Law Day Duathlon

May 5th, 2007

Show me the Money!
-Law Day Duathlon (2 mile run, 14 mile bike, 2 mile run)


Well, the stomach pains are slowly disappearing! This is a good sign because the Duathlon World Championships are right around the corner. I definitely need to be ready for that one. Well this weekend I took a chance and drove up to Rockford to race in the Law Day Duathlon. The 125 dollars to the winner sparked my interest in this race too. I know its not much money considering all the expenses I have, but with barely anybody willing to help out sponsorship-wise this season, I am going to struggle getting by. A side note: I do want to thank all my current sponsors who have helped out - Village Tavern and Grill, Elk Grove Police Dept., Cerama-Lab, The Rabe Family, The Kingsmill Family, My own family, My Grandma and Grandpa Larson, and The Ryan Family for putting my name out there. It really means a lot, no matter what amount. This sport is extremely expensive and time consuming. Without the help of these people, I would not be racing at all this season.

Ok, back to the race. I drove home for the weekend and up to Rockford with my dad. He is my race supporter going to all the races that I do. It is amazing to have somebody like him willing to do all the things that he does for me. It was a bonus that he was racing in the duathlon too! We woke up early Saturday morning, drove to the race, signed up, and get all our equipment ready. I did a little warmup and my stomach felt good. I did this race a few years ago and placed second because of my weak biking at the time. I knew that I should be able to win if my stomach were to hold up. At the start, I felt a little nervous because I had the same expectations as the previous week in Sullivan, and I did not want the same results. The gun went off, and I made sure to make an impression. I took the lead and never looked back. By the 1/2 mile I was all alone and then decided to coast into the first transition. My two mile time was just under 10 minutes, not too fast, but not too slow. I took off on the bike and this little course has some rollers! It was a three loop course so I was hoping to keep my lead by the third lap. Well going into the second lap I was passed! I was a little worried because I did not want to give up my lead and not be able to catch back up on the last run. On the third lap I was passed again! I need to work on my cycling a little more.

So going into the last run, I was sitting in third place. I had a fast transition and passed the 2nd place guy within seconds of the last run. I was running quickly and my stomach didnt hurt! This was another main goal of the race. I wanted to see if my stomach would hold up. If it didnt, I was going to have to get some more tests done. By the 1 mile mark, I took the lead again. I did not have to work very hard on the last mile and just saved my energy. I coasted into the win with a time of 58:20 with a second 2 mile time of 10:30. Overall, it was a great race because I had no pain and also got a little bonus of 125 dollars. It will help out with the shipping of my bike out to Hungary in just 2 weeks!

My dad ended up doing well. He enjoyed the course and it was really nice to have him there competing alongside me. I will have to get him registered for a few more races this summer so that he gets involved too! Well, next up is the World Championships in Hungary. I will take a bunch of pictures and write some details about the trip while I'm out there. So make sure you check back. I will be leaving on May 14th, racing on the 19th, and flying home on the 21st.


One last thing! I wanted to congratulate my little bro, Jason, for running a 6:56 mile for his school. He is in third grade, just turned 9 years old, and is beating all the times I ever ran. Keep up the good work dude, you're amazing!