Toughest Du in Texas

Here is my race recap for the Toughest Du in Texas, an event that certainly lives up to its name...

The weather was pretty perfect for a mid-July day. With all the rain we have been having the temps have been really low for this time of year. Race temp was probably in the upper 70s or low 80s. Unfortunately I got to the race site a little late and did not get a very good warmup, but such is life.

The first run was not that tough just an out and back over pretty flat terrain with one little hill at the midway point. I went out a little faster than I wanted to but nothing that hurt me later in the race.

The bike was along 360 and was pretty darn hilly, couple that with the wet conditions and I made sure I was extra careful on the descents. Next a turn into Rob Roy and one killer hill. When I hit the hill there were 5 others around me, 3 walking their bike up, one man that sounded like he was going to die any second, and me slowly but surely pedaling my way to the top. After a few turns I made my one big error in the race and missed a turn that was not very well marked. I quickly realized my mistake (of course seeing the other 10 or so folks that also missed the turn made me feel a little better) and hurried back to the correct turn. This mistake probably cost me about 2-3 minutes. Then it was back to the transition area for the second run.

The second run was a real bear, with a long extended downhill that would be a monster to run up on the way back. The monster reared its ugly head and I am sure sap running up a tree was moving faster than I was. But I never walked and that was my goal.

All in all a great day. Congrats to Triscuit and Lulu for winning their age divisions. I have learned that even though running is not my strong suit I am getting better, and that Cokes are delicious at the end of hard events. Overall I was 37th, and 5th in my age group.