Photo taken by FinisherPix
I recently headed to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for the 2021 USA Triathlon Duathlon National Championships to compete against approximately 800 of the nation’s best duathletes between the ages of 14 and 84 as they compete for national titles in three events: Standard-Distance (Non-Drafting), Sprint-Distance (Non-Drafting), and Sprint-Distance (Draft-Legal). After the 2020 USA Triathlon Duathlon Nationals were canceled due to COVID-19, I feel I’m coming into the season more prepared than I have in a very long time and I’m excited to see how I stack up against the best in the country.
This was the first USA Triathlon-produced National Championship to take place since August 2019. The race was held with COVID-19 safety measures in place according to USA Triathlon’s Safe Return to Multisport initiative, including self-screening and temperature checks upon entrance to the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater; wearing masks at all times except while actively racing; reduced physical contact for athletes, staff and volunteers; and increased onsite cleaning and disinfecting.
I arrived in Tuscaloosa Thursday afternoon to relax a little and ease the pre-race nerves. The next morning, I went to the expo to pick up my race packet and did a short ride on the course to give my bike a final check since this would be the first race riding it. Before heading back to my hotel room to rest, I visited The Recovery Room for a quick whole body cryotherapy session for additional recovery before race day. The rest of the afternoon was spent preparing for the heat by staying well hydrated.
Saturday afternoon, I participated in the Non-Drafting Sprint, which featured a 5k run, 20k bike and 2.9k run in hot, humid, and windy conditions (it was 86 degrees with the sun directly overhead at start). Athletes were sent off in a time-trial format in small groups, five at a time, to reduce congestion on the course. The bike-and-run course took athletes on the Tuscaloosa River Walk, along the Black Warrior River and onto Jack Warner Parkway, finishing at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater. I wanted to be conservative on that first run because it would get hotter as in the day progressed. The majority of the bike course was on a wide-open highway with little to no protection from cross winds and while I’m confident in my bike handling in winds, there were times that I had to really focus on maintaining control of the bike. For the second run, I just settled into the most comfortable pace I could hold and make it to the finish line as quickly as possible.
I started the race with the goal of qualifying in my age-group to represent Team USA in duathlon at the 2022 World Triathlon Multisport Championships in Townsville, Australia. At the very least, I was hoping to finish within the top 10 in my age-group to earn All-American status. I thought that just might be doable given I was so close in 2019 when I placed 9th in the 45-49 age-group. As expected, it was a highly competitive field and unfortunately, my solid finish was not enough for a top 10 finish. My finishing time was 1 hour 29 minutes. As a result, I placed 15th out of 18 in my age-group (I aged up to 50-54), 95th out of 130 males, and 126th out of 209 overall. I wasn’t expecting to make the podium and I’m very happy with that day’s performance because I don’t know that I would have ran or biked as fast as I did without the competition.
While I did not get the results I wanted, it was an honor having the opportunity to compete in the 2021 USA Triathlon Duathlon National Championships. Being a “pure” duathlete who has never competed in a triathlon (and don’t plan to), I’m happy to see that I am continuing to grow mentally and physically as an athlete while finding out how good I can be against some of the best.
Thank you to my sponsor, The Cryotherapy Place (CryoPlace) for the continued support as well as HOKA One One, HoneyStinger, Sur, Varlo Apparel, and Road ID for providing products that help me be my best. And as always, a big thank you to my family for believing in me.