Memorial Hermann Bridgeland Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Course looked like a piece of cake compared the Capital Texas swim I did back in May. But this was my first open water swim without a wet suit. I was a bit nervous about that, though now I actually think I like it much better. Maybe my wet suit doesn't fit right, because I always feel like I can't get my real stroke going, so this was my first open water swim where I felt like I cold actually SWIM rather than just fight a wet suit.

I enjoyed the swim, felt great during it. I've had a lot of OWS anxiety and fear issues, but I really think I can say they are beat now. But I also think I could have done MUCH better. My time for 500 yards in the pool is closer to 9:40min, so basically I need to work more on sighting. The first or second buoy had floated way to the right, and I followed that initially rather than looking further ahead in the course. After passing that buoy I realized I had to swim WAY to the left to get back outside the rest of them. Then I swung way too wide on the turn buoy. I think I could easily be in the top 10 in my age group based on times if I got sighting and navigating down better. But only my 3rd ever open water swim, so I'm still learning. The swim is definitely the place I feel like I have the most potential.

Sight better, pretty sure I did quite a bit extra swimming!

Ugh. Got lost. I walked transition a few times before the race, knew my letter, etc. But for some reason it just didn't look the same and I totally went the wrong way. Took me two laps around to find my rack - probably walked past it twice. Frustrating because without a wet suit this COULD have been a super fast T1, but it wasn't.

Not get lost!

I don't actually have a bike time right now - basically it shows my T2 time as 53:33min and no bike time. So obviously those got combined somehow. So this is really just an estimate based on my bike computer and how long I think I spent in transition.

I know it may not seem fast, but honestly I couldn't be more thrilled. I'm a painfully slow cyclist, seriously. I hate to even admit it because its so embarrassing, but in my other other races and training I've averaged more like 14mph and I am usually DFL in my age group for the bike. And honestly before this race I was about to give up on the whole thing because I hadn't seen ANY improvement so far this year at all. I couldn't believe it yesterday when every time I glanced down at my bike computer and it said over 15mph. And to see numbers like 16, 17 and even 18 a couple times was amazing. I don't know if there was a killer tail wind or what - but I don't care! By the far the fastest I have ever ridden my bike since I got it 6 months ago. So still slow, but its improvement that counts, right?

I'd still love to be faster, but for my current level on a bike I am 100% happy with this ride.

Not exactly sure since my T2 time and bike time are combined, but by subtracting the bike time from my computer, I get about 2:00 in T2.

Totally should be faster, but I really went harder on the bike than usual I guess and it took me a minute to find my legs. I think I was kind of in shock too that I wasn't the last one into T2. I'd had nightmares about that all week. Also had a hard time getting bike back on the rack.

It was hot. I've been running in the heat though, and while my times are a lot slower than in cooler weather, I've been doing it, so it wasn't anything new. I stopped and walked through all 3 aid stations, took in some fluids when I could, but most water went right on my head.

I loved the course, there was way more shade than I expected up in the woods and that was a neat little running trail, really made me want to move to Bridgeland!

I tried to take it easy til I saw the mile 3 sign, then really pick it up the last 1/2 mile. When I saw the last 1/4 mile sign, I didn't have much left though. I REALLY was hoping to see my daughter at this point. Just kept going and looking for her. When I finally saw her and my husband it was just before the finish

Time, experience...first season of tris, 3rd race. But for someone who used to be 70lbs heavier and never played a sport or even exercised until I was almost 30, it feels great to just be out there finishing and having fun!


Wow. This was an incredible event all around. Great communication leading up to the race through email/website, great race swag, great local venue - I enjoyed not having to travel out of town to participate in a well-run/high quality race. Lots of little details that you would expect to find at a larger event, but without the impersonal atmosphere that comes with larger races. The volunteers were all very friendly and encouraging, even police and photographers were calling out "good job" or "doing great" And I think a well organized event puts other races in a good mood too, there was a great sense of camaraderie and encouragement from other races. Definitely the highlight so far of my tri career!