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 Swim
Comments: Dawn said pick your line and get in the 2nd or 3d row. I planned to start on the left edge (buoy line) in the 3d row. With 3 min to the gun I realized I was right behind Amy McGrath (10:02). I asked her what her plan was and her expected time and realized if I followed her feet I'd be on track for my 1:08 plan. With 30 sec to go more racers surged into the line and it was almost a fight just staying in position. Gun went off and the washing machine started, but not as bad as expected. I fought to stay in the pack and find feet and within 90 seconds things mellowed out a bit. Realized I was getting near the left edge so I headed back into the pack and tried to find a god swimmer to follow. Eventually I found an "IronMex" green jersey and locked onto him while focusing on long fluid strokes. Worked great. In the draft the swim was less than a moderate effort but when I fell off it was moderate plus to get back into the draft. I was actually surprised when i passed the first 2 small buoys because it didn't feel like we'd been swimming that long. Made it to the u turn and lost my draft for the turn. Took about 90 sec after the turn north to find feet again. At some point on this leg a really big guy with no shirt swam by me (really big dude swimming fast, go figure) so I decided to use him for a bit. I got dropped then caught him and got dropped and caught him again. As we got closer to the canal I found an IMex jersey again and used him for a while until I realized he wasn't taking the short angle to the canal. Split off and noticed a girl almost on the shoreline swimming hard. Tried to catch her but wasn't able. 1/3 the way down the canal the big dude catches me again so I drafted him for about 1/3. Approaching the last turn prior to the stairs 2 girls caught me on the right so I finished swimming with them. Made the short turn to the stairs and aimed for the 2nd set from the left. Exiting the water went fine and I was able o jog/run to the mat, feeling very good with less than moderate exertion. When I saw 1:15 I was happy with the swim but thought it should have been quicker. As I ran thru Bike gear I asked a volunteer if they'd reset the pro clock yet and was ecstatic when he said "no". That meant a 1:05 swim and under goal time..... 126 male out of the water of 1619. What would you do differently?: Get on to feet (draft) quicker and stay closer, follow my line when the draft is going the long way  Transition 1
Comments: Got into changing and everything seemed to slow down. Vol opened my bag and dumped everything then tried to organize it. It helped. Got Dr Tom on and then shorts......slow process, bad idea. Had saddle sore so I needed to wear bike shorts for the ride but they (shorts) didn't cooperate on the wet legs. Got the HR strap on and the tri top, then helmet glasses socks (yes socks, poor idea) and shoes. (this was the first race where I had to wear shoes vice having them on the bike, not bad....) The volunteer cleaned up and I headed to the porta john and up to the rack. Once there started the garmin and moved quickly to the mount line. A quick step-over and I'm off on the nice smooth Woodlands roads. What would you do differently?: Next time train in tri shorts to minimize time in transition. no socks would cut even a few more seconds  Bike
Comments: All I can say is wow what a ride. The wx was still cool and overcast with light mist for about 40 mi. Went out in zone 2 for first 15 mi then backed into zone 1. First 40 mi went quick but then I noticed the 400 mi shorts were chafing in the front NOT GOOD!!!!!!! Tried to make it work but it was not happening so I decided right there to pick up more Dr Tom at special needs. As I got closer to the 58 mi pickup I started feeling like I needed a porta john for a quick sit down. Rolled up to special needs and tried to open the bag on the roll, not happening. Pulled over at the end of the area took put the tube in the bento box and grabbed the bag of Toms. There were no toilets so I continued to the next rest stop at about 60 mi and was fortunate enough to get an open toilet. Fixed the lube problem and got back on my way. As I pulled over my pace was 21.3 and it fell to 20.6 at that stop, hate it! Things went well up to 77 mi when the TEXDOT guys decided to stop us. When I rolled up I marked the time. the crowd continued to grow and the spectators were hammering the traffic police. Finally they let us go so I pushed really hard to get into a front position. set my legal draft distance and about 20 sec later the peloton blows by me. Got to a legal draft behind them and then passed them again. This leapfrog continued for 5 mi+/- until the officials finally broke it up, very frustrating but also a very fast 5 mi pace (23+mph) As I got closer to the century mark the back and sitbones started complaining a bit. Made the final turn thru the houses and onto Woodlands Pkwy and started getting excited. I didn't have anyone in front of me as I made the final right turn toward transition and made sure the shoes were prepped to exit. I had decided to get my socks off so I could do my normal dismount without worrying about slipping at the line like Jose at Galveston. It's amazing how difficult it is to get a sock off at 15 mph and then figure out where to put it. Had them tucked into my top and then realized that might look like Maca’s "man-cans" so I moved them to the back of my shirt. Dismounted 1 ft prior to the line and headed to the awesome volunteers for the handoff.....Don't forget the Garmin. (BTW successful with 12 bottle handup’ s btwn 15 and 19 mph, awesome and took down 1500-1650 cal) 362d males of 1619 on the bike 276th overall, 243 male, 49 AG after bike What would you do differently?: Have a stash of anti chafe product on the bike so I don't have to stop at special needs. Grab a gatoraid and keep it with me on the back half of the course when my sweat rate increased and I needed more fluids. Transition 2
Comments: quickly jogged to the run gear pickup and then to changing tent. Decided to stop in the toilet and while there I realized I FORGOT MY GPS on the bike......How did I do that. An awesome volunteer let me run straight up to my bike and grab my garmin then straight back. Into the change tent and to the chairs right by the exit. I dumped everything and then dropped my shorts only to realize there were 4 ladies at the entrance to the tent. Thankfully they were not looking to the left otherwise we all would have been embarrassed. This transition felt slow but 11:00, what was I thinking. Dry off the feet put on socks, race belt, shoes visor, wouldn't want to do any of this on the run for crying out loud!!!!! What would you do differently?: Not forget the garmin so I don't have to run back to the bike. Again no changing in T2. 11:00 is just silly.....Follow the plan for filling the acceleraid bottle on the course not in T2 Don't forget I'm racing not socializing  Run
Comments: Wheels started to wobble..... Ran out of T2 feeling awesome. Clouds had lifted in the last 10 mi of the bike so it started feeling a lot hot! For the first 3 mi I tried to slow down and wasn't able to get the HR under control. First lap I took perform and water at every stop, started eating ice as well. First lap complete with a visit to Stacey to tell her "it's going to be as fast as I hoped". 1+23 for the first lap I think based on Stacey's text to Dawn. On the second lap I had real trouble talking my legs into running after the walk in aid stations. on this lap is was more perform, water and 2 cups of ice at every station. somewhere on the back half of this lap I finished my acceleraid (2 scoops) and 2 jels. Also started dumping ice into the shorts to try and stay cooler. it must have worked because I got thru that lap. Dumped the fuel belt with Sarah and pocketed the gps tracker (serious chafe later)prior to grabbing my special needs bag (another bad idea). Ate 6 Pringles but had no water so they didn't go down well. On the third lap it was water, cola, water, and 2-3 cups ice at every stop. Most times the ice lasted me to the next stop but many times I was out and that became painful especially in the market street area. Think the ice in shorts regardless of the shoe slosh decision may have been the best one I made to keep the core temp under control. Hit the maze leading up to the finish shoot and picked up the pace a bit. Making the final turn the crowd was amazingly loud. I had a couple guys in the shoot in front of me and decided to slow down and enjoy the experience. On guy in my age group who had been following me for the entire maze (based on race pics) and who knows how far before ran by and I let him go. Had half the shoot to myself and really enjoyed the finish. Mike either missed me or I missed his call either way not a big deal. Best part of the shoot was seeing how excited Marco and Lorena were to see me finish. Best part overall was seeing the family, in the swim, on the run 6 times and at the finish line. What a great support team I have 282th male of 1619 358th overall, 282nd male, 63d AG after run What would you do differently?: more hydration and more cooling efforts Post race
Warm down: 2 catchers grabbed me and walked me to get water, finishers medal, hat, and shirt then to Stacey and the family (including the Addingtons) Sat in the shade for 10 min then walked to get gear bike, massage am clothes and a walk to the hotel. Wanted to be at the finish at 1200 to see the final finisher but Stacey couldn't get me backout of bed. Needed the rest more than the finish line I guess.. Thank you Stacey and kids for being an amazing support team for 7 months of crazy training. There is no way I could ever take on this challenge without you. I love you tons! Thanks to Dawn, for pushing me when I needed it, reining me in when I needed rest, and encouraging me throughout. Dave thanks for training with me and putting up with my tardiness for rides and never ending questions. Thanks to Marco, Lorena, and the Trisition staff for taking me on and being so generous to the team. What limited your ability to perform faster: Heat and humidity and honestly a few extra lbs. I stopped worrying about them in the last 2 months of training but would like to lean down before the next big race! Event comments: Amazing race, I think I need to do another one in a year or 2.... Last updated: 2010-07-08 12:00 AM
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United States
WTC & Memorial Hermann Hospital
93F / 34C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 280/2662
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 45/470
Showed in town about 1200 on Thurs and went straight to check in and the expo. Crowds were not bad but there were lines forming at check in and in the sales tent. Walked thru the sales tent and almost purchased my post race items but was talked out of it by a superstitious athlete....stupid! Next time but the race specific gear prior to the race before they sell out and it's not available. Stopped by Freebirds and split a burrito w/ Stacey. Checked into the hotel and moved in around 1400. Spent the next 3 hrs getting gear sorted and prepped for the bags and riding to the expo to get tickets to the evening meal. Rode the beginning portion of the bike and part of the run course to make sure the bike was working properly. Fast smooth roads :) Walked to the pre-race meal and meeting at 1800. Nice spread and thankfully a table with 5 open seats. Guess the event formally kicked off just before we got there, thought it was a come-and-go type event, wrong again. Walked back to hotel around 2000 and attempted to get my X-Lab to be more solid, fail. Thankfully it didn't affect me race day. Got to bed around 2230. Woke at 0700 and had a light breakfast. Jogged/walked the 1.3 mi to the swim start and jumped into the lake for a 20+/- min swim. Water was just above wetsuit legal and felt great. Visibility was a concern for race day since I couldn’t see past my elbow but it ended up being no issue at all. Finished the swim and ran into the guy from the expo (superstitious man) and talked for a while. Jogged back to the hotel and had breakfast. Made final prep for the run and bike gear bags grabbed the bike and headed off to transition with the family. Took Stacey around the transition area and took a long walk over to the swim start then back to the hotel. In hindsight this was too long with too little water in the sun, bad idea for race strategy but necessary for peace of mind for Stacey. Relaxed and hydrated the rest of the afternoon and hit bed about 2200. Remember seeing 2300 and waking once for the bathroom before the 0330 alarm. Woke ate applesauce 2 scoops whey, half a powerbar and part of a bottle of acceleraid/carbo gain. Finished that bottle in transition. Laid back down and rolled out of bed for good at 0410. Got packed up and walked to transition at 0500. Nutrition plan was 1 bottle (5 scoops perpetum and 2 servings carbo gain 1050 cal, 3 jel cut w water and a PB&H sandwich (1650 cal total). Pumped tires, loaded nutrition onto bike and into gear bags, started the GPS tracker and was heading back to the hotel by 0540.
Gave Stacey and the kids a hug and started the walk/jog to the swim. Got about 3/10tenths down the road and was offered a ride. Took it and was on site by 0620. Went straight to gear drop and dropped my am clothes. Saw Rinny taking pictures with star struck racers. Got in the porta john line but after 5 min and no movement decided i really didn't need it anyway. Walked toward the boat launch and ran into Mr superstitious again, crazy. about 640 they played the national anthem and then started letting us get into the water, one vanilla power jel and a borrowed swallow of water form someone’s "lucky bottle". Decided to get in and get the arms warmed up. As i started the swim across the lake I noticed Stacey and the kids on the far bank in their custom home made IM shirts. Good call on the colors, they stood out like crazy. Surprised S with another kiss and then hung out near the shore till 6:52. Swam to the far left bouy and set up 3rd row just like Dawn instructed. From the time I got into the starting area I was ready to race and fully confident in my ability to finish strong!