Lone Star Triathlon Festival - Quarter - TriathlonOlympic

Wow! This was the most combative start I've ever been in! (It was actually pretty fun!) I was in the wave with all the college triathletes (Aggies, Army, Navy) and they were serious about the swim start. Usually the first 50-100 meters are tough, but I fought girls all the way out to the first bouy. One girl swimming beside me hit me in the back of my head twice (if she did it again I was going to punch her); one girl tried to swim over me and kept grabbing my butt; and I had to stop several times so that I wouldn't get kicked in the face. Don't worry, I swam over my share of girls too. :) After I rounded the first bouy it spread out a little and I was able to make up some ground. I swam on the inside of the pack and was able to cut closer to the bouys. I passed one guy in a navy cap right before the last bouy. He was floating on his back like Luke does- I popped my head up to take a closer look, and I did not think it was him, so I kept going. (It was nto him, so I'm glad I didn't stop) I forgot to set my watch so I had no idea time wise, but I felt pretty good coming out of the water into transition.

I don't think that there is much I would do differently i the swim. Maybe just be a little more prepared by anticipating current in an open water bay swim.

I really had pretty good transitions in this race. Probably some of my best ones ever. I did not pu tmy socks on until after the ride and think it made a big difference. I had no issues with the riding shoes and no socks.

I would like to learn to start my ride with my shoes already clipped in... hopefully I can learn before the end of this season.

The headwind on the way out was brutal! I think that I might have burned my legs out a little too much b/c they started to cramp up on the way back. I like to break my rides up into quarters. Every time I get to the end of 1/4 of the ride I like to take a few minutes to take some nutrition and relax for a minute. On the first part of the ride I was hoping to be close to 7 miles and I looked down and I was at 3. I thought, man this is going to be a long ride! I knew that it would probably take me at least an hour to make it to the turn around, so I just buckled down and rode it out. I really tried hard not to think too much about the distance or how long I had been riding. At this point I was pretty glad that i had forgotten to start my watch b/c I really lost all concept of time. I just kept hoping that when I made the turn around that the wind would help me as much as it was hurting me. I think I averaged about 12-13 mph on the way out and I was passed by a lot of people! At one point I saw Joe on the side of the road with a flat and he said that he thought he might be finished, but then a few miles down the road he came zipping by me with a new wheel! A little while later, just before the turn around, I saw him again and then I saw Luke! I really wanted to make up sometime after the turn around. It was so amazing how quite it got after the turn around with the wind to my back. I was afraid to look at my speed b/c I was afraid that the wind would not help me as much as I was hoping, but when I looked down I was at 19 mph at a coast. I started to pick it up to make up sometime, but a few miles into the trip back my legs started to hurt real bad. I would pedal some and then I would have to stretch out my legs. Finally (with only 5 miles to go) I figured out that if I just got out of arrow then I could pedal with out my legs hurting so bad. I wish I had thought of that earlier!

I wish that I had not burned out my legs so much on the way out. I really tried to force something and got nothing, I think if I had relaxed a little more on the way out I really could have been better on the way back. The other thing I would do differently is that I would have gotten out of arrow earlier in the ride to stretch out my legs. I really didn't loose much speed out of arrow on the way back and I think it would have helped me more in the long run.

I had another great transition for me. Usually I end up taking my time and end up with someof the slowest transitions, but I did pretty good this time.

I would like to learn to dismount off my bike.

Well, this was the rough spot for me. I remembered to start my watch as I left transition. The first mile my calves were pretty tight, but they usually are like that when I train bricks, so I was expecting this. After the mile 1 sign I thought, man I am really moving b/c I was just under 9 min. After that I seemes to keep running and running mile 2 never appeared. I found out later that the mile 1 sign was short. It was during this that I went by the BT aid station and someone gave me some water. I am very glad that they did b/c in my race plan I was not going to take any until after mile 2 and I could not find mile 2. As it turned out, Mile 2 was just passed the BT aid station! I was so happy to see that sign! The bigger problem was that at about 1.5 miles both of my feet went to sleep. I could not feel either of them at all! I felt like I was completely running on nubs! I stopped to losen my laces and my calves to see if either made a difference- it totally did't. By the 3rd mile I was in tears. I couldn't figure out what to do- I thought about taking my shoes off, but that seemed like a bad idea. I walked some, and that really helped restore the feeling in my feet, but as soon as I would start to run again my feet would fall asleep. Finally, I just decided that i would run on my nubs and that it probably would not hurt anything. I wasn't in any pain and I figured as long as I focused on picking my feet up, then I would not trip over the feet I couldn't feel. As it turned out, this strategy worked. I started to pick up my pace an loosen up a little. Things seemed to be looking up as I went into my 5th mile until I passed by Luke. He was headed back into Moody Gardens towards the finish, and I still had to go out and make the final loop plus turn around. Now I know that I should nt be competative with my spouse, but I am. You can say whatever you want; we are not in the same group, we are different genders, blah, blah, blah. I ALWAYS want to beat him in every category of the tri's. (This is why we try to compete in different races.) This did not happen this weekend- I only won the swim and to me that doesn't count. If I trained with girls I would want to beat them too. It is not just Luke. At that point, when I ran passed Luke I knew it I was behind (again I don't count the swim) and became very discourage. I ran the last mile and a half trying to get back to the finish on my nubs- discouraged the whole way. I did make it back and I knew that my run was slow b/c it was the one thing that I timed for the whole race. I didn't even know what my overall time was.

If I could do something differently I would not worry about my dumb feet or would just use better shoes. I would also try to not get so discouraged. The one thing I am happy about is that the run did not seem real long. I think I was so preoccupied with my feet and where people were that I did not have a chance to worry about how much longer I had left.

I really didn't have a warm down. I just walked around talking to BTer's, btu then we had to hurry and grab some food and leave b/c Luke had to be back in Houston and at the Church by 3 PM. After I ate soem food and had some fluids, I took a short nap in the car and started to feel a lot better. At home I stretched and used a lotion I have that is like icy-hot, but it is all natural.


After I made it home I looked up my results and then felt a lot better about everything. It was my first longer race and I did ok. I finished and was only about 15 minutes off of my goal- and that was in a what I think was a pretty tough course. Luke dropped me off and went stright to Church (with out a shower!) and I started cleaning house and getting things ready for work today. Overall it was a pretty fun weekend. :)