LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Good, controlled start for me; I didn't let myself get carried away by the excitement. A good deal of bumping in the washing machine, but not too bad. Got kicked in the left shoulder, but no issues with the elbow.

Didn't do great with drafting the first leg, but found someone to hang on after the first bouy. Stuck with him the rest of the way. He was sighting pretty well, so I navigated by keeping aligned with him. This let me sight less often and focus on better breathing, stroke, pointed feet, etc.

Really felt good about the swim. Didn't think I was pushing fast enough to break 40min, so I was surprised when I checked my split. Still need to develop a kick at some point. Bouyancy felt a little weak at some points.

Long, uphill, grass run from water to transition. Put on shoes in transiation, and was a little slow getting some grass off my feet first. (18th in age group.)

Mount wasn't as good as recent events, but I was being a little cautious with the arm. Got clipped in pretty well, though.

Maybe I'll decide to work on having shoes mounted on bike for next year.

Felt really in control for the ride. Only checked my cadence a couple of times, but I was spinning well even later in the race. HR stayed much lower than I expected for the terrain. (HR avg: 134!) The rollers made for a pretty fast course. Given how good I felt, I was a little surprised I wasn't a bit faster against the field in my age group. Given my lack of opportunity to train outside the past weeks because of the broken elbow, I guess I'm still very happy with this. Stayed aero nearly the entire time except for most corners (I was being a little cautious) and a few hill summits where I just really wanted to get off the saddle for a few seconds.

Saw the officials out there, and the Mavic crew was working the course. Only saw two people stopped for mechanical during the ride. About 15 miles in, one person crashed just a little ahead of me in a straight section. Looked like he dropped a bottle and then ran over it, got wobbly, and went down. Ouch! He was standing by the time I reached him.

Nutrition was 1 bottle of 4.5 scoops of Perpetuem, aero bottle was water (refilled at each handup), 1 mini clif block, one hammer gel, and 4 enduralytes.

I was going to make sure I took in enough nutrition on the bike this time. The clif bar was great, and the solid nutririon was a nice change. I've done gels in the past with no problem, but this one seemed really sweet going down. Too sweet, but I choked it down. Unfortunately, it made me rethink my plan to take in another gel on the bike, or use gels on the run (which may have proved to be a bad choice later.) I did at least time everything to finish my nutrition with about 20-30 minutes left on the bike, so my stomach could be settled starting the run. Last time, I found myself trying to get the remaining food down in the last couple miles.

On the last handup, I grabbed a Gatorade, took a quick swig, then ditched it and tried to grab a water bottle, too. Unfortunately, I missed it, so I didn't get to refill for the last section. I still had some water, but it was rattling empty by the time I pulled into T2. It was a tactical win (less weight up those last hills), but would have been a problem if the handup had been earlier or the course longer.

Oh, and kudos to the rider out there that I was trading places with around mile 15. He did the course riding an older fixed-gear bike! (Riding strong, too.) I told him I had to admire him for taking on this course on that bike, and he joked back with "Someday I'll be able to afford some more gears."

Not much. I finished the ride feeling like I'd given a steady, strong effort, but ready for the run. More hill training might let me push a harder gear up some of the longer rollers. I'll consider some behind-the-seat bottles so I have backups.

I have had some absolutely fantastic dismounts in the past. This wasn't one of them.

A little hesitant to trust my healing elbow completely, I came to more of a stop before throwing my leg over and jumping off the bike. I moved pretty quickly through transition, spotting the bright, felt, 2' tall flower Beth had bought the day before to mark my transition spot.. I didn't have any problem with grass burrs, although I've heard that some people did.

A little slow to rack the bike, because I had to turn it around to use my good arm. I'd decided to go without socks for the bike, so I pulled them on in T2 then slipped into shoes. Grabbed hat and belt and put them on while running out.

I heard them announce that Aaron (JeepFleeb) was coming in on the bike and leading the Aquabike, so I was running backwards through transition looking for him and yelled a "Go Aaron!". Must've looked a little funny to anyone watching, I'm sure.

Grabbed water and gatorade at the transition exit, mixed them and took a swig. At my first HIM, I suspected nutrition/electrolytes is where I faltered on the second half of the run. I originally planned for gels, but after the one on the bike, that didn't sound appealing, so I also grabbed a handful of pretzels and chips (wanted the salt). Pretzels were a pain to get down, and the flavor on those chips was a bit strong.

Forgo the food. Focus more on getting the nutrition / electrolyes perfect during the bike segment.

Got off to a great start on the run! Was keeping my pace under control and my HR down. I was surprised to see the number of people already walking so early in the run. Around mile 1, was caught by a 26 year old guy and I started pacing alongside him. That worked out great, and we held steady for the entire first lap, even up the big hill!

But... between miles 4 and 5 I started having some GI issues. I don't know if it was the cola I started taking from the aid stations earlier, the gatorage, the chips, or what. I managed to hold off until we got back to transition to start lap 2, but there was no choice, and I headed straight for the bathrooms. I kept it quick, but the the worst part about making that stop was losing the guy I was pacing with.

Got back on the course pretty quickly and back into a groove. Once back out on Decker Road, I thought I could see my pacer in the distance, and I think I was gaining on him over time. I skipped anything but water and sponges at the aid stations, but by the turnaround I was suffering badly again and had to make another bathroom stop. This one was significantly longer, and I'd have to guess I gave up at least 4-5 minutes on the two stops. After that, I didn't even take much water, as I was afraid it was exacerbating the issue. Instead I dumped any ice I could find in my hat -- great for cooling and I could chew it for at least some hydration.

I guess my legs got a little rest while I was handling issues in the porta-john, but without a pacer I started suffering more. Slower pace, my chest tightened up some, and I walked briefly a few times around mile three back on Decker Road. But on the bright side, I was seeing more BTers on the course by that time -- John (jcagg90), David (dgillen), Marcy (dodgersmom), Craig (docshock) -- and shouting encouragement to each other helped.

But I was spent by the time I reach the big hill again. I just couldn't run up it. In fact, as I rounded the corner to start it, I discovered Sue (sportysue) was just 15 or 20 feet ahead of me. She was waslking too, but I didn't have the energy to call out to her. After what seemed like a really long time, I finally mustered the strength to jog up beside her so I'd have someone to talk with as I was walking up. I also noticed Mike (marmadaddy) walking a little ways ahead of us, too.

At this point I was checking my watch, trying to estimate the distance, and whether 5:30 was still possible. I didn't think so, but at some point I decided I had to keep trying, so with a little left of that hill I made myself run again. Mike had started running again a little earlier and was out of sight, so I used him as something to focus on catching. I finally caught him near the last aid station and mumbled something about "..just keep me moving".

That last uphill section before the finish was a cruel trick. My legs gave out again and I found myself walking with only a couple tenths of a mile left to go. I was still moving, but that 5:30 time was coming up fast. A guy I'd passed earlier caught up and went by me. Between that and coming up on the last corner and hearing the crowd around the bend I decided to make it count. From somewhere (I'm not sure where), I pulled out a full sprint for the last two tenths. I caught and passed that last guy and finished to a roaring crowd and the discovery that I'd squeeked in under 5:30. It felt great!

Because the 1st half went so well, I have a really hard time calling this run "Below Average". But with the GI/nutrition issues and walking during the latter half, it certainly wasn't one of my best. I'll just go with "average".

I hate to (potentially) ruin a long training run by trying radically different things, but I really need to pick some weekends and practice with cola, with pretzels, with chips, or the other things often found on race courses course to find exactly which one(s) caused my issues.

Need some more hill sessions to build the strength for the second half.

They put the finisher's medal and towel around me after I stopped, then I got pretty light headed. Volunteer helped me to the finish tent, where I tried to hold myself up, but I found myself going down to one knee. Was helped to the misting tent where I took a chair for a few minutes.

Found Beth and the kids, who were happy to see me but a bit worried. Was still feeling light-headed so I went to the med tent where they put me on a cot, iced me down and gave me more Gatorade. It was a pretty brutal day, and the med tent was busy the entire time, so I tried not to stay too long.

Made sure to get on the massage list before finding the other BTers and chatting for a little bit. (Ohhh.. that post-race massage is always fantasting. I don't know how I would have managed the car ride back to Dallas that afternoon without it.) I wanted to stay for all the BTers to finish, but the kids were beside themselves and we had to get back to Dallas because of some evening plans, so I loaded up in the food tent (ooo.. Amy's ice cream was GREAT) and then we headed off to get the bike and make one last trek over to the expo center to the car. (I have to walk that AGAIN?!?!)


GI/nutrition issues with the run. Possible from poor decisions on foods at aid stations.
Endurance/strength for the hills on the run.


Keith and Enforfun pulled off another **fantastic** event. The course was definitely challenging, but one of the best races I've done. I loved the bike course, and the run really forced me to dig deep. I'm thrilled with how I did.

Organization, support, supplies, volunteers, atmosphere, food, activities -- it was all top-notch. Having so many BTers around made it even better, and the encouragement and support from them was unbeatable. I don't know if I'll be able to make the trip to Austin every year, but I'm going to try to make it to Longhorn again.

This was a Halfmax qualifying event, so the top 25% of each age group qualifies to attend the Halfmax Nationals next year. Looks like I may be in! So who knows, maybe I'll be headed off to St. Louis next year.