On Sunday I did the Revolution 3 Triathlon in Middlebury, CT, as part of a relay team. This was the first time I had ever done one as a relay and also the first time I had ever raced in New England.

How did I come to do this race? Several months ago my friend Carol Scheible, who is on the Trakkers team, asked me if I'd be willing to do the bike part of the race in a relay with her teammate Kelly Covert. Once I saw that a lot of top pros would be in the race, and that my friend Stormy lives near the race site, I decided to do it because it sounded like fun.

Our drive from NC to CT was quite an ordeal! It rained on us the whole way, we got stuck in several traffic jams, and once we crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson River, we went the wrong way on Saw Mill River Parkway. By the time we realized our mistake, we were in Yonkers, NY, a long way from where we were supposed to be. What we thought would be a 10-hour drive ultimately ended up being a 15-hour drive.

I met my relay partner in person for the first time the day before the race. She was to do the swim and the run. After we met, I set off on my bike to preview the first few miles of the bike course.

Because I was just doing the bike ride, and because I was being asked to carry a Trakkers device during the race, I decided to wear a bicycle jersey on top of my tri suit. Since I had jersey pockets, I also decided to carry my iPhone with me on the bike.

When the race started, I took pictures of the first few waves beginning the swim. Then, as I was getting ready to take my spot in the transition area to wait for Kelly, I saw the first pros running into the TA. Since I had my iPhone with me, I took pictures of the pros. One shot in particular showed Matt Reed -- who would ultimately win the men's race, leaving the TA with his bike.

When Kelly entered the TA, she started yelling my name and waving at me, which gave me a great heads up. She gave me the timing chip for my ankle and the Trakkers device, which is about the size of a pager, and I was off.

The first few miles were mostly downhill, with a few small rollers thrown in for good measure. But then the course settled into its true nature, which was roller after roller after New England roller, and it stayed that way for most of the ride. Most of the hills were not that long or that tough on their own, but the cumulative effect was brutal! There were a few screaming fast descents that I really enjoyed. I caught up to Carol after the first really fast descent, about one hour into my ride and about 20 miles into the course. There was also one long climb after that point that lasted maybe a mile or two.

When I finished the bike ride, I tried to hand the Trakkers device to Kelly, but she said it wasn't working and that she had gotten a second device. She was off pretty quickly and looked strong heading out. My bike split ended up being 03:05:37. (In comparison, my PR on the Duke Half Ironman bike course -- also considered a tough course -- was 02:51:57.)

While I was waiting for Kelly to finish the run, I heard over the loudspeakers that Matt Reed had won the men's race in an amazingly fast time of just under four hours. And not long after, I happened to see him hanging out near the massage tables. I introduced myself to him, congratulated him on his win, and showed him the picture I had taken of him with my iPhone. He confirmed that it was indeed him in the picture.

I asked him what he thought of the run course. His reply:  "Oh, it was brutal!"

Kelly finished strong and I got a picture of her entering the finishing chute. A little while later I got a picture of Carol as she entered the finishing chute.

Our relay team -- called Team Covert-Hughes-- finished #17 of 33 teams. And Carol, who put in a really gutsy performance herself, later called the race a "brutal test of mental toughness" for her. There's that word again -- brutal. It keeps coming up whenever I hear someone talking about their experience in this race.

My verdict on the bike course? Without a doubt, it was the toughest triathlon bike course I have ever ridden.

Yesterday I started, but did not finish, the White Lake Half Ironman. Since this is the first time I have ever been a DNF in a triathlon, I think it's worth a little post-mortem reflection.

First, I have to note that just six days earlier, I competed in the Duathlon National Championship race on a very hot day in Richmond, Va. My splits in that race were about what I expected, but the race took a lot out of me. So much so, that earlier this week I was saying that I probably would not do the WL race, even though I was registered for it. But later in the week I changed my mind and decided to go for it.

The race started out well for me. Swim conditions were great -- calm water and wet suit legal. I felt very good during the swim and finished it in about 45 minutes, which may be a new swim PR for me. (I'll have to look up my past race results to be sure.)

The first part of the bike ride felt great. It felt like I was absolutely flying, without much effort, and passing lots of people. But very soon into the bike ride I encountered strong head winds and cross winds that stayed with me for most of the rest of the ride. The winds definitely played a role in wearing me down a bit on the bike.

Nonethless, I had a decent bike split and felt strong starting the run. I ran the first mile in a little less than 8 minutes, got to mile 2 in just over 16 minutes, and got to mile 3 in less than 25 minutes. But by mile 4 my legs were really starting to feel dead. I started walking at the water stops. Then I started walking in between water stops.

I got to the run turnaround after about 62 minutes after starting the run. At that point I realized that I wouldn't even be able to match my run PR on the much tougher Duke Half course, which was about 1:58:00. I went through the turnaround and started back the other way, but then I thought, "I've got at least another hour of pain and suffering before I'll be done with this race. And it's just not worth it to me."

Because of where the turnaound was, I was able to walk back to the start via a much shorter route than retracing the run route, so that's what I did.

What lessons have I learned from this? First, don't schedule two hard races so close together. Second, if you know your motivation to do a particular race is low (as mine was for this race), it's OK to skip the race, even if you have already paid a lot of money to register for it.

In fact, that's the wiser course of action.

Live and learn.

Don't have time to write a lengthy blog post about Duathlon Nationals, but here's what I wrote about it on my Twitter site: http://twitter.com/tahughes

Duathlon nationals results now posted at http://tinyurl.com/cyfmpw. I was #65 of 99 in my age group (not #66 as I tweeted previously).8:32 AM Apr 27th from web

Du natz was bloody stinking hot! 2nd run was miserable. I finished 66th of 99 in my age group.2:03 PM Apr 26th from TwitterBerry

This morning I did the Carrboro Classic Super Sprint Duathlon, finishing in 14th place overall and in 3rd place among masters men.

Here's more detail from the post-race e-mail that I got from Kale Running:

Congratulations Tom Hughes on finishing the Carrboro Classic Duathlon and Wild West 8K on April 05, 2009.  For your records, the weather that day was sunny, 48-72 degrees F, calm to east wind at 6 mph.

There were 19 finishers in the Male 40 to 44 age group and 161 finishers in the Super Sprint Duathlon division.

Your overall finish place was 14.  Your age group finish place was ***** and your gender finish place was 10.

Your time was  1:02:32.80.

Your Run 1 time was 24:31.95, Overall place 34, Run 1 Pace  7:00 min/mile
Your Bike time was 32:26.55, Overall Place 13, Speed 22.2mph.
Your Run 2 time was 09:41.40, Overall place 14, Run 2 Pace  6:49 min/mile

For a full listing of results please visit www.kalerunning.com.  We hope you enjoyed the race, and hope to see you at another kalerunning.com timed event in the near future.

Happy Running,

Team Kale

The final standings for the 2009 Inside Out Sports 4 City Duathlon Series have been posted.

I finished in third place overall among males ages 40-99.

See:

http://www.fsseries.com/uploads/3232009202932_2009%20Du%20Points%20Final%20Standings%201.htm