Memorial Hermann Bridgeland Triathlon (1/8th IM) - TriathlonShort Course

Had a good start and had a good line.  The swim course was curved around the lake bank and I was able to swim a straight line, which I'm sure saved me from swimming an extra 25 meters or so by sticking close to the buoys.  I was able to hang onto the feet of the guy who was second out of the water in our age group for the first 100 yards or so and then I just lost him.  I was struggling the last half of the swim and was glad I came out where I did.  Getting out of the water, I thought that I was going to struggle the rest of the race because I burned myself up on the swim, which was partially true. Pretty sure my heart rate was closing in on anaerobic levels.

Nothing, except maybe try to keep an even pace so I'm struggling less at the end.  Next race is Clearlake Oly and I can't do what I did here in that race or I'll be in serious trouble.

Didn't wear socks today which sped up the transition though but my transition is notably slower than others finishing around me. I'm guessing that it wasputting my shoes on in transition rather than running out of transition with shoes clipped in.  Eventually, it'll happen.  And based on today's race it wouldn't have mattered anyway.  The person ahead of me finished finished over 4 minutes ahead of me, so what's saving 30 seconds going to help.

Practice putting on shoes that are clipped in.  Still, I was 20/63 in my age group so I'm not sweating it much.

I pushed it harder on the bike this race since in past races I've seemed to have pretty good energy on the run.  Overall it was a good ride and kept an even pace and had little help from the wind.  I definitely started out quicker keeping it between 22.5 and 23.5 for the first 4 miles.  I passed one person in my age group and got passed by one person in my age group. Two guys in the 30-34 age group flew by me like I was standing still.  I drank enough fluids on the bike but was starting to feel it in my legs.  Again, I kept getting worried that I was about to have a flat on my back tire.  It was fully inflated to 100+ psi but my weight puts enough pressure on the tire to make it look like it's losing air.

Nothing.  Plain and simple, this is my weakest event.  Don't know if it's a 2002 aluminum road bike that's holding me back (Trek SL 2000) or if I just need more time in the saddle.  It's easier to blame the bike, drool over others' bikes and say if I had that I'd be averaging 24+ mph.  Easier...but probably not true.  Just need to train more on the bike.

First time this transition has gone as well as it has.  Fastest time in the age group was 12 seconds faster so I'm not complaining.  I also had to take my cycling shoes off in transition.

Nothing.

I was running near empty the whole race.  Not dehydrated, just the feeling that my legs were running out of gas.  I didn't have any soreness or pain, just empty legs.  I think the heat was beginning to get to me or it could have been the hard workouts on Thursday/Friday. My goal was to keep a 7:00 to 7:15 and I think I stayed in that range in the second mile but couldn't keep it up.  I passed one person in my age group in the first mile or so and slowly kept advancing the distance between us until we were about 40 seconds apart.  I got passed by two other in the 30-34 age group, and just like the bike...it was like I was standing still. 

Possibly take it easier for the two days prior to the race.

Stretched a little bit, walked around, ate some oranges, a bagel, 1/2 a banana, a jamba juice smoothie, 2 pieces of pizza and drank a few bottles of water and gatorade. Best part of the race was having my wife and boys show up at the race, accepting an award with my boys and letting my 4 year old carry the award.


Possibly the hard 4 mile run with intervals I did on Friday night.


The organizer kept everyone pretty informed with email updates. I wasn't expecting it to be as well run as it ended up. It sounded like they were going to be very short on the number of volunteers but I never noticed. The post race activities were good and family friendly. The location was good. Definitely a well-run race that I'd do again next year. Thanks to all the volunteers and race organizers.