FORD #2

FORD, what is it? No, not the brand of car... it’s the Fredricksburg Off-road Duathlon, ironically sponsored by Toyota. Run - Mtb - Run. In many ways, this combination is more trying than a full triathlon. The entire idea of running at a fast pace (almost a sprint) before hopping on the bike is completely nuts.

Michele, Scott, Shawn and I started our trek at 6.15 from Cville. An hour before race start we arrived and immediately started setting our transition and stretching. By 9am we headed down to the start line with C. Tankersley and wished each other well. The first part of the run is a flat stretch of gravel road before turning a corner and heading up a hill. No, it’s not a hill. Its a climb that more than 50% of the group walks. This leads you to single track, a creek crossing and the remaining flat or descending trail. Shawn, the 'non-runner', but talented sprinter was a head of me; Scott was as well. Michele and Christy were behind. The hard part about the run was the mixture of non-covered trail, which was hot, humid... which made breathing difficult. By the end of the run, I passed Scott and was definitely breathing heavy (not in a sexy way; not at all) I was the first woman into transition and completely on my way out before seeing the next woman.

A .75 mi flat section allowed me to divert some of the building lactic acid, while passing a number of guys. The trail transitioned into moist single track. Rooty with log jumps... the first part of the mtb course was fun. Though, as the trail started to climb more guys had difficulty continuing on the saddle... that meant a lot of stopping and starting again. Scott met up with me shortly before the pack started to break up and was on his way. More than half way through was a really cool dark tunnel to more trails. That is when a friend, Paul, met caught me... Of course, this was just in time to see me endo over a difficult 2 limb log jump. Ouch. Not too much later was the transition to the run.

Run. Run. Run! Those were the word in my head as heading up the second climb. I knew Paul was ahead, so I set off to catch him. The last 200m we were neck in neck. I actually coaxed him to catching me as I passed him and started sprinting to the finish. We crossed the line at the same time. Happily, I was greeted by Shawn, who finished in 2^nd place after the bike leg, but was passed by three others during the run. Likely, those that passed him on the run actually train by running…. A potential lesson for the future…

Christy, followed by Michele, head into transition. I saw the two of them on the run trail, so I knew they would be coming in sometime soon. What Shawn and I didn’t know is whether our friend Whitney who trailed Michele going into transition would be able to catch up to them on the run. Christy held her time gap for a 2^nd place finish. Michele ended up in 3^rd for a Female Bike Factory 1 – 2 – 3 victory. Scott finished 1^st in his age group and had a great race. Whitney placed 4^th.

Following the race was the most delightful jump in the river to get clean… well of course until some of the fish started nipping at my toes. After a BBQ will all of the participants, we picked up some cool-io lavender mugs prizes. Oh yes, even the men picked up lavender mugs. Awesome.