This weekend I raced in the White Sands Duathlon, held at the White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces, New Mexico. The range is located at the base of the beautiful Organ Mountains pictured here, and it was a great race venue. The race consisted of a 5K run on a rough dirt road with some sandy sections, followed by a 30K bike on nice, traffic-free paved military base roads, with flat to rolling terrain, and some crosswinds. This was my first-ever duathlon! I got in to a steady but conservative rhythm on the run, since I had no previous experience running and biking together in a race. When I hopped on the bike, I felt at home, since that is what I have been doing for the last several years! I ended up finishing first overall for the women, and third overall. Not bad for my first multi-sport event! I learned a lot about how to pace myself in multi-sport events, and will make a few changes next time. I feel very optimistic about my 2008 season. This race was my first intense cycling workout so far. So things will only go up from here in both my running and cycling fitness. The multi-sport crowd was very friendly at the race. I had a couple of guys approach me after the race, asking me who I was, since they had just been "girled." I found out this means a girl beat them. Funny! I also had a few people after the race ask about my Fuji Aloha CF1. It was fun to be able to answer questions about my sponsors. I had such a great time at this race. I really loved the multi-sport experience, and can't wait to race again. By the way, my husband Chad raced, too! He is so supportive of my racing aspirations and he trains with me a lot. It was fun for him to compete for a change, instead of just watching me. I am glad that I convinced him to race, because he won his age group! Yay Chad!
