The Doctor's Journey

Race Report: Guthrie Superprint Duathlon

• By admin
• May 8, 2014
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Ready to roll out to G-rock!

My apologies for the delayed race report, but the multisport season officially got underway  April 4^th in Oklahoma’s original State Capital, Guthrie.  First, we must give a huge shout out to the City of Guthrie, who stepped up to put on this event when Okarche postponed their event due to road construction.

Unlike most weekend races during the summer that start early to beat the heat, the Guthrie Super Sprint Duathlon got off to a nice afternoon start so the extra hour to sleep in was much appreciated.  Every season I like to have a prerace routine, including sporting my prerace shirt.  This year I decided to honor the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic by having them be my unofficial race day outfitter.  As you can see, this race day I was rocking the blue and orange BRAID (Being Responsible American Indians with Diabetes) gear as we got ready to roll out to G-Rock.

Say “Hello” Luna! 🙂

I was familiar with the course since I had raced the previous year’s Gurthie’s First Capital Sprint Triathlon, and this duathalon had the same route, just shorter.  The distance details were as follows:  a 1.8 mile run, followed by a 12.4 mile bike ride, and then another 1.8 mile run.  There were two big unknowns for me going into this first race: my toe and my rig.  This would mark the first all out race test of my broken toe, and if you’re not a close follower of the Nimble Doctor, yes I also run my races in (Luna) sandals.  That’s just something I do because it works for me and I’ve been doing this for the past 2 years.  I can elaborate further on a future post.  The other big question mark for me was my “new” bike that I actually got last October.  This is my very first triathlon bike and well, let’s just say that we’ve spent the winter getting to know each other, keeping one another warm.  My bike does have a name, “Littlefoot”.  Mrs. Nimble was not happy when Littlefoot entered our relationship, but we’re now all one happy family (along with Luna, our rescue Boston Terrier) and we’re all excited for her maiden race voyage.

At 1PM sharp 200 racers, including Nimble, were ready to go.  With my Luna Sandals strapped on tight I took off with the opening horn (sorry no gun today).  I set out on a quick but comfortable pace, and settled in after the first half mile.  One thing that struck me was how short the distance was and how fast everyone had gone out, and was almost treating it as a sprint.  Before I realized it, we were already heading back into the transition as the pack had begun to separate.   Looking back I finished the first 2 miles in 13:18.  As I raced into transition I was so anxious to mount Littlefoot and see what we could do together!  After a respectable 40 seconds in transition, otherwise known as the time I flick off my sandals and become one with Littlefoot, I was headed out onto the 12.4 mile bike loop.  I’ll always remind folks that bikes don’t go fast, rather it’s the “Nimble engine” (in this case my pumping lower extremities) that generates the movement.  But Littlefoot did everything she could to make me question my sound logic founded in the principles of physics.  I swear I almost heard Littlefoot whisper (because she’s shy) “Hey Nimble, we don’t go slow…ever!”

This bike speaks to me.

And with that, I was already done with the 12.4 mile bike loop in 36:32.  Back in transition Littlefoot and I said our goodbyes, which apparently made me linger an extra 7 seconds (47 seconds in transition this time).  And now with sandals laced snug, I set out to cover the final 1.8 miles as quickly as possible.  Coming off the bike and immediately hitting the run always gives your legs a heavy sensation since different muscle groups have been working hard during pedaling, but now the motion is totally different.  To try to best describe this for those of you who aren’t involved in these type of races, I would say it’s like the feeling of running through water in a pool, but you go much faster than your brain tells you.  Well, that only lasts for 30 to 45 seconds and then it’s back to pretty much running, only that your more tired than the first time you did this.  I made it to the turn around and then with nearly 500 yards to go, I received some encouragement from the crowd (I think mostly because they found it odd that I was running in sandals) and my coach (he’s never satisfied), finishing sprinter style and posting 14:24 for second 1.8 mile run.  My total time for the Guthrie Super Sprint was 1:05:37, placing 25^th overall (of 126) and 6^th (of 24) in my age group.

Guthrie Sprint Du in the books!

In the end, it was a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon and take another Nimble step toward Ironman Arizona.  Oh, and two important questions were answered:  1) The toe is good to go! and 2) Littlefoot don’t mess around!!

Thanks for following along and until next time.   Please don’t forget to check out my donation page and remember what this journey is all about.

The Nimble Doctor