Doin' the Dooley Du

Did the duathlon yesterday! It was the Dooley Gouley Du over in Monroe, Louisiana, held at the Forsythe Park boat launch area where there's a really nice mountain bike trail, picnic tables and a slow lazy Ouachita River to stare at while you contemplate life, the universe, and everything. Remember that line from the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"?

I got first in my age group and ninth overall, but the field was quite small...about 15-20, don't know exactly. It was a well run race and everyone raced as hard as they could. I was 7th at the end of the first 2.5-mile run but had to give way to two guys behind me who were better mountain bike riders. All I would do was slow them down and that'd be rude, so when they got close enough I would move over to let them through. I almost caught the 8th place guy in the last 400 meters of the last 2.5-mile run....actually I did catch him but couldn't overtake him. When I first saw him on the run, he was at least a quarter mile ahead of me and I thought I didn't have a chance to make up ground. But he kept getting closer and I suspected he was taking short quick steps since he was tired. So I increased my pace a bit and lengthened my stride a bit more. When I caught him I was just off his shoulder and he began to pick up the pace once he heard me running with him. I thought about making a move at 200 meters but the effort to catch in the first place took a lot out of me so I couldn't challenge him on the finish. I let him have it and he was not in my age group anyway (he was about 20 years younger!). I did take one tumble off the bike but it wasn't bad at all. The trail is quite technical and it's amazing what the folks there have done with such a small space to work with. This race deserves to grow and hopefully there'll be more participants next year.

Got home, cleaned Justin's mountain bike so it'll be nice when I return it tomorrow, and got some thing done around the house. ULM lost tonight 44-10 but considering it was to the 13th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks, I can't be too upset!