Keuka Lake Duathlon 2024: In the Meantime

 Hello internet!  

It's about time for the start of the 2024 multisport season...or is it? LOL.  When we last left, I had done Boston, which was the perfect race for all the wrong reasons.  It was the end of a lot of things, including the quest for the "Q".....that started in 2022.  BQ, KQ, all the Qs.  And while...none of it ended up the way I thought - I didn't end up competing in Kona, and my Boston was just not what I expected at all....it was exactly how it should have been.  Which, of course, is a metaphor for the last two or five years of my life.  Everything happens for a reason, we just might not know what it is at the time.  And everything inside and outside the racing world prepped me for it, whether I knew it or not at the time.  All I had to do was.....go for it with the best of my abilities and true intentions, and learn how to react, adapt, and continue moving forward through it.

The real question on every level is - whats next?  Good one, and if we are playing this game right - the answer is, go for what seems right, be honest about all of it, and always remember you have people cheering for you through the process.  Check. I am so lucky.

Let's pivot from the life lessons and move on to racing, shall we? The month of June would normally see me starting the season of triathlon - swim, bike, run, repeat, check.  2024 has been...different.  Challenging, life altering, scary but also....a path of finding who I am.  Its got 2019 vibes of the "big scary thing" but this time....I'm jumping in, very confident of who I am and how lucky I am to have such a great support system.

What does that look like for racing?  I'm still figuring it out.  I know for sure I'm taking 2024 off from long course tri - I need a break.  I love the swim and bike, but I also have no desire to do scheduled 4-6 hour rides each week.  Next year.  Not this year.

Of course, this story involves new friends and terrible decisions, but for the sake of this race report - it doesn't involve a lot of swimming.  So in the old switcheroo, I decided to try a sport i haven't voluntarily signed up for in over a decade - the duathlon.  Keuka duathlon featured a 5k-14mile-5k run bike run, and I was all in.  Why not swim, Rae?  Two reasons.  One - I was already in the midst of dumb life choices for running, and Two - while i love swimming for recovery, my swim speed is just not there and i like to ZOOM!  Here we go!

Keuka has been the opener for many years for multi sport - its a great venue, the bike is pretty, and the run right along the lake.  Ryan came up from PA and we hung out the night before, and headed down to Penn Yan early am to set up!  It was...raining.  Of course, the year I opted to now swim, here I was gonna get wet anyways.  Thanks karma LOL

Pre race, I set up my gear, laughed with the duathletes that looked at me with horror as I racked alongside them (sorry guys) and then of course, went and made it a party.  So many people I hadnt seen in person for 6 months were there, and I (so serious athlete) needed to catch up!  It was a great time, despite the shivering and wet, and before i knew it, I was in the RATs tent stripping off my warm gear and prepping to start!

Run #1- 21:43 - 7:02/mi

The du is a small race, there were only about 20 women in it, and maybe 40 total people.  I started up front with James Roche, a local fast as hell duathlete, and we laughed about would outrun the other.  With an airhorn, we were off!!  I haven't run speed in months, so had no clue what to expect.  One woman and one guy took off like a shot, averaging what must have been 6:30s, and I ran alongside James, while we debated if they could bike or not (LOL).  I didn't recognize the woman, but I knew she was running outside my element, so I stayed within myself.  Shocking to me, we clocked low sevens the hole first run, and James and I ran into t1 together (well, he let me go ahead as a gentleman...for this run anyways LOL)

Bike: 43:13, 18.5 mph

Here's where the rubber met the road.  It was still a little soggy, but I made it on my bike ok (helmet the right way - check!) and was off.  I passed the woman ahead of me about a half mile into the bike, and she laughed and said - I wont catch you again have fun!  Ohhhh, ok.  I had no idea what that meant, but now the racer in me was activated, and I started doing math.  I figured if she could beat me by about 2 minutes in a 5k, I needed at least 3 on the bike.  Lets dance, baby!  The bike course is aa fair course in this race - some rollers the first half, then a nice zoom downhill, turn around, grind for a mile, then rollers net downhill back.  The wind was in our face the way out, so it was slower, but still fun.  I saw James about a half mile ahead of me before I hit the turnaround (we were in the lead) and as I headed back, I got to see all the duathletes and sprinters zooming out!  So many friends.  Fast runner woman was about two minutes back, and I knew I had to boogie.  I've had about 3 rides total in 2024, so my bike speed sucks, but I put in a decent effort on the way back and zoomed into t2 feeling ready to run! (again)

Run #2: 23:09 - 7:32/mi

As I hit the second run, I heard the announcer say my name and I was in the lead - yassss.  I had no designs to win this thing signing up, but now it was on!  I saw my old coach, mean dude, along the course and he joked "Where are all the other runners??" and I laughed.  I was in my element, smiling and having a great time.  The first mile of run 2 was...eerie.  I saw no one.  James was far enough ahead and the Oly athletes were nowhere in sight.  I've never had a course to myself before and I had no clue what to do with it, but it was pretty cool!!  Near the turnaround I got to see some of the winning Oly athletes and James, and we flashed a thumbs up.  The way bac, of course, was epic.  All the sprinters were on the course and fast woman runner was about 5 minutes back, and I could just enjoy.  I was closing mid 7s and while not my fastest - it was a solid effort and eft me room to thumbs up and smile those on the course.  With a quarter mile to go, I saw my awesome race support on the sidelines and gave a big smile, then zoomed with all my effort to the finish, hearing that sweet - "Rae Glaser, our women's winner and second overall!".  Still surreal.  Never gets old.  Wow.

Post race, we had an awesome catered lunch and i hung out with all my multisport faves.  Its everything that is right with the world.  And this serious in particular.  I'm lucky enough to be part of the First Knight Racing team, and Joe's events never disappoint.  Thanks to Joe, Erin, Steve, Kate and the whole crew for everything! 

What's next?  Multisport - peasantman.  (Yes, I'll swim for that one).  Running?  Well.....we will get to that soon.  It's gonna be wild, idiotic and fun.  And really, do I ever do life different? :)