Lone Star Triathlon Festival - Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I started near the right, front. Unfortunately, the person I was drafting at the start took us off course, so I had to cut back over to the main pack. Never found a decent draft after that for more than a few strokes at a time. My navigation has gotten straighter, so I tried to sight a little less.

I really should have done better here, especially given the wetsuit. My recent technique improvements kept this from being a poor swim, although I really should have done much better.

Had to pull up on the last leg and check my chip strap, which felt like it was coming off.

Warm up. Find a decent draft.

Long run up the shore to T1. Wetsuit strippers were great, though they should get some older kids to help. (Took two tugs for them to get it off me.)

Had to refasten my chip strap, but that only took a second. No problem getting into aero helmet.

Pulled on socks, which took a second, and also shoes; however, I can run in my cycling shoes, and my run through transition was good. I also ran past several who stopped at the mount line and got a nice jump onto the bike. Overall, 27th in age group.

Still not sure I'd gain much with shoes mounted on bike. Just need to try it sometime.

All-in-all, a pretty solid ride. With memories of last year, and the hints of wind gusts on the dock that morning, I think a lot of us were expecting more headwind in one of the directions. However, it was mosty cross-winds, and really a minor impact.

Starting out, my outer hips/upper glutes were tight on both sides. This was unusual, and something I'd never experienced before. However, it didn't really seem to be slowing me down, and it eventually went away.

HR came down steadily after transition. I kept a pretty steady pace and passed a number of people, though I could never find anyone in my age group, though I got passed by 4 or 5 of them. :( On the second loop, it was constantly passing people because there were so many athletes on the course; however, I never saw a problem with drafting.

Nutrition went well. Early on, I burped up some of the Perpetuem and was worried I'd have problems keeping food/fluids down. Knowing it would be worse on the run, I made a point to concentrate on my bike nutrition. Fortunately, it seemed to get better over time. Finished a 3-hr bottle of perpetuem, a small cliff bar, and lots of water.

Just after getting back on the seawall for the second loop, I happened to catch and pass Beth, who was starting her loop for the Olympic. This time I just sang a quick "You're in the front, you've got the lead, they can't catch you, you've got the speed!" verse to her as I approached and zipped by. (Backyardigans reference - can you tell we have kids?) During our practice ride yesterday, I tried the road runner -- MEEP! MEEP! Pbbttthpppp! -- as I went past and that just annoyed her I think, so this was better. :)

HR seems to be in check. Now need to build more strength on the bike.

Great T2. Fastest in my age group by 7 seconds, despite being racked at the far end of transition from bike in/out. Pretty good dismount and run. Unfastened and removed helmet while running with bike. Already had socks on, so just slipped on shoes, grabbed race belt and headed out.

3rd fastest T2 overall - sweet!

Nothing. Great transition.

Felt average leaving T2, so I told myself the first two or three miles were just warm up and kept a zone 2 pace. (Still was holding a decent pace, but just trying to keep myself under control mentally, I think.) Plan was to push zone 3 on the run and see if I could get nutrition right to hold zone 3 throughout. I didn't think I had the strength/energy to raise the effort to zone 3, but my HR began drifting up there anyway.

Nutrition was very good overall. Unlike my previous race, I didn't try the pretzals, chips, or even the cola, since I hadn't practiced with them. (And, surprise, no GI issues! Yea!!!) I did, however, take a decent swig of Gatorade and water at just about all the aid stations. Staying better hydrated has been a goal, and it went pretty well this race.

Really just a solid, steady effort the entire time. I never felt fantastic, like I was just flying through the course, but I even when it was starting to wear on me, I never felt like I needed to walk. The only exception to this was tactical... I started getting a quadricep cramp around mile 10, so I walked just enough of the next two aid stations to make sure I took down a full glass of Gatorade Endurance and a full glass of water. That seemed to stave off the cramp.

Didn't notice the hip much until about mile 12, but not to the point of needing to slow or affecting my finish. A relay runner tried to pass me in the last couple hundred yards, but I caught him back and beat him to the line just out of pride.

Got to see Brittney (TexasMPGal) twice on the course and offer some encouragement. I saw Beth (Tri Mommy) starting the second half of the Olympic course as I was finishing my first loop and did a little mid-stride Racing Day dance for her (another Backyardigans reference), and was pleasantly surprised to see her again as she was finishing up.

Cheers from Aaron and Robert were welcome sounds at a couple points on the course, too,

A great run really. Much improved from my other flat-course HIM. Not needing to walk / avoiding GI issues makes all the difference. Need some more sodium/minerals to avoid cramps altogether.

Although I think I could have managed to get through another loop (although much slower and more painfully), I'm not sure I could have pulled off two more. There's still lots of work to do before Louisville.

Found Beth (Tri Mommy) right afterwards. Got my name on the massage list, then we headed to the food line, where I started stretching some. Got lucky with the massage had the table with two ladies working on me. But it was BRUTAL. It was deep tissue, and they really worked hard to get the knots out of my quads and calves. I was surprised to be in that kind of pain; I was about willing to go out and run an extra lap if they said I could do that instead.) That said, I feel much better than I have after many of my races; their work really, really helped.

Was able to see Sidney finish; found Aaron, Andrew, Roger, Brittney, and some others to just chat with, and cheered on some of the late finishers.
We did hang around for the giveaways and awards to see Sidney win 3rd in her age group. Unfortunately, none of us took home the custom Guru frame.


Injury - weak right hip/groin. Was only supposed to be a 'C' race; however, extra rest of this hip was really like extra taper, so I probably performed better than I should have expected to.

By far my best HIM to date. I am amazed to have pulled it in under 5hrs and feel great about it. (Even with only 25 seconds to spare) It's amazing how all those little seconds add up -- super fast T2, aero helmet, borrowed front race wheel.) But I know how much faster and stronger those leaders are in my new age group. And that's all about the engine, so I'll keep on working at it.


Once again, Endorfun put on a FANTASTIC event. Nice venue, even if the course is a little easy, but it's really the organization and attention to details that make their events better than most. Tons of volunteers, fantastics setup, course markings, traffic management, announcers, support, etc. Did I mention they even have free beer?