Lone Star Triathlon Festival - Sprint - TriathlonSprint

Fun Fun Fun! I started towards the back of the group and near the far right, but neither to the extreme. I just had a feeling that after talking with the guys around me that many of them were not at all comfortable with the swim. Lots of them had on watersports wetsuits, unlike any other tri I have attended.
I was out to just about tippytoe height in the water(yes its a word). start signalled, and I made sure that the swimmers in front of me were far enough away, and I started to go. I was immediately very pleased that my goggles were not leaking, and I felt really good! I could see pretty quickly that the pack was splitting up, and the faster swimmers, or the slower swimmer that think they are fast were pulling out, and I had room around me. Almost immediately I was ahead of maybe 10 people. I was swimming very comfortably, but not really sighting very well. I kept going left, and having to do a hard correction every 10ish strokes or so. about 1/2 way thru, I started to catch people who shot out too fast. Passing every chance I could get, but only having to work to pass one group of 4 guys who were side by side. Just before I got to the Paddle boat, the fast swimmers from the wave behind me, the lt blue caps, were catching and passing me. I moved a little off the bouy line for them to get by easier. Maybe 20 caught and passed me. Then a hard left turn into shore. OMG, my first open water swim was over and it felt great! as I run up the hill to the Transition area...maybe 250 yards I started hearing my first round of cheering for the day. Marcy and Bill were across from the wetsuit strippers and yelling like crazy! thanks!

I don't know. I don't really have anything to compare it to. Maybe go a little harder? but not much I don't think.

Made it up to the fresh water showers, just hoping to get the salt water off my face, but the showers were useless.
Ran to my spot and started to do the wrong stuff in the wrong order. I leaned down and grabbed my helmet and glasses, and then had to put them back down because I needed to get my shirt on! about then I realized I was a little dizzy and decided to slow down and put my socks and shoes on, shirt helmet and glasses, and go.

Maybe run the longer way around transition to avoid all the others I had to run past down the row. I gave up and walked, then when I got thru the line, I ran out.

I must transition pretty good, because my T1 was 19th fastest in my AG. WooHoo, im top 50% at something!

I was really hoping for a good bike today. The course was flat, and not at all technical. We knew we were going to have winds today, but its Texas, so were not unused to it to an extent. Once we hit the seawall, we had a little bit of maybe a quartering wind. Just enough to hear it, so you knew you didn't have the tail wind. I was pretty happy knowing I was maintatining 17-18mph without having to turn myself inside out to do it. But I did know that I was going to have to pay it back to some extent coming back. Courtney Leone came flying by me about 4 miles into the bike looking super strong. I passed maybe 10 people going out including one girl who was obviously not happy about being passed. I passed her, and moved over, she came back and passed me, then slowed down, I passed her back, and she came around again! this time I would pass her so she couldn't hold on. I clicked up a few gears and pedaled super hard for 30 seconds or so, until I could barely hear her bike. Her bike was very noisy. made the turn around, and commented to the 250th person to pass me that I was really surprised that we got here so fast. Made the turn around in 24:30. This is important because Laurie was my rabbit for the day. She started 12 minutes behind me, and I was hoping to hold her off. We made the turn and into the wind we go. It wasn't a terrible wind at all, but it was enough to make me work a bit to hold 13mph. at just about 29:30 I saw Laurie going the other way. Drat, that meant she was now 10 minutes behind me. We yelled to each other and kept on plugging away. As I turned off the seawall and was making my way back to transition, there was a big gust of very cold air that signal that things were about to change. once back into Moody Gardens I saw Marcy, Bill and Hannah, and they were cheering loudly for me again! Made it back to transition in 29mins, so that gives you an idea how the wind was. It added 20% to the trip back. but it was a fun ride, and i wish it was longer!

Maybe go a bit harder on the way out when I had a little help.

good quick transition. I had a lot of traffic around me coming into the transition chute, so I wasn't comfortable enough to get my feet out of my shoes while moving, so I didn't.

the only thing I see differently is maybe saving 10 seconds from getting out of my shoes before the line. other than that, nothing I can think of.

with the amount of turns we took, it felt like the 3 mile course could have all been within a 1/2 mile area. Not saying thats a bad thing, but it does make it near impossible to gauge where you are in the course.
The run out of transition lead me directly back to where Marcy, Bill and Hannah were. I got a quick kiss, and off I went. As soon as I made that turn, I was running back towards the finish line and saw Derek there. He had already finished his very lucrative race. was moving pretty good, and trying my best to not look at my HRM too much, and run at the top end of where I felt I could keep it up. Passed mile 1 at 13.08 and i was pretty happy about it. I felt like I had been walking too much. a few more turns, and off in the distance I can hear one person bellowing STEVE, and then another, and another. I had found the BT aid station! I grabbed a cup of water, and for some odd reason, I decide to throw it at Aaron who was behind the table. Grabbed a Gatoraide from Chris, and since throwing the water was fun, I decided to give John a gatorade bath. I knew I was coming back around, so I would grab a water then. As fate would have it, by then all I would really have to do is tilt my head up and open my mouth. It had started to pour! Maybe my whole water trick started it. I still kinda wonder what I was thinking.....Shortly after passing the aid station passed Laurie coming the other way! OMG, Only a little more than 1/2 way and she was maybe 2 minutes back! running in the downpour was pretty much beyond description. I instantly coooled down, but with that came some tightness in the calves. The run quickly became a slog. Kinda like Fred Astaire in Singing in the Rain. In several places the water was as deep as the curbs between the path. it was fun in the beginning, but after that it was just there. I guess I Did a good bit of walking on this run, but probably kept a fairly consistent pace with only the 15 lb shoes slowing me down at this point.
Made it to the waterfront path that we walked down to get to the swim start, so I knew it was close. rounded the last corner and there was Marcy huddling under a tent to stay as dry as possible. sh was cheering for me, and Im sure wishing she could have been at the finish, but there were people already starting to build Arks since it was raining so hard! Cross the line get my chip taken off, and walk to the up the path a little because I know Laurie has got to be right there, and sure enough, she was.

Get my weather machine fixed. Im sorry everyone, but I was too busy to get it done, and I couldn't get the wind right or the rain...its my fault.

be seriously.....run more I guess. I tried my best to not be a slave to the HRM and I wasn't. I had a good bit left when I finished so I didn't leave it all hung out.

Stand in pouring rain waiting for Laurie, and then promptly get into the exp tent and out of the rain! meet up with the other BT racers inside, and have a personal pizza and some water. then we stood around, and stood around...and then for a change of pace, we shifted our weight to another leg, and stood around. then the BT aid station folks made their way back to the tent. They had it worse than us because they were standing in the cold and rain, and really couldn't go anywhere.


weight, only 2 months of specific training, not knowing my limits yet. I could go on, but its all good. Im still proud that I beat more than 15% of the field!


Endurofun put on a great race. the course was well marked, well manned, and very safe.
AFter the award ceremony, in which BT's very own Tri_it_cajun_style won 3rd place in her AG we headed outside into the downpour to pack up our transition area. As you can well imagine, everything was soaked, filled, and messy. At least my shoes were clean now, right? The only issue is that now everything metal is rusting!
Keith put on a great race, gave great swag, and I really look forward to doing this race again next year...provided my weather machine is working properly.