IT was wet and cold but a day to remember!

This morning was the Spring Fling Duathlon. I woke up at 4:00 am, took a shower, ate a piece of toast with peanut butter and jelly and banana, packed my gear, put my bike in the truck and it was time to go. We left Visalia by 5:15 am. We arrived in Fresno at 6:00 am just as it started raining. As 7:00 am rolled around the rain continued to poor down. It was going to be a wet and cold event. But there are running/biking Gods out there because the rain stopped when the start gun went off. A modified warm-up was good enough to get me off to a good start. IT was a fast start. The first 8 guys ran the first mile under 5:45. Then we settled into our zone. After the first lap I saw my good friend Ira and gave him a high five. Ira has battled back from a serious fracture in his tibia and fibula 1 1/2 years ago. Now, he is running 6 miles. Pretty inspiring and amazing. I finished the first 4 miles in 25 minutes, got on my bike and it was time to bust out 8 miles. The bike was windy and wet. The morning rain left the roads slick and slippery. It was a medium pace to the turnaround and a fast pace back to the transition area. I got off my bike, made a quick transition back to my running shoes and I was off. I was in 10th place at the time. Because of a fast transition I was in 8th place with two competitors about 200 yards in front of me. They were my carrots that I had to chase. I went out hard. At about the 1 mile mark, I picked up my pace. The two guys infront of me were now close. I cranked up the pace and went right by them without letting up. We had one more hill left to climb and I pushed hard all the way to the finish line. Out of 91 competitors, I finished 6th overall and 3rd in my age group.

Megan Piepgrass, another Visalia Triathlon Club Member did awesome! She finshed 1st in her age group and 3rd overall in the women division. Ira finshed 31st overall and 5th in his age group. And great job to Melanie for sticking it out and finishing the event.

We battled the weather and the extreme conditions. Another day to put in the books and another day to remember!