Run Diva: Run Diva Competes in First Olympic Distance Duathlon

Above: Olympic distance finishers medal

This is the third year I've been racing and the second year I've been participating in duathlons. Since the beginning of 2009, I've done 11 sprint distance duathlons and one 1/2 Ironman distance duathlon. On Sunday, May 2, I participated in my first Olympic distance duathlon at Tri Miami.

Above: Run Diva during the 10k portion of Tri Miami

Tri Miami

Tri Miami took place in Crandon Park on Key Biscayne, Florida. The race could be done as either a sprint triathlon, an Olympic triathlon or an Olympic duathlon. I did the duathlon option which was 1 mile run - 24.8 mile bike - 6.2 mile run. I normally wouldn't have a problem with running a 10k or biking a 40k, but put it all together with a 1 mile run warm up, and dang, that was a lot of racing.

Above: Tri Miami bling; tech t-shirt, running hat, finishers medal, age group award plaque

Publix Fitness Family Weekend

Tri Miami was part of the Multirace.com Publix Fitness Family Weekend race series. There are a total of 9 races in the series. If you complete a minimum of 4 races, you qualify for the overall points series awards. I think I will be doing a total of 6 of the races. The other 3 races are a little too far out of town for me to travel. I am on a limited budget and don't really have the funds for hotels, meals, etc... for out of town races. I'm always looking for sponsors and advertisers to help with these expenses: hint, hint!

Above: the running portion of Tri Miami stayed in Crandon Park

Turtle Power Rules

Wind was a bit of an issue at the race. The bike portion of the Olympic distance race involved doing two laps on Rickenbacker Causeway which included going down Virginia Key, and crossing William Powell bridge 4 times. Lately I've been having issues with bridges, not so much going up them, but I've kind of been freaking out about going too fast coming down the bridges.

Above: Run Diva, AKA Lynn Smythe, coming down William Powell bridge

Road Bike VS Tri Bike

Since the weather forecast was for a bit of wind, I decided to bring my road bike to the race, instead of using my triathlon bike. The tri bike, with it's aero frame, aerobars and deep dish carbon wheels is really twitchy, especially in the wind. I just got the tri bike in October, and guess I need to do a lot more riding on it to get comfortable. My friend, triathlon stud Louis Blanco, used his tri bike for the race and got up to 44 MPH coming off the bridge - YIKES! He has no fear, me, not so much. I'm more like big chicken on wheels. Here's a link to Louis' video which he took as he was going up and over William Powell bridge during the race:

Zombie Death March

I think I used up all my energy on the bike portion of the race. I was only doing 7.9 MPH on my last climb up William Powell bridge. That is kind of sucky. I was toast when I finally got back to Crandon Park and dismounted my bike. I still had a 10k to run, that's 6.2 miles. I started doing the zombie death march and mostly walked my two laps around the park. I've been having ongoing problems with the top of my left foot. Yup, dang foot started screaming at me about half way into the run. I think I hobble walked, limped across the finish line. Oh well, at least I did it - completed my first Olympic distance duathlon at 46 years old. Actually, my racing age is 47, so there!

Above: smile, you're on candid camera!

Never Too Old to Race

At 46, I was far from the oldest person racing that day. I met a girl at the duathlon start in her early 50's. She fell off her bike coming out of the first transition, yet she managed to pick herself up and complete the entire race with a scraped knee. She finished about 13 minutes faster than me - awesome! The Olympic distance award ceremony was a bit delayed getting started. The race officials were waiting for the last athlete to cross the finish line. It was a 73 year old lady competing in her first Olympic distance event - that is freaking amazing! 73!?! I hope to still be going that strong when I'm that age.

Above: more bling for the trophy case

Trophy Case Additions

Despite my rather slow finishing time, I still got an award. I was the only one competing in my age group, so I got a first place award plaque. Hey, I was out there doing it. What were you doing Sunday morning? I had to get up at 4 AM, to leave my house by 4:30 to get down to the race venue by 5:45. Then I had to unload all my gear, get my timing chip, get body marked, then set up my transition area before the 7 AM race start. Then I had to endure 3 hours and 8 minutes of PAIN, while out on the course. So hell yes, I am proud of both my finishers medal and age group award - WOO-HOO!

Final Race Results