a few pounds more than me, but he apparently runs and rides quite a bit. I subconciously set a goal to finish before him. With less than a mile left (and one heck of a hill), he passed me. I didn't let him get too far ahead of me, but I tried to save some energy for the upcoming hill. I did manage to pass him at the top of the hill, but we stayed neck and neck until the finish line. I gave one last push on the homestretch and barely finished before him. I did feel like I was going to lose my lunch shortly thereafter, but I managed to keep it together. I didn't realize so many others had passed me on the ride, but apparently I was one of the last 10 or so people to finish. Oh well. I was feeling good to finish before dark. Amy, Ellen, and Chris finished shortly after me.
On my way home, the sunset reflecting on the lake was just begging me to take a picture. I was still shaking, so this may not be the sharpest picture.
UPDATE: If you are interested in seeing the results of the race, you can find them here You'll have to choose the "2006 DuSeries Race #1 May 2, 2006" from the "RACE RESULTS" drop down list in the upper left hand corner of the page.
I competed (ok, a better word would be participated) in a duathlon this evening around Fellows Lake. This was a 2 mile run, 11 mile ride event. I didn't even know anything about it until 2 days ago when Amy & Ellen were talking about it. I didn't actually decide to participate until today. Needless to say, I hadn't trained at all. 6 years of sitting behind a desk has definitely had an effect on me. Even though I knew I was in bad shape, I decided to give it a try.
Amy, Chris, and Ellen participated as well. We won't have results of the event until later, but that isn't too important anyway. There were probably at least 100 other participants in the duathlon. 75% of them were fairly serious competitors with fancy road bikes and flashy spandex. About 20% were there just for fun, and then about 5% of us were total slackers.
I rode my mountain bike, and I had to do some repair work on my helmet which hadn't been worn in over 6 years. My repairs involved replacing some of the inner padding with a cut-up can coozie. (you might be a redneck if...)
Anyway, I apparently didn't pace myself too well for this event. I started off about mid-pack during the run. I kept my pace up throughout the run and probably used up too much energy. When I got on my bike, I decided to take a breather and coast a little bit. I was quickly passed by numerous other riders. The course was fairly hilly, and my mountain bike didn't allow me too much momentum to carry me back up the hills. I gradually fell toward the back of the pack, but I didn't care too much.
There was one other guy there that I knew from work. He weighs a few pounds more than me, but he apparently runs and rides quite a bit. I subconciously set a goal to finish before him. With less than a mile left (and one heck of a hill), he passed me. I didn't let him get too far ahead of me, but I tried to save some energy for the upcoming hill. I did manage to pass him at the top of the hill, but we stayed neck and neck until the finish line. I gave one last push on the homestretch and barely finished before him. I did feel like I was going to lose my lunch shortly thereafter, but I managed to keep it together. I didn't realize so many others had passed me on the ride, but apparently I was one of the last 10 or so people to finish. Oh well. I was feeling good to finish before dark. Amy, Ellen, and Chris finished shortly after me.
On my way home, the sunset reflecting on the lake was just begging me to take a picture. I was still shaking, so this may not be the sharpest picture.
UPDATE: If you are interested in seeing the results of the race, you can find them here You'll have to choose the "2006 DuSeries Race #1 May 2, 2006" from the "RACE RESULTS" drop down list in the upper left hand corner of the page.
05-02-06. Sunset at Fellows Lake.
I competed (ok, a better word would be participated) in a duathlon this evening around Fellows Lake. This was a 2 mile run, 11 mile ride event. I didn't even know anything about it until 2 days ago when Amy & Ellen were talking about it. I didn't actually decide to participate until today. Needless to say, I hadn't trained at all. 6 years of sitting behind a desk has definitely had an effect on me. Even though I knew I was in bad shape, I decided to give it a try.
Amy, Chris, and Ellen participated as well. We won't have results of the event until later, but that isn't too important anyway. There were probably at least 100 other participants in the duathlon. 75% of them were fairly serious competitors with fancy road bikes and flashy spandex. About 20% were there just for fun, and then about 5% of us were total slackers.
I rode my mountain bike, and I had to do some repair work on my helmet which hadn't been worn in over 6 years. My repairs involved replacing some of the inner padding with a cut-up can coozie. (you might be a redneck if...)
Anyway, I apparently didn't pace myself too well for this event. I started off about mid-pack during the run. I kept my pace up throughout the run and probably used up too much energy. When I got on my bike, I decided to take a breather and coast a little bit. I was quickly passed by numerous other riders. The course was fairly hilly, and my mountain bike didn't allow me too much momentum to carry me back up the hills. I gradually fell toward the back of the pack, but I didn't care too much.
There was one other guy there that I knew from work. He weighs a few pounds more than me, but he apparently runs and rides quite a bit. I subconciously set a goal to finish before him. With less than a mile left (and one heck of a hill), he passed me. I didn't let him get too far ahead of me, but I tried to save some energy for the upcoming hill. I did manage to pass him at the top of the hill, but we stayed neck and neck until the finish line. I gave one last push on the homestretch and barely finished before him. I did feel like I was going to lose my lunch shortly thereafter, but I managed to keep it together. I didn't realize so many others had passed me on the ride, but apparently I was one of the last 10 or so people to finish. Oh well. I was feeling good to finish before dark. Amy, Ellen, and Chris finished shortly after me.
On my way home, the sunset reflecting on the lake was just begging me to take a picture. I was still shaking, so this may not be the sharpest picture.
UPDATE: If you are interested in seeing the results of the race, you can find them here You'll have to choose the "2006 DuSeries Race #1 May 2, 2006" from the "RACE RESULTS" drop down list in the upper left hand corner of the page.
I competed (ok, a better word would be participated) in a duathlon this evening around Fellows Lake. This was a 2 mile run, 11 mile ride event. I didn't even know anything about it until 2 days ago when Amy & Ellen were talking about it. I didn't actually decide to participate until today. Needless to say, I hadn't trained at all. 6 years of sitting behind a desk has definitely had an effect on me. Even though I knew I was in bad shape, I decided to give it a try.
Amy, Chris, and Ellen participated as well. We won't have results of the event until later, but that isn't too important anyway. There were probably at least 100 other participants in the duathlon. 75% of them were fairly serious competitors with fancy road bikes and flashy spandex. About 20% were there just for fun, and then about 5% of us were total slackers.
I rode my mountain bike, and I had to do some repair work on my helmet which hadn't been worn in over 6 years. My repairs involved replacing some of the inner padding with a cut-up can coozie. (you might be a redneck if...)
Anyway, I apparently didn't pace myself too well for this event. I started off about mid-pack during the run. I kept my pace up throughout the run and probably used up too much energy. When I got on my bike, I decided to take a breather and coast a little bit. I was quickly passed by numerous other riders. The course was fairly hilly, and my mountain bike didn't allow me too much momentum to carry me back up the hills. I gradually fell toward the back of the pack, but I didn't care too much.
There was one other guy there that I knew from work. He weighs a few pounds more than me, but he apparently runs and rides quite a bit. I subconciously set a goal to finish before him. With less than a mile left (and one heck of a hill), he passed me. I didn't let him get too far ahead of me, but I tried to save some energy for the upcoming hill. I did manage to pass him at the top of the hill, but we stayed neck and neck until the finish line. I gave one last push on the homestretch and barely finished before him. I did feel like I was going to lose my lunch shortly thereafter, but I managed to keep it together. I didn't realize so many others had passed me on the ride, but apparently I was one of the last 10 or so people to finish. Oh well. I was feeling good to finish before dark. Amy, Ellen, and Chris finished shortly after me.
On my way home, the sunset reflecting on the lake was just begging me to take a picture. I was still shaking, so this may not be the sharpest picture.
UPDATE: If you are interested in seeing the results of the race, you can find them here You'll have to choose the "2006 DuSeries Race #1 May 2, 2006" from the "RACE RESULTS" drop down list in the upper left hand corner of the page.
See photo in gallery
