"There are no victories except the joy you are living now while dancing your run. You are not running for some future reward. The reward is now."- Fred Rohe, author of The Zen of Running
On Sunday, June 26th I competed in the Pleasant Prairie Duathlon. This race was a 2.3-mile run, a 20K bike, and a 5K run. The race in Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin is also on the para-tri race series and has both a sprint and Olympic distance triathlon.
I always have a reason for any race. This one checked a box to qualify for USA Triathlon's Multi-Sport Athlete of the Year. To qualify I need two races in the aqua bike, duathlon, and aquathlon. This would be my second duathlon. I competed in the first one at the Multi-Sport festival in Irving Texas. At that, I qualified for the World Championship for Spain in 2023.
So my goals for the race were modest. I just needed to finish checking the box. The race started well with a decent night of sleep. That means about four hours of light sleep.
The one thing I don't like about this race is the 5 am open time for transition. It closed at 6 am with a 7 am race start. The race start was pushed back for over an hour. It had rained very lightly on packet pick-up day. Everyone seemed to show up on race day to pick up their packets and the lines were very long. So I and my fellow racers stood around at the start line for over an hour.
This race was a 2.3-mile run, 20 K bike, and 5K run. The runs are flat loops around Lake Andrea which serves as the swim course for the other races. The bike has some rolling hills. My race plan for the day was to treat the race like a workout. That means pushing a little bit. Not an A race at all.
Runs
Everything went well, although I feel slow these days. My run times have dropped quite a bit. That slow pace made the difference between my second place finish. I am now putting greater focus on my running. The day was warm, but not enough to affect my performance.
Bike
I used my triathlon bike. I was able to stay on the aero bars the entire race. That is a nice change from a few years ago. My average pace of 16.1 miles per hour was the best in my age group. I really have not ridden much this year. My bike rides have been easy in the neighborhood. I have been putting my focus on home projects and my online businesses.
I was able to finish with a time of 1:47:18 and did not make any major mistakes. I was 12 minutes behind the first place finisher in my age group. The difference was all due to my slow run. I am really going to put some focus on that.
I found out later that a male swimmer age 51 died in the swim. That is so sad when that happens. We all have to remember it is ok to drop out of a race. Sometimes we celebrate someone struggling to finish a race. We should celebrate if someone makes a wise decision that they need to drop out. There is no shame in that, it has happened to me twice in swims. I hope the community starts to change in that regard.
Well, I achieved my race plan. I try to take it a bit easier every other year. This has been a lighter year in terms of workouts and race distances. I like it and it has felt good physically. It may be a plan I continue going forward.
**************************
Chris
Wodke
Founder
& Manager Team CMT
www.run4cmt.com
Chris is
a triathlete Nordic skier and long-distance runner. She is a three-time participant in the Boston Marathon. In
2012 she finished 2nd at
She has
appeared three times at the Paratriathlon National Triathlon Sprint
Championship. She was the 2012 and 2014 National Champion Paratriathlon Open
Division Champion.
In 2014 she was the PC Open Champion at the Duathlon National Championship and
at the Aqua bike National Championship in 2016. She represented Team
In 2014 she represented the
In 2020
she was named a National Ski Patrol Subaru Ambassador and a USA Triathlon
Foundation Ambassador.
She
travels around the country raising awareness of CMT.
She is
the author of the book, “Running for My Life” which details her experience as a
CMT-affected athlete, and the book “Soup Sundays, A Journey Toward Healthy
Eating”.
You may
visit her author page at:
http://www.amazon.com/Christine-Wodke/e/B00IJ02HX6
Team CMT
is a group of athletes and supporters working to raise awareness and find a
cure for CMT currently has 247 athletes in 42 states. We also have
members in Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Vietnam, Iran, Scotland,
France, Turkey, Poland, Norway, Mexico, Wales, Ireland, and Sweden! If you wish to join us visit our website; www.run4cmt.com or www.hnf-cure.org
CMT or
Charcot-Marie-Tooth is the most commonly inherited peripheral neuropathy. It
affects over 155,000 Americans (as many as MS). It is a disease of the
nerves that control the muscles. It is slowly progressive, causing loss of
normal function and or sensation in the lower legs/feet and arms/hands.
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