Rainey's Refuge on the River: Team Rainey: Duathletes

A few months after Marli was born, like any mother who has just given birth, I was ready to lose some unwanted weight. However, the motivation to do so was severly lacking. You would think the way I looked in the mirror would be enough motivation, but apparently not. Allan had (has) been doing mountain bike races through Dirty Spokes Productions for a while, so I was lollygagging on their site one day & noticed they had a duathlon coming up. Oooh.. fancy word, DUATHLON!!! Hmmm... I thought, wonder if I could do that?? So, I told Allan sign us up! The only thing that was going to motivate me to get my butt in gear was KNOWING my name was on the roster. My plan to train leading up to the first race went like this: download couch to 5K app, do it once, and then.... NOTHING. LOL! I literally went into my first race blind and ignorant. Heck, I didn't even feel the need to stretch! haha! Clearly, I had no idea how tough a trail run would be.

Here's our schedule of races:
March: Fort Yargo: 3.8 mile run, 10 mile bike, 2.1 mile run
April: Mt. Tabor: 3.1 mile run, 10 mile bike, 3.1 mile run
May: Tribble Mill: 2.8 mile run, 8 mile bike, 2.8 mile run

Of course, Allan sailed right through his biking portion. He is used to bustin' his tail in races. I, on the other hand, not so much. I did survive the first race and no one had to drag me across the finish line. That was a huge accomplishment in itself. I ended up beating a goal I had set for myself on the first leg. Was I first?? Heck no...but I had my iPod charged with uplifting & encouraging music that helped push me that extra mile to get the job done!
So, since I had not trained for the first race and I actually survived it, I got a little cocky going into the 2nd race. I thought... Hmph, I did the first race 3.8 miles.... surely 3.1 won't hurt. Ummm.... well, apparently newbie trail runner here didn't account for the fact that the TERRAIN would be different! Mt. Tabor had way more inclines and declines, roots & rocks. That kicked my tail. I even ended up with battle wounds. On the 2nd leg of the race at Mt. Tabor, I tripped on a root & slid off the trail a little bit down the mountain. Skinned my arm and hands. Man, did it burn. It has been a really long time, probably since I was a kid, that I took a tumble that caused me to bleed. Ironically, the night before we had watched the Passion of the Christ and I told myself to get back up and keep going. Those little boo boos were nothing in comparison to what Christ did for me on the cross. Get back up & keep going. So, I did.
Tribble Mill was the final race in the series. It had climbs, too, but it wasn't too bad. I think the hardest race in the series for me was Mount Tabor. I never finished first. If anything I was probably last at every race, but I finished. I would tell myself on the course that I wasn't last... the person at home on their couch was last! In just 3 races, I was able to improve my time and I am VERY happy about that!
On the first leg of each race I was able to improve my average of a 15:14 minute mile down to a 12:21 minute mile. And, on the 2nd leg of the race, I went from averaging a 18:57 minute mile down to a 13:08 minute mile! That's HUGE improvement for me and I'm excited!

So, has the race bug bitten me?? I don't know. When I'm on the trail, I hate every minute of it. It's hard, hot, and I'm slow... BUT from day one I've said I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength! Phil 4:13 and He did give me strength!

Maybe I am a glutton for punishment, the night after our last race I was back online looking for another trail run!

Here's a couple photos from the races.