Capital of Texas Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

I swam my plan. I could have gone faster but seeing as how this was my first event, I did exactly what I needed to do. New goggles were awesome, wetsuit was a plus, glad I bought it...took a few min to warm up in the water. Coming out of the water was awkward, glad there was plenty of volunteers helping people out...took a min for balance to recover. Overall it was good although I know I'll be faster next time.

I could have gone faster but I'm glad I didn't push it too hard out of the gate. I need to work on speed though.

I decided not to get fancy with something I didn't practice so I hit T1 and stuck to my plan. Dirt and wood chips in the T area made for some nasty feet so it took me a few seconds to get them cleaned off on the towel. Got my socks, shoes, and helmet on all good. Wetsuit coming off was a bit of a challenge. I think I was too worried about ripping it so I was extra careful and that cost me time. I wore body glide, should have trusted it. I need more practice here!

Bring a small towel just for cleaning off feet. Also trust the body glide and take the wetsuit faster. I'm going to start practicing the faster shoe/pedal method but I'm glad I did it this way this time for two reasons: 1)I stuck to my plan; 2)The ground in the T area sucked.

Good bike. A little winded on lap 1 but I soon found my legs. Took a good survey of the course on lap 1, decided my plan for the last 3 laps. Good hydration although I took my gel early. Once I got settled in I biked my plan which was hard for me, the bike is my strong point and I have a natural tendency to catch those who pass me but...I was mentally strong here! Spinning the hills was the best plan, I saved so much energy and still kept great time. I have learned when and how to mash/spin. I hit my time mark/avg speed just as I had expected.

Train harder for speed and try and amp up my time. Also tape an extra gel to the bike, I took mine early and could have had another right before the run.

I was kinda tired here and decided to walk halfway back to my rack trying to catch my legs up to my mind...plus I was still in my shoes. Everything else was good.

Train for riding on top of my shoes and doing it all barefoot. To be honest, I don't feel bad though and I'm gonna pull the wussy card...ground in T area sucked.

So here it is, the bitch of my first event. I suffered through this run as a fellow competitor mentioned. I'm not sure but man, I just never got into a pace I liked. I took a gel in mile 1 and I should have packed another on my belt. I though it would take me a mile to get up to speed but it just never came. Perhaps I think I'm stronger than I am but damn! Even though my race pace was ~2 min slower than my training pace, I did stick to my plan and I walked all the aid stations but two. Plenty of cold water to keep me cool and hydrated; only one stop with Gatorade...could have used a bit more of that.

1)Pack another gel or two on my race belt...I had the room for them! 2)Get some more Tri-specific running shoes that don't act like sponges...felt like concrete weights have three aid stations and a gallon of water falling on them. 3)More brick training!

So I finished strong, fist pump and all. Walked around a bit, put an ice bag on my head for a few seconds, drank some water and Gatorade, ate two slices of pizza and half a banana. Decided a complimentary massage was in order and that was great! Caught up with Erin and the boys for pictures and wrap-up.


Training I suppose. I didn't come into this event exactly as I had hoped with March and April being off balance in respect to training. May was strong but I was recovering, not peaking. Training and little things like packing more gels. I think I was too ingrained in a plan and left no room for error on that front. I need more bricks and more time out training.


I give it a 4 only because I have nothing to compare it too. Austin is certainly a very fit city and they throw a great event. I still wish the T area was better but they did put a bit of carpet down on the really rough stuff, gotta thank em' there. It was a great event for me, first time out, showed me what I've accomplished in a year and where I need to go from here. I'm happy!