New Orleans and The Thin Line Between Amazing and Crazy
11/07/2016
NEW ORLEANS DRAFT LEGAL TRI/DU TURNED ‘DOUBLE DU’
THE THIN LINE BETWEEN AMAZING AND CRAZY
I would like to share a story with you. It is about a girl, named Kimee Armour. You see, Kimee has a burning desire to compete in the World Championship for Duathlon to be held in Penticton, Canada, in 2017. At the Duathlon National Championship qualifier which was in Bend, Oregon in June, she missed qualifying. Her only other chance was going to be at the Draft Legal race in New Orleans on November 6th. The challenge? She was entered to race Ironman Florida the day before… November 5th. Did that stop her? No. She prepared her Ironman gear, and packed a bag for the Duathlon the next day. She set an almost 2 hour PR for her Ironman, and hit the road with her husband driving from Panama City to New Orleans, and raced the Duathlon mere hours after finishing an Ironman. AFTER FINISHING AN IRONMAN. Most of us are doing good just to walk after finishing an Ironman….maybe just stand up. The race announcer recognized her at the starting line - and stated, “There is a thin line between amazing and crazy”.
As for me - well, I had a great time in New Orleans. The children are beyond their max allowable days of school missed, so Jeff graciously allowed me to go race. I met up with my friends Bruce Heiser and Dan Hammond from Nashville when I arrived - and they took such good care of me. Between the two of them we found some of the coolest restaurants with the best food off-the-beaten-track that you can imagine! Kevin Elmore and Marc Mone from Cali joined us on Saturday night - and it was a wonderful evening swapping stories and laughs (and a really funky restaurant).
And the races! So, the weather turned on us Saturday morning and the race mgmt and officials were faced with the tough call of canceling the swim. There were numerous upset folks, but I have to agree with the decision. While the water itself was swimmable, it was more the exit that was the deciding factor (as far as I could tell). With the chop crashing on the concrete embankment, there was a huge risk for getting people out safely. Could it be done? Sure. Could everyone do it safely? No way. It just was not worth the risk. So - the triathlon became a duathlon. 5k run, 20k bike, and 5k run. Ironically, the very same race that was to be held the next day. For all those triathletes that have been hesitant to do a duathlon - there ya go!
Draft legal is just a different type of race. The men raced first and it was fun to cheer on all the guys I knew racing and see how the draft format played out. In my race, running that first 5k there were several girls out in front and my ‘strategy’ was to try to finish with the lead girls and hopefully work together on the bike, then see what was left for the last run. By the end of the 5k there was one girl about 10sec up - I managed to head out of transition ahead of her and called to her to come and let’s work together on the bike. There was a short hill out of transition beginning the bike, and I slowed up to see if she would catch up -when she hadn’t by the top I just decided to go ahead. There was a pretty sweet tailwind for the first mile to the turnaround, and I figured she would catch up there. The turnaround came, and she was still behind me, so I just settled in and decided to ride my race. If she caught me, great - we would be able to work together. If not - well, what would be would be. It was a two loop bike, and there was a stiff headwind as well (the price you pay for a sweet tailwind). A chase pack had formed behind me, and I kept expecting them to catch me at any moment. Somehow I managed to hold them off and had enough of a lead to make it through the last run. Might I add - the crowds were just fantastic! The 2 loop course on the bike meant going by the main staging area several times - and the cheers helped SO much!
Sunday morning I have to confess, I REALLY enjoyed watching the men’s race. There was a group from Memphis that came down to race together - and I almost forgot I was racing I was so excited to see how it all played out (and they did fantastic)! My race ended up about the same - several girls ahead of me on the run, entered transition with one, hoped to work with her on the bike, didn’t work out, rode as hard as I could, expected to be caught any moment, somehow wasn’t, crowds were even BETTER than Saturday (including the Memphis contingent who stayed to cheer which REALLY made my day, and Tim Yount who I always love to see!), and in some unimaginable way, I managed to defend my win from last year!
And, (yes I made you read all that to get to the main point of my story) Kimee Armour raced. She raced with everything she had left. Not only did she race, but she got her slot, by 42 seconds.
And that, my friends, is what life and sport are all about. You find something you are passionate about. You dedicate yourself to it. You dare to dream, you push yourself, you test your limits, you do what others might deem impossible. And, yes, you may have to walk that fine line between amazing and crazy. Otherwise you might never know . . . nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Walk that line.
Anything.Is.Possible.
And a few more random pics . . . just 'cause:
Kirsten you are an amazing athlete and you do such a great job of being a representative of the sport. Keep on enjoying what you do.
Posted by: Monte Lowe | 11/08/2016 at 03:19 PM