LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I had a great swim!!! my times seem a little slow compared to what i usually do, but regardless of that, I loved my swim! i really do love open water swimming A LOT better than pool swimming. i sighted really well to the first two buoys, then rounded the second buoy and couldn't quite see the next buoy. After trading water for a few seconds to find the buoy, I decided to just swim in the direction of everyone else I hope that i would catch sight of it after while. i finally started to sight to what i thought was the buoy, but it turns out that it wasn't. Fortunately, it wsn't that far off the real buoy. So, my sighting on the backside of the swim course wasn't very good. I found that I kept swimming to the inside too much and would have to correct myself. Then, all of a sudden i get engulfed by the wave behind me- all men. That kind of spiked my hr a little. I got kicked once, but not too bad. I found my rhythm again and continued on my way. I think that my sighting for the rest of the course was pretty good- maybe it was a little bit too much to the inside on the last stretch. i felt so comfortable during the swim, that if i had to, I could have easily kept going!

Nothing, I had a good swim. This race wasn't about speed to me, so I'm even happy with my slower than normal time.

Like i just mentioned, this race was not about how fast I could be. it was about enjoying myself and the experience. So, I walked up the hill to transition and then started to run when i got to the top. I took my time rinsing off my feet, putting on my gloves, and redoing my pony tail. :) Then, I ran off with my bike to the mount line.

Nothing- i could have been faster, but what would the point have been!

I took it nice and easy on this ride. I wasn't planning on pushing myself. I just wanted to have fun and enjoy the ride! Craig (docshock0 passed me before we even got to 290. I was expecting Kelley (mom23) to pass me at any time, too. She ended up passing me about 20 miles into it. Aside from them, i didn't see anyone else on the bike course that i knew. My plan was to stop and rest for a minute while taking in some of my perpetuem. So, i did that 3 times during the course of the ride, and i also stopped once to refill my gatorade. I figured what's a minute in the whole scheme of things. I easily spun up the hills in my small ring and just kept a comfortable pace the entire way. At times I would think that maybe I should pick up my effort, but then I would remind myself to stick with my plan of viewing this as an event and not a race- just enjoy it! It took a lot of self discipline to keep myself in check and not to just get caught up in the moment and go all out! It was hard, but my main goal was to finish feeling good, happy, and able to enjoy the rest of the day. Even the last hills didn't bother me. i just spun up them in an easy gear and got my legs ready for the run.

Nothing

Once I dismounted, my legs felt like jello. I thought for sure i would fall if I tried to run with my bike, so i walked it at first. i then ran it to my spot, and got on all of my running gear. I had decided to wear my water belt, so that I could drink whenever I wanted to on the course, and not just at the aid stations. So, I had that to put on, my hat, running shoes, race number, etc... I ran out of transition.

nothing

Starting this run, my legs felt so tired! I also knew it was going to be a HOT run! As I was running through the park, I saw Raegan (my hubby, rgill) approaching me, so we stopped, gave each other a kiss, and then we were both on our ways again. Aside from heavy legs, I felt pretty good. I said a quick hello to Craig as he was returning back to the park on his first loop. Then, the hills started. How cruel!! I felt good until the uphill, so then I walked up it. I saw Karen (KSH) walking up ahead of me, so I decided to run up to her and walk with her for a couple of minutes. We parted ways and I continued my run/ walk. I was tired, but feeling good. As I was heading towards the turn around by the expo, i saw Kelley walking on the other side of the road. She told me to keep running and catch up to her. I continued on my run, and then realized that there was no way I would be able to catch up to her, because I had to walk more. So, i just started to do my walk/ run thing again- I was just taking it easy. i did start to feel a little cramp in my stomach, so I started to walk a little more, because I DID NOT want my stomach to hurt (flashback to the past week of stomach pains). I kept with the walking and my stomach felt good once again. During this time, David (davidb) caught up to me on that hill from Hell, and walked with me for a bit. It was nice to have company! After he started running again, i started to run too, because I was feeling pretty good again. This is when I rounded a corner and saw Kelley (mom23) up ahead. She wasn't feeling too good. It wasn't too long after that that Kelley got sick for the first time. I waited for her to finish losing everyhing, and then we started walking again. She was then feeling better, so we started running together. my stomach was feeling better , but my legs started cramping . I realized that I hadn't been taking my gu, so I started taking that. Kelley and I ran/walked several more miles together. Kelley atarted to go down hill again. Our walking became a slow, leisurely walk. But, I was having fun! I enjoyed seeing everyone that I knew out on the course and saying hi! jill passed us as we were walking a way from the expo center. She looked strong! We stopped to use the port a potty around mile 9.5. I was feeling sooo energized and good after having walked for so long that I was itching to run. Kelley was in no postion to run. I was torn whether I should stay with Kelley and give her company or head off on my own. Kelley told me to go, and since I was bursting at the seams to run, I went. I figured Kelley would be okay since there were so many people around. Turns out she got sick again within a couple of minutes of me leaving her, and the EMTs stopped her for a period of time to make sure she was going to be okay. I then passed Karen, who had passed us while we were at the port-a-potties and saw Jill (texmom) a head of me. I continued to see jill a head of me doing the same run/walk that i was doing. Jill and I ran through the park together and started off on our last cross country section. I decided to walk and told jill that i would see her at the finish line. i felt really good these last three miles. I was putting ice in my hat to keep cool and walking up all of the hills, and running the rest. At about mile 12.5, I caught up to Jill and we finished the race together! I felt happy, strong, and energized when I finished! I had met my goal- not a time goal, but an overall experience goal!

nothing. I enjoyed every part of it, because it all played a part in making my experience memorable and exciting!

I crossed the finish line and was immediately greeted by Raegan. Went off to the finisher's chute to cheer on the remaining BTers that were coming in. I enjoyed talking with everyone afterwards and hearing everyone's stories about their day. I was so happy when Kelley made her way to the finish and even mustered up a short run for it!

I sat with Kelley, Maurice, and Raegan at the medical tent while Kelley got 3 IVs. We then packed up our stuff and headed back to our hotel. We ended up eating in, and just taking it easy the rest of the evening. That felt really good! I was just happy that we had one more night before heading home to the kiddos.


a stomach bug for an entire week before the event. This really was a blessing in disguise however, because it really made me evaluate what I wanted out of this race. About three weeks before the race, I started to think that maybe I should be thinking about some time goals for myself. After my stomach issues, I realized, I didn't really care about time goals. I just wanted to have fun and be able to eat and have a beer afterwards! I didn't want to feel exhausted and sick for the rest of a kid-free weekend! I ended up not having a beer, because it just didn't sound as good to me, as something more hydrating1 :)


This was a great race!!! It was well organized and very well prepared for the hot and humid conditions that we had on that day. It also made it a lot of fun to do an event with some many people that you know. It was fun and encouraging to see people to cheer on and say hi to out on the run course. That was the one thing that i really liked abiut the run- the loops made it possible to see friends many diferent times! :)

The amazing thing (or maybe not so amazing since I walked so much) is that i didn't feel sore at all from this race. It just felt like a training day, and I feel like i could easily do another one this weekend. That is probably due to the fact that i didn't push myself to my full ability. I figure I'll save my racing for the shorter races and just enjoy the exprience of a HIM. Or, then again, maybe someday I'll decide to actually race one. ;) I do know that I'll be doing another HIM! :)