Mission Accomplished in San Angelo, TX

This past weekend I went back to a place I first set foot in back in 1992. Let's rewind, in July of 1992 while in the Air Force I started school at Goodfellow AFB, San Angelo, TX. Back then I thought this was the slowest town on earth and I spent every weekend but two in San Antonino getting to know the next city I was going to after San Angelo. Little did I know 17 years later I would willingly return to race my biggest race to date with a very high goal set for myself.

Last August I decided I wanted to qualify for a spot in the Long Course Duathlon World Championship and I set my sights on the Striders Duathlon as my A race for 2009. Is it crazy that I have two marathons this year and neither one of them are my A race? With only days before the race I discovered the ITU decided not to have a long course championship this year, even with this news I was still determined to continue on my mission to crush my competition in my age group.

Kevin, Sampson, and I drove up to San Angelo on Saturday to only to find it warmer than expected with winds gusting in the 20's. Oh boy the race is going to be fun. As Kevin took off for a 21 mile training run Sampson and I checked out the race site & area, grocery store and proceeded to get into race mode.

Sunday arrived with much cooler weather, little wind and overall perfect race conditions. Me being the A-type I am, I was the first racer to arrive so I had plenty of time to myself to prepare.

The race started promptly at 8:05am and I was checking out the competition looking for the others in my age group but could not spot them. The run was on what they call "Dirt road from hell" and I was warned about this road from Adam S. and Michael L. so I was prepared to hold my pace and do the first 5 mile run in 40 - 45 min. 44:28 first milestone CHECK.

As I headed out on the 46 mile bike course I knew I had to pace myself otherwise I would blow up and either die at the end of the ride or severely pay for it on the second run. I held a 19mph pace which I considered good given the wind had picked up, the rolling hills (known as the seven sisters) were tough toward the end and the chip sealed roads really kept speeds in check. I finished the ride in 2:26 well under my 2:30 goal, second milestone CHECK.

By the time I returned from the ride, Kevin being the wonderful partner he is had checked us out of the hotel and gotten in his open water swim.

Heading out on the second and final run I knew I had to hold it together and I felt pretty good. About a mile into the run my legs started to cramp so I had to stop and get them straight. At every water stop going out I took what ever the volunteers were giving to keep my core temperature down and to stay hydrated. By the time I hit the turn around I was feeling good so I had to make up lost time. I pushed it as hard as I could not knowing where the competition was and then I passed by someone who I thought was in my age group, I was crushed and thought my hopes of winning my age group were gone. But keeping with my motto, "Don't look back, you're not headed that way", I did just that and ran my race. 50:48 slower than expected but I left it all on the course. 4:03, Third milestone check, not sure?

To my surprise while checking the race results I found out the other person in my age group dropped out of the race so I WON MY AGE GROUP!!! Mission Accomplished and if there was going to be a championship I would have qualified.

Overall it was great race, well run and I will be back next year to defend my age group title. Hopefully I can convince Kevin and some others in Austin to do it with me. Now it's time rest a little and continue training for whatever comes next.

Be safe and remember, "There's no reason to look back, you're not headed that way"

Chris