I hope I can make it next year!

I found this video of the 2009 Duathlon Nationals in Richmond, VA. I'm in it! I wish I could have done this race in 2010. I enjoyed course and James River ambiance in 2009.

Makes me think of Old Crowe Medicine Show:

This news came in my inbox yesterday:

There will be a change in the first run distance for the On-Road Age Group National Championship this year. As a result of a decision by the USAT Duathlon Committee, the first run will be a 5k instead of a 10k. The race distances will be a 5k run, a 38k bike and a 5k run.

Whoa! That's shaving a huge chunk of running out of the short course distance. I wonder what their motivation was.

How's this going to affect your preparation for duathlon nationals next year?

I've only been around the duathlon scene for a relatively short time. I gather from reading about the sport that duathlon's popularity among multi-sport enthusiasts has sagged since the late nineties. People have proposed reasons from triathlon's seductive marketing machine to lack of sponsorship and high-profile athletes. Whatever the cause of the duathlon recession, the event management company Sports Backers and USA Triathlon managed an economic turnaround for the sport at this year's Duathlon Nationals in Richmond, VA.

After travel all day Friday, I moved slowly Saturday - building the bike, munching on food, napping, and checking in. I managed to take in some sights in Richmond: the James River, the war memorial, the characteristic Southern charm. Despite a sidewall blowout on my ride back to my host's house, I felt as prepared as I could be.

I spare you the play by play of my race and just say that the atmosphere was great. A snafu with a train a couple miles into the first 10k made for an interesting few moments, as everyone in the 30-34 age group was held up behind a freight train. The event director was quick to offer his apologies for the mishap after the race. For me, racing is racing. Things happen. Things fall apart. Lucky for me, one of those things wasn't me. I managed to hold myself together in the baking sun.

The first 10k was rough on me; I did not feel on top of my game. The twisty and turning course kept me interested and on task. On the bike, I stayed on a fast cruise control, pushing myself on the undulating 3 laps. The bike course was one of the most interesting I'd ever done, looping back on itself several times each lap with only one turnaround.

The last 5k of the race I could tell I had not done my brick work. I managed to nearly catch the 4th place finisher in my age group, but not because I was super speedy. On the day, I finished 5th in my AG and 27th overall. In the best of my dreams, I'd hoped for more, but with life's realities as they've been lately, I'm pleased. Satisfied with less than the top spot? That in and of itself is a major accomplishment for me.

I have to say thanks again to USA Triathlon, Sports Backers, and all the volunteers who made this a great race. It was wonderful to see hundreds of athletes testing their mettle in Richmond. Good luck to everyone who qualified for Worlds! I'll see you in Concord.

It's 11pm, and I'm packing for Sunday's race. I head the door tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. to catch the airporter; 15 hours later I should be in Richmond. I'm packing light this trip.

I've distilled my mental checklist down to two essentials: tri shorts and cycling shoes. Everything else, I figure, you could buy, beg, borrow, steal, or go without if you had to. The tri shorts are a must because most people aren't going to let you steal and heaven forbid if you went without! If you forget your bike and pedals, your cycling shoes are probably useless, but you might be able to use the velcro to fashion something else you might have forgotten.

Let's look other things you'll want to forget:

• Everyone's into barefoot running these days, so why need running shoes?
• You could borrow a helmet and even a bike from a spectating kid, though it wouldn't be as aerodynamic.
• Life is risky anyway, so do you really need an extra tube & co2 cartridge?
• In a pinch, a T-shirt, dorky though it may be, could replace your tri top.
• The race is only 55k in total so even if you did bonk, you could probably finish. Who needs food?
• If you can find a Kinko's you could make like an 18-year-old and print a fake USAT license.

What items are you forgetting on your way to Duathlon Nationals this year?

The forecast for Sunday in Richmond: 90 degrees and sunny. I hope the roads aren't melting by my start time of 10:50 a.m. I probably will be by the time I finish.

Though we've had a couple of unseasonably hot days in the past week, acclimatization to heat is challenging in a coastal biome. Unlike when I lived in Tucson, AZ, there are only a few scorching hot days each year.

I have some experience racing duathlon in the heat. The heat and sun at last year's Long Course Duathlon Nationals in Auburn, CA was truly oppressive. People were wilting like parched tulips on the final run. Having only started running training 8 weeks before the event, I felt lucky to still be moving forward on the last climb. I managed to finish in a few minutes over 5 hours, plodding as quickly as I could to the nearest shade.

Even in a short course duathlon, heat exposure can still be a problem. My preparation plans haven't changed, other than focusing on staying cool and out of the sun before the race. During the race, though, I will concentrate on keeping my core body temperature cool. Dowsing myself in water at the water stops is a favorite method of mine. How are you planning to keep cool this weekend? Let us know in the comments.

I hope you are. I know I haven't treated you as well as you deserved the past few days. Standing on concrete for 8 hours a day is not the greatest preparation for Du nats, I know, and I could have treated you to more massages and TLC. What can I say? Life isn't fair. I hope you'll stick with me through Sunday.

People are saying that this weekend's Duathlon Nationals is the biggest duathlon ever on American soil. Count me in. I'm flying over 3000 miles from my little hamlet of Sebastopol, CA to Richmond, VA in the heart of tobacco land. Are the dogwoods and azaleas in bloom? I originally hail from South Carolina, and I miss Spring south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Pretty blossoms aside, I'm interested to see what this "duathlon resurgence" is all about. Is this a flash in the pan with ITU Worlds being hosted in North Carolina this year? Or are people truly interested in duathlon?

I am. I'm stoked on it. I admit to a personal motivation to see that duathlon booms. Secretly, I want to get back to being an elite athlete, and it would be fun if the depth of the duathlon competition stepped up and the quantity of events increased. I raced bikes for years and picked up running a couple of years ago. While I love heading into the coastal hills for long rides, I've come to love a long run through the apple orchards around Sebastopol just as much. Now I get to combine the two!

Between owning a bike shop and directing a nonprofit organization, I don't have the time to train that I once had, but I still manage to squeeze out some semblance of form somehow. Come Sunday, I'm going to ask my legs (and lungs too) to use every bit of that form to do it. As they say, "du or du not, there is no tri."

I've been reviewing the courses of duathlon nationals. As best I can tell, this is going to be a fast race! The elevation profiles are gentle. Though there a few turns on the bike course, the straightaways look fast and smooth.

I'm feeling fast myself - not WOW fast, but fast. I'm looking forward to a trip east in a few days.

Bike Course:

Run Course:

The impressions over at duathlon.com are mixed. What are your impressions?

USAT is billing 2009 Duathlon Nationals in Richmond, VA as what will be the largest duathlon in American History. You can be a part of that history, as registration just recently opened.

I hope to be there. Will you be there?