The Fun is BACK!!!! Run to Break the Silence Duathlon Report.

Hallelujah!!!  The fun in is back!  The old Natasha is slowly but surely emerging!  Yes, that may mean that my mashing on the bike is back too but to heck with it!!!  I'm having fun out there again and I loved it!  This race was full of so many great surprises I am still smiling!

Signed up last minute when I found out Run to Break the Silence had a duathlon in addition to their 5 and 10ks.  I also convinced my dad to sign up last minute!  He never knows what I'm getting him into until it's too late! :-)  But he's a good sport!  It was a quick 20k bike and 5k run.  Here's the race at a glance:

•  Mass bike start (that's a good way to get a triathletes heart pumping fast!)  A late comer decided to jump out in front of me as we had just started!
• Out to Jemez dam and back, beautiful views and some nice little hills packed into that course
•  The run was uphill on the way out and glorious downhill on the way back, it was a hot one but I didn't care 
• There were only 52 or so entrants which made the mass bike start manageable
• So many friendly faces
• Things for the kiddos to do while they were patiently waiting for parents to finish
• Nice after race food
• Cool mugs for overall finishers, I was a little jealous but gives me something to aspire to :-)

My brother went out there with my son so I could do the race.  I know I've mentioned it takes a village to raise a triathlete! There was a newbie there that was very embarrassed when he tried to rack his bike and almost caused a domino effect when it fell and you know how some triathletes can be with their bikes.  I quickly showed him the trick on which end of the bike seat would ensure it stayed up and he asked me about the race.  I was so happy to help him out and calm his nerves before the race and saw him on the course several times where we shouted words of encouragement.  I love seeing races through the eyes of a beginner the combination of excitement and nervousness is palpable!

Just as the race was about to start someone came up to me and said Hi Natasha I don't know if you remember me... I recognized her voice right away, and said her name with her.  It was a close friend of mine from middle school!!  Not only had she moved to the area but she had just gotten into the sport about two years ago and was loving it.  Talk about an awesome surprise!!!  We hadn't seen each other since college.  More shouting on the course as we saw each other!

My dad did awesome and even though he hates running and I know he was cursing my name as he had to run up that hill he picked up his pace when he saw me and again more shouting on the course exchanging words of encouragement!

Now one of my friends, btw can I call us friends at this point? let me know if I'm out of line :-), who is super fast, dedicated and disciplined in this sport who is always out there racing and an awesome tri mentor gave me a high five that topped all high fives I've ever gotten during a race.  And you know those top finishers don't always have time to do this!  :-)  He'll know why I'm making such a big deal about this high five! But thanks for the motivation.  Again more words of encouragement shouted!

Do you see a theme here?  I was having fun and happily hooting and hollering!  At first on the bike I was carefully trying to make sure I kept a high cadence and shifted up when necessary but then I said screw it let all my careful numbers and close watch out the window and just race like you use to!  SO I did I raced for fun.  I'm not racing to place OA I'm racing because I love this sport and the people it brings me closer to!  So yes I mashed on the bike but I've never had so many high fives, ass slaps, or cheering during a race.

Oh yeah and my results: (sure I can work on a few things but there's always room for improvement it's what keeps me coming back)

Happy Training!