Texas Man Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

The swim was lovely for me. I started easy - much easier than I usually do but NOT slow. I found a draft quickly and hung on her hip until the first buoy. At the buoy, there was a bit of chaos. I felt the anxiety around me but swam calmly through. I lost my draft but quickly found a new one. Exact same experience rounding 2nd buoy. I felt calm and relaxed the entire time and drafted about 98% of the time. I only sighted for the finish twice (no other sighting) simply because my draft was a touch ahead of me and I wanted to get an idea of whether she was on course since I felt I could easily lose her. I passed several caps of other colors which boosted my confidence. It was a good swim overall for me.

I might push a little harder, but I think I walked the line on this one and played it right. There were a lot of fast girls out there today.

Good smooth transition. I stepped on a big rock coming into the transition area which bruised the ball of my foot pretty badly. Hurt like heck immediately. My goal was to relax in transition. I calmly got my bike and jogged out, keeping my HR down. I smiled at my coach coming out of T1. Smiling relaxes me - tells my body everything is good.

Not step on a rock. I seriously cannot walk on the ball of my foot tonight and it is swollen!

Biking is where I have to get ahead if I want to do well. I enjoy starting in the back and passing on the bike more than being ahead and being chased down. I hung with a group of 3 girls for the entire ride it seemed. We continuously passed each other back. I seemed stronger on the up-hills (never stood and still passed) but they would eventually pass me back. The good news is that I stuck with them. I enjoyed the bike and felt confident that I was pushing enough and would have some legs left for the run.

At the end of the race, I found my front tire completely flat!!! I don't know what happened but I am SURE GLAD I made it through the bike with air in my tire!!!

Need a new straw for my aero bottle. When it gets low, it rattles and that just bugs me.

Excellent T2. Felt like I spent no time at all in there. Except, I was wincing at the pain in my foot from T1. Putting running shoes on cushioned the pain a bit but not 100%

Nothing.

I just ran. I kept thinking I need to go faster and I'd try to dig a little deeper. I never looked at my watch. I never saw a mile marker. I had no idea how I was doing. I just wanted to stay where I was in the ranking since I had gotten passed by two fellow age groupers on this course at Disco Tri in July. I passed more people than I ever have on a run and I only remember being passed once. I followed a guy in a Banesto jersey nearly the entire run. If you know him, tell him thanks for me.

I felt I was running a good pace and perhaps I had more but I couldn't be sure - the hills felt like an interval workout and were playing tricks on my mind. The finish line came out of no where and I was SO thrilled when I saw it. I ran hard and strong to the end, kiddo's cheering. I felt great.

Push just a little harder.

I tried to go for a post-race jog but my foot hurt too much after I had paused and the adrenalin was fading. My knee also felt wobbly and tender and couldn't take any more running. So I just walked around a bit and got a lot to drink.


If anything held me back it was just me needing to learn more about racing.


The only reazon I cannot give Dallas Athletes a glowing report is the fact that I noticed the food and water at the finish run out before all the athletes were done. I couldn't find a water bottle anywhere for my friend when she finished, and I really searched. She found a jug and cups but it's just not the same as the fabulous water bottles usually handed out in the finish shoot.

The venue was lovely, the course was great. Hanging out afterward under the trees was great and there was plenty of space to be comfotable, socialize and cool down right by the water. I hope they have this race here again next year.