CB&I Tri - The Woodlands - TriathlonSprint

We had swam the course the weekend before so I knew what to expect from a sighting and directional perspective but holy crap, was that a violent swim! I've never seen so much aggression in the water; these guys were out for blood! I like to start off on the side of the group around the middle of the pack, this way everyone tires themselves out in the first couple hundred yards while they all sprint like mad-men and then I can work my way by them as they all tire out. Not this time. The swim start was running parallel to the shore and it was so close to shore that people were standing up in waist-high water waiting to start. I was stuck in the back of the pack and I had a really hard time getting though people. Maybe it was too crowded and I'm not used to it but it felt like everyone was really aggressive. It wasn't until around the first turn that I was really able to start getting around people and after that the swim went a lot better.

I would have started with the front of the pack. I usually don't like doing that because it's a pet peeve of mine when people start up front and then move slow and clog up the course but it was so chaotic in there I don't think I would be worried about that next time.

In the past this transition has been a little slow for me due to being disoriented when exiting the water. So during swim practices I have been taking periodic breaks where I immediately jump out of the pool and walk a lap around the pool to help me get used to the feeling my body has when it goes from being horizontal while swimming for 10 to 20 minutes to upright and trying to jog. I think it all paid off because I was a lot more "with it" as I exited the water and my transition time was one to two minutes faster than it was at Lonestar, which was around five week earlier.

Oh, I also grabbed one of the waters from the aid station coming out from the water and dumped it over my head. I never thought I would be hot after a swim in a lake but it felt good. The cool water on my head probably helped me get my bearings and focus as well.

Everything went really smooth this time. I wouldn't change a thing.

Wow, I felt awesome on the bike. I was able to hammer it and keep a good, comfortable speed and cadence going. I was with two other guys in my age group heading out from the transition and we played leap frog for the first ten or so miles. The good news is that I was keeping a consistent speed and it seemed like they were not happy that someone in their age group was passing them so they kept speeding up to pass me again. But once we turned onto Lake Woodlands I passed them both and I never saw them again until transition. I'm guessing they wore themselves out trying to keep up with my awesome speed skills(Says the guy that was 20 out of 59 in his age group on the bike :-D )!

Absolutely nothing. If I could feel that good and that strong on every bike portion of every triathlon I do from here on out I would be on cloud nine.

I know they say to try nothing new on race day but I was having such an awesome ride that I had to top it all off with a moving dismount. Luckily I've been doing them for years on other bikes so this one went smoothly. What a way to top off the ride! My legs were a little wobbly coming into transition so I had a little drunk jog going on but it wasn't that bad. I had no problems switching from my bike to my run gear and I was headed out on the run. I saw the two guys in my age group that I had passed earlier head out just before me and I followed them out.

Not a thing. Another great transition and I managed to drop more time off of my T2 time from Lonestar.

I headed out with the two guys in my age group on the run and followed them. They had a good pace going so I figured I would stay with them. I thought it would be funny to get right behind one of them and "draft" them like they do in the 5k charity run on "The Office" but they probably wouldn't have appreciated it. They might even have thought it tacky. So around mile 1 one of the guys is starting to do walk breaks and we lose him. I stay with the other guy, who is running with a buddy and they're just chatting it up. Around mile 2 the second guy from my group starts to hurt a little bit and they pull their pace back so I end up passing them and go about my business. I took water from every aid station to pour on my head to cool down and I think that made a world of difference. In the future I'm always going to do that as I felt very good during the run. I was very impressed with my time as well. I wasn't expecting to break 8 minute/miles but I'm not complaining either.

Train more is the only thing. I probably have the biggest potential for growth in the run, so I'll have to see how that develops.

I saw Erin start her run when I finished so I had some time to kill so I walked anywhere from half a mile to a mile after the race to keep my legs loose. I also did a lot of stretching during this time to help my body relax.


Training and equipment. I imagine I could go faster with a nicer bike but that's not happening anytime soon. So I'll have to focus on the training portion. I'm hoping doing some more track workouts and Hammerfests on the bike will improve my times at the couple's triathlon in Austin in July.


There were too many people at the start of the swim. It was only one age group, but I wonder if they could move the start further away from shore to reduce crowding.

Other than that I had an excellent race and am very pleased with how well I did.