Priceless!

Race Entry.........65 Dollars
Hotel Room.....100 Dollars
Gasoline.............50 Dollars

Winning your first Duathlon Race, Priceless!

There are some things in life you can buy, for everything else, you need to work really hard to get it. I've been racing for over 20 years now, starting with xc and track in middle school, and progressing into Multisport races in my late teens and early 20's. Now, at the old age of 32, I've been passed by pretty much everyone else in their 20's. My training has slacked to "only" 7hrs a week, my intensity is way down, and I just can't keep the same pace on training runs that I used to. But with all my past races, mileage charts, and thrown out running shoes, I never won anything.

But since my surgery, I've vowed to keep myself in shape and to get back into the competitive mode. I've met up with a great running group here in Providence that has kept me honest with my training. I have friends who have been supportive and are always up for a bike or run. I even got challenged to compete in my first Triathlon, which I whole-heartedly accepted. This summer hasn't been my most consistent training summer of training, but it's been a very good summer and a very hard summer.

I was watching the Olympic Men's Marathon last night before I went to bed. The winner ran about 2:06, which equates to about 4:50 per mile. I ran a single mile in 4:50 by the time I was a Jr in High School, and I don't think I ever ran 2 miles at that pace, let alone 26.2! Did that run inspire me to go out and win this race? Probably not. I think taking the lead on the bike inspired me to keep pushing through the end and keep my lead on the run. I would say that I was running scared, more than I was running inspired.

Right now I'm ecstatic, I'm exhausted, and I'm really really sore. I'm going to ice a bit before I take a nice long nap. Tomorrow I'll be back on the roads, ready to start my preparations for my next race. When is that? Oh, next weekend. I'm running the New Haven 20k on Monday (Labor Day.) I ran this last year in the sweltering heat and bombed out around the 7 mile mark, though I still finished. This year I'm hoping to slow it down a bit and just use this as a nice long temp run. And, so that I don't get your hopes up, I will definitely NOT be winning this race. Happy Trails!

BEN