Josh Haas here; if anyone has ever had a bad day of racing, they will relate to my performance in the Gull Lake Duathlon. My first run went well and I was feeling strong into the bike leg which is my strongest discipline. Knowing I still had a 10k run ahead of me and some hills on the back part of the bike course, I backed off hoping to leave enough in the tank. Even with that, I was in 3rd position coming off the bike with high hopes of hitting the podium with Danny (knowing he’d likely do well). That goal was shattered about a mile and a half into the second run when severe cramps took hold and refused to let go. Not willing to give up, I began taking breaks and walking when necessary.
Having recently been working through some knee issues, my running has been non-existent for the past few weeks. I had hoped my base would sail me through the race ok but at the Olympic distance, I think that was probably a bad decision. Having said that, I did finish (with roughly half of my second run being walked) and while this affected me mentally I did walk away looking at it as a great learning experience.
While this was my worst showing in a race yet, I still finished and felt that was the right thing to do to properly represent the WSI team. A special thanks to the Katie Bridges for her encouragement during the second run and a huge thank you as always to Obewon (Danny) for being the consummate team mentor/coach.
-Josh