Spring Fall Classic Sprint Triathlon - Fall Race - TriathlonSprint

I think I've swam about 5 times toal since May, so I had no expectations. I just wanted to stay steady and not push too hard. I knew the long bike would give me time to catch the leaders. The swim to the first turn went fairly well. I actually found a good rhythm and a good group. But by the 2nd leg of the swim I was already fatiguing. Quite sad, I only had about 150 yards of effort before I was breaking down. Then I managed to find my way off course, which made things worse. By the time I made it to the last leg, I found a good draft and that led me in.

Train for swimming.

Actually was within seconds of the leaders. People in the metroplex have no concept of the David Townsend transition methods. But it was a fairly long run out of the water into transition.

Practice transitions maybe once a year.

So I mounted with my shoes on the bike. I actually transferred my cleats to my old beat up and chewed on tri shoes for this race. Worked well. I got in pretty quick and was about to mount quick. I started passing people pretty quickly. The plan was to keep the HR under 170. That's a good number for a 40k TT. I honestly didn't care if I had anything left for the run. The run wasn't why I was here. Was approaching the turnaround, and I started getting ready to count to see where I was at. Passed fleeb just before the turnaround. And as I approached, I realized that I was leading the race. I knew that I had to be at least 3 minutes behind the first guys out of the water, so I knew that I was about to open up a big lead on the last half of the bike. Kept around 170 and continued to chug along. Duke was in his truck passing me occassionally as the pace car, which was pretty cool. I ran into a few problems with traffic on the way back. Had to slow down slightly once, and nearly came to a complete stop another time. The second time I couldn't pass the car because there was oncoming traffic. I have no idea what these cars were doing, but they were not sure how to handle all the bikes out there. Made my way back into the park, and I couldn't remember how I made my way out of the park. I slowed down and nearly took a wrong turn before I was yelled at to go the other way. Got out of my shoes and rolled into transition.

Maybe should've studied the course a little better.

One of the fastest times out there. These guys could learn alot from David Townsend.

Not much.

I started out and I saw William Ritter yell for me. That was a bit motivating, but the motivation fizzled quickly. By the time I was on the trail, which was just 1/4 mile out, I already wanted to quit. I was mentally preparing myself for the embarassment of being the guy with a 3 minute lead starting a 5k to lose the race. The trail running was fun, but it was followed by some hills that I didn't want to run at all. I just kept on telling myself that I didn't have to run all-out, just fast enough to hold off the guy behind me. So I would walk every aid station to get some water in and splash a little on my head. I started walking a bit on the hills just because I was hurting too much. I pulled up my top to get some air on my torso. I didn't want to because I'm quite flabby, but I didn't care at this point. The turnaround was such a sight for sore eyes. Ran fairly well down the hill, and I kept looking back to see if 2nd place was gaining. He was, but not enough. By the time I knew I only had about 1/4 mile left, I looked back and knew he wasn't going to catch me. I still tried to pick it up and run as hard as I could across the finish line. It was great to be the first one across, despite a pitiful run.

Train to run.

I thought I had possibly won the race, but there was a 35 year old guy who actually beat me by a good two minutes in the 2nd wave. That was a bit disheartening, but I didn't care too much. I came for the bike and I left very little for the run. Not to mention I really haven't trained for triathlon since May. I overheard some people talking about the "cyclist", and they sounded pleased that the "cyclist" didn't win the race. I was pretty upset. It was as if I didn't belong in a triathlon because I road race. I'll bite my lip on this one...

So I talked with 2nd place, and it turns out he is a guy I've heard of from Tyler. Really nice guy, with a ton of potential. He actually finished IMTX earlier this year in 10:40. Very impressive!


Triathlon specific training. My goals aren't inline with being a successful triathlete.


Good location. Good packet. Awesome that they had packet pickup in East Texas. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done the race. The swim exit ramp was super slick. Dangerous slick. I lost several seconds due to having no idea where the course was supposed to go and not having anybody to follow. But I think this race will improve, and it should be a good destination for both DFW and East Texas to race.