This really is my favorite sprint triathlon I have done so far for all 3 years in a row. It was great to see Jack and Jean and Brian and his mom Celeste, and Raul and all the other great volunteers out at the race.
Pre race – day before:
As usual, Pf tri is on Fathers Day, so the day before we went up to see Leah’s parents since they are only about 40 minutes away. I would have gone to see my parents too, but that’s more like 4 days away. So, we headed up to their town, but met half way in between to get a steak for early lunch. I didn’t order my normal (I got a Ribeye), and although it was good, I do like a prime rib or fillet for the day before a race. Something about the way they… go through me… is better. Oh, and I thought I ordered onion rings, but apparently I orderd 12 pounds of onion straws. Way too greasy. We did have a good time, and played some games, picked up an old bike that a friend was buying from my mother in law. A sweet Santa Fe Schwinn, a classic in good condition. On the way home, Leah and I were both a little tired and grumpy and needed food, but we survived and made it home. We put everything in Beastly and went to bed nice and early.
Pre race – morning of:
4:30am and I was up and feeling ready! Did some puttering around, was able to use the bathroom OK, and that’s always good on race mornings. We got in the car a little after 5 and headed to the lake. Transition opened at 5am, and for as much as I wanted to be the first one in, its OK, we got great spots on the racks. Its open racks there, the best kind. Found some friends, and got to talk for a while. Hi Jack and Brian! Then we went on our warm up run and I had to really hold myself back, I was just ready for the race to start. Next was a warm up swim, I didn’t swim long, and we ended up standing around with Brian and Celeste talking until the national anthem played. That means it was about to be go time. I was wave 3, so I watched wave 1 go off, then got into position on double deck. Oh yeah! (said like the Kool-aid man)
Swim: 13:07:00
As I said, I was in wave 3, so started on double deck, got in water, got complimented on my HIM tattoo. Kinda cool. Started swimming. First 100, I felt like I was breathing too hard so I slowed it down just a touch for the next 100. My breathing and over all stroke got better, but I tried to go on the inside to avoid being in the middle of the washing machine, and ended up miss sighting to the marker on the other side. I ended up a little off course and had to correct. No biggie, still feeling strong, just not the best sighting day, we can recover. As I got near the farthest marker I thought I was mis-sighting again, but it turns out it broke free and was blowing around in the wind. So instead of going out to the point and back it felt more like going off to the right further than I should have then back.
Once I hit that marker and turn I noticed that it was moving to the west side of the lake and not in position. I started to worry, then realized everyone else had to deal with it too, and just swam out the next 100. The last markers were stable and in place thankfully, and I think I swam them quite well. I had to swim over some people once it got deep enough to stand. Don’t these people know to swim until your hands touch the ground? Silly people. Once MY hands hit dirt, I got up. I ran out of the water, saw Leah cheering me on and asked about my time. It didn’t feel as fast as last year and she confirmed that it was in the 13s. So darn, I am 1 minute behind last year. Time for T1.
T1: 2:45:00
The mat seemed to be in a different position this year for the T1 entry, so this could be shorter than last year due to that, or maybe I just did great. So, I ran in, put on my gear, got in my shoes and socks easily. Camelback went on without any major issues, then grabbed the bike and was out of transition. It went by fast in my head, but I never felt rushed.
Bike: 45:10:00
I have become a much better cyclist this year, at least it feels like it, and well, I was 1MPH faster this year than last year so Ill take it. Once on the bike I started to just go as fast as I could without feeling like I was going to get out of breath. I knew where all the hills were going to be since this is our normal training grounds, and I stayed up with my nutrition of eating something every 10 minutes. The alarm on the Garmin going off every 10 really helped me out with that.
As we were about to hit the 3rd turn that leads right into 4 rollers, I didn’t let up so much as let some of the guys on super expensive bikes fly past me. I knew the hills were coming and wondered if they were going to be ready for them. Apparently not since I passed 3 bikes going up the first hill without any real effort. Where they were just dying by the top by not being prepared. I later talked to one of the guys I passed here and he said there are no hills in Dallas and that this was unfair… Hehe…
So, that takes care of about the first 4 miles of the bike, the next 10 went great, Like I said, I know these hills well, I knew what was coming up. There was only 1 issue I ended up having was a truck that got into the bike lane and wouldn’t pass people. I didn’t feel safe passing the truck on the left and it was going well slower than me, so I ended up passing it on the right, with me in the shoulder then got back on the road. Hit the long downhill on the frontage road of 130, and tried to get my second surge opened an into my mouth. I got about half of it, but was having issues getting it all in, I think since I was keeping my pace at the 19ish miles an hour. So that’s something to work on; “Eating while keeping up speed.”
While coming in to the lake I saw some runners out on the 1.5 mile part of the run. I knew I was doing good at that point and I took the opportunity to pass a few more people. There was 1 decent downhill then uphill left and I wanted to hit it with everything I could. I got my speed to about 28.8 MHP going down that last hill and used the extra momentum to get up the last hill. I was out of my clips and hit the ground about 2 inches from the dismount line then passed another 2 people while I ran into T2! Great bike!
T2: 1:25:00
This was quite a bit longer than last year, but changing from bike shoes to running shoes is still something that has been adding time to my t2’s this year. I think the few seconds is worth it for all the extra power on the bike.
Run: 28:48:00
This was 11 seconds faster than last year and although its only 3 miles not a full 5k, still one of my fastest runs to date. I was struggling hard though the first mile or so. The second surge was just sitting there in my stomach feeling like lead. I could not get a good rhythm or stride until about 1.2 miles in. I was also slightly annoyed by this one guy on the course who would run really fast for a few hundred feet, then take enough time for me to pass him while he stretched and made loud moaning noises. Once past him he would take off again looking like he was trying to run in the 7s or so, but again after about 100 feet or so he would stop and stretch. Once I got past him for good around 1.3 miles things started to go better.
At the mile 2 marker I took 2 waters, dumped one on my head, and tossed as much of the next into my mouth as I could. I was starting to bounce back and forth with a guy in a blue running shirt and some blue trunks at this point he said a few words I said a few words, then I said goodbye as I started to get another bit of wind in my sails. I was able to pick it up from here and run a steady 9:20 until the end of the race. I was feeling great until the last 200 feet or so that guy in the blue shirt and shorts I had passed showed up out of no where and ran off to the finish line. I sure hope he wasn’t in my age group.
Oh, and about .2 miles out from the finish I saw Jean Bean taking pictures! So that was great! (This, however, was not one of them…)
Post Race:
Once across the finish line I got my cold towel, my freezy pop and my shiny new water bottle full of cold water, then headed to go find Celeste. Once I found her, we talked for a few minutes and waited for Brian to come in. He wasn’t too far behind and we cheered him in then wandered around for a few minutes. At this point I went to go say hi to Jean and chat with her for a few. Then we all went back to the finish line area and cheered people on until Leah came in. WOOHOO!!! We all finished strong and did great!
Drive Home:
Thankfully short and uneventful, it only took about 15 minutes to get home. I love Lake Pflugerville tri!
(1938)