LongHorn Ironman 70.3 Triathlon Festival - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Eased into the water with my very large group. We had men and women in our swim start.

I felt like the water was cold. To me, it was freezing. Not as bad as it was at the US Open two weeks earlier, but it helped that it wasn't raining.

It was then time for us to swim. I was NOT happy putting my face in the water and since there were so many people trying to swim together I couldn't really freestyle anyways.

Yeah, it was really crowded and I was annoyed. I just wanted all the people out of my way. I finally decided to go on the inside of the buoy's since people were going on outside. I have heard you can go inside, as long as you turn on the outside of the turn buoy, which I did. I wasn't DQed so I guess it was fine.

The swim was pretty uneventful except for people getting in my way. I was cold and my right ear was aching because of the cold water. My motivation was to swim fast so I could just get out! Ha!

Here are my results from 2007:
00:38:56 | 2112 yards | 01m 50s / 100yards
Age Group: 5/54

As you can see I was a tab bit faster this year, but I ranked a lot lower. I also had just about twice as many people in my AG this year, compared to 2007.

Got out of the water and ran up to the wetsuit strippers. They whipped that puppy off me quickly!

Continued to run up the chute. Passed Sabrina who was cheering for me. Then I realized I left my flip flops before her and turned back around. I have sensitive feet and I knew that I was not going to make it through T1 without them. Thank goodness I did because it was a mud fest.

In T1 I put on gloves, helmet, a jacket, my Camelbak, shoes, glasses. I also rinsed off my feet- thanks to Derk for giving me a water bottle before the race started so I could do that!

Got in the bike and really had to pee! It's been a theme lately! Ha! I found a Port O John and did the job. :)

My goal for this bike was to take it easy. To just go steady and to NOT blow it out. I knew my time would need to be made up on the run and I wasn't going into the half mary with dead legs and a side cramp.

My nutrition plan was an Uncrustables in the first hour. After that I would take in gels and Infinit (2 servings worth). I consumed all my calories as planned. Worked fine, but I do realize I need more solid food to not feel hungry at some point. But my run was fine, so I'd say I did a good job.

My hydration plan was to NOT STOP for water. I had my Infinit, a 20oz water bottle and 50oz Camelbak on. 70oz for 3-3.5 hrs should be fine, especially when it's not cold.

Wrong. Bad plan. I'll go into more detail and how often I stopped is a good segway to that.

The first time I stopped to take off my jacket. It was getting hot out there. Honestly I probably should have never put it on.

Then at mile 15, a saw a guy go down on his bike up the road. No one was stopping so I did. He was pretty shook up but nothing was broke. I made sure to get him out of the road and told him I would tell someone ahead. Which I did when I saw someone, and they already knew about it.

I was running out of water and I wasn't sure there would be another rest stop or WHEN it would be... so I stopped at a convenience store. The doors were locked though so I headed down the road.

Finally got to the last rest stop and stopped to get some water. A regular water bottle doesn't fit in my holders, so I just poured it into my Camelbak.

About 25 miles into the ride (this was before 3 of the 4 stops!), my quads started to burn. It's the burning I get when I haven't been on the bike enough. It was bad and so not like me. Not at 25 miles! I wasn't pushing hard either. I then decided to take it easy by coasting down the hills. I also told myself that in 2010, I will do my taper differently. I think I would benefit from a 50-60 mile ride the weekend before.

My bike average was around 17.5 1/2 way through, but then it went to hell after that. My quads were sore and the wind kicked up.

Wind. I hate wind. At one point I was going up a false flat, into a headwind... in my lowest gear pedaling at 14 mph. Very defeating.

The outside of my right foot started to hurt really bad as well. It's the same pain I had at the start of my marathon back in May. The same pain that made my foot swell up and kept me from running for 6 weeks. So I am wondering if it was ever a stress fracture. All I know is that it was killing me on that bike. I started to ponder if I would be able to make it to the run.

I told myself that I would do what I could and keep going until I couldn't go anymore. This was my A race and if I ended up down for 6 weeks after it, then so be it.

Overall my bike was below my capabilities and I was bored towards the end. The massive crowds on the course were annoying and there were so many a-holes out there. Here are some tips: KEEP YOUR LINE through a turn (don't go wide and swoop in tight and take my line!)... and don't pass withing 2 inches of me when you have room not to!

By the time the bike was done, I was happy to be off it. Real happy.


Here are my results from 2007:
03:17:09 | 56 miles | 17.04 mile/hr

My bike performance was not as great this year, but it also didn't help that I stopped 4 times and one of those times took a good few minutes to help the guy who had a wreck.

NOTE: With all of that said, this course does have rough roads in some parts. TXDOT was nice enough to try to fix some of the cracks, but you still have to keep your eyes open. There were some portions with chip seal, but it was so worn down it wasn't THAT horrible. I have been on much worse. Some people who aren't use to it though, found it to be pretty rough. But we Texans know that the chip seal that was out there was NOTHING. :)

For 2010 I do a better taper and I ride stronger. I won't stop as much and I won't mess around.

I was so happy to be off the bike. Found my T2 bag and dumped my stuff out. I tried to be quick about it, but obviously was not.

This is where I wanted most improvement. I wanted to save serious time and to keep a 10:00 minute mile or better.

I felt strong and good on the first loop. I ran up the hills and down them. Felt really good. Saw Jonny and he was close behind. While I felt good he looked great and I figured he would hunt me down.

Made the loop through the spectators and got pumped up. :) It was nice to see some friends out there!

Started on the second loop and it was getting hot. The sun was blazing down on us and the hills seemed to be getting bigger. I told myself to run down the hills and walk up them.

Saw Jonny and he was doing the same thing. My side cramp kicked in but I knew I would be OK since I'm so use to running with one.

On the third loop I was feeling it. I felt tired and the heat was killing me, so were the hills.

At this point there was more walking than running at times. I knew I would reach my goal time of cutting around 45 minutes off my previous 2007 race time, so I did what I could. I ran as much as I could though, because I just wanted it to be over with.

I was really happy when I got to run straight into the arena! What a fun finish it was! I really liked it! Saw Jonny's Mom and I finished strong.

Here are my results from 2007:
03:02:37 | 13.1 miles | 13m 56s min/mile

This is where I saved all my time!

Mile 1 - 8:49 mi
Mile 2 - 9:19 mi
Mile 3 - 9:58 mi
Mile 4 - 10:21 mi
Mile 5 - 9:58 mi
Mile 6 - 10:18 mi
Mile 7 - 10:42 mi
Mile 8 - 10:32 mi
Mile 9 - 10:42 mi
Mile 10 - 11:05 mi
Mile 11 - 12:05 mi
Mile 12 - 11:04 mi
Mile 13 - 11:38 mi

While I had a solid run, in 2010 I need to run hills... and more hills. And I need to run hills for up to 12 miles. It's a hilly run course and I need to be stronger for it, if I want to trim off my time some more!

I waited for Jonny to finish and then he and I got some food. Once he was up to it we walked outside to find Tim and Sabrina. Sat around under their tent and got a good rub down from Sabrina!


This race has been done in 2007, 2008 and 2009. I raced it in 2007 and Jonny did it in 2008. Each year the race has been setup slightly different from the year before.

I think the 2009 format is the keeper! It was so nice to NOT have to walk back to the arena with the bike, from the park. Last year that was so dangerous... cars on the road... people still running... racers going home... not good.

While the two transitions takes more work, if they remove the setup of T2 the day before, it will be perfect.

They had enough buses to take athletes to the swim start... the FIRST TIME this has happened at any race I've been to that has shuttles. It's so much less stressful if you know you can make it to the swim start on time.

I was a little hesitant on the 3 loop run course, but I loved it. If they never bring back the off road portion or Quadzilla, I'll be fine with it. I really don't enjoy running in grass anyways.

The finish in the arena was great. It was nice to have a place to sit when we were done.

The food was so-so. I was happy with my baked potato though.

I really enjoy this race and I can't see why I won't be back to race in 2010.

While I wasn't too keen on the crowds and how many participants there were, that's just how it is, right? :)