My First Duathlon

Today I participated in my first duathlon, the JFROG (the J is silent). It was very low key, just 11 people from the triathlon group who showed up to do it but 1 guys bike broke so there were 10 finishers.

2 mile run through trails, 6 miles on the mtn bike & 1 mile on trails again.

I ran with Lisa and Lan for the first run, finished in 22 minutes.  Changed into biking stuff, was last one out of T1. 22 minutes.

I got lost on the trails 3 times in the first section, they were poorly marked, everyone said it & many went the wrong ways. I was getting discouraged that I was so slow. I was about 5 miles on the bike when I came upon Lisa pushing her bike. Its an old bike and the derailleur pulley was broken. She pushed/ran for a while, then Lan took her my bike to finish up. 49 minutes.

We both ran together to finish up, deliberately cutting the last mile short. Well, she was leading, I was following but it was nice to be done. 11 minutes.

Afterward we all enjoyed hot cocoa and spiced cider, then we all participated in a WHITE ELEPHANT gift exchange. Lan & I had brought a light blue Alaskan Amber sweatshirt and a DVD of War of the Worlds. The first place guy got to pick first, I was #9. The gifts we bought were taken right away (yay!) and I brought home 2 books, something about rock climbing & Jurassic Park. Lan chose a small trophy and we WILL be putting in on display and he WILL say he got it in his first Duathlon!

This is the post the organiser had on FaceBook:
Congratulations to Dane Ballou who came down from altitude for todays muddy duathlon. Getting separation on the initial run leg he poured it on during the bike and cruised off the trails in the final run. Also, a great job by Lisa B, Denise, Lan (da Hammer), Egan, Ed, Keith, Riley, Joe and the Amazing Frog, Greg Pelton...aka crash. Thanks to the support crews who kept the hot water hot and the spirits high. It was fun, challenging, muddy and fast.   Get outside and play people!