Duathlon Nationals

Imagine a nice warm day in Nurmo, in tiny place almost in the middle of nowhere. Smell the regenerated fields waiting for August, carry the sunny heat on your back and feel the headwind following you almost 40K out of 42Ks available on a bike. These are the ingredients of an awesome Sunday.

This Sunday it meant a participation in the Duathlon Nationals. I sort of looked forward to this race since a year ago the experience was pretty awesome and it was awarded with a bronze medal (in my age group). This year the preparations covered some googling which indicated that the competition will be stone hard and that I'm not going to participate in the podium challenge.

During the race this expectation was realized after 10K of bike leg when my rear tire was flat as a pancake and I had to stop for 10 minutes to fix that. Well, I wouldn't have been close to the podium even without being sucker-punched by a puncture. But mentally to loose the touch to a race is pain in the ass. 

Luckily I was prepared for a flat and I had carried an extra tire and some CO2. To be honest, I was really close to leave them away - I already detached them from my bike before the start but then out of no reason I reattached them to my stealth engine. While standing on the side of the road this very knowledge eased my pain, but still I hated every single minute that I had to spent there hearing my opponents and many others to pass by. But I did not quit and that's what matters to me the most right now. 

Today I felt that running is getting easier and easier, but some work is needed to increase stamina and tempo. The 2 months which I lost due an injury are not coming back without some work. First run was moderated by me, but the latter one was an awful experience. The warm weather and the emotional roller coaster took lot of energy, but nevertheless I was happy and felt really privileged to finish the race together with sweetie who won silver in women's race. 

Today was a good day.