LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Obviously a short course. I do not swim this fast. With how I felt in the swim and previous times I figure I should be at aroun 28 minutes. That means this course was close to 200 yards short.
Felt great in the water and navigated well

I executed the swim to the best of my ability. Only way I could've gone faster would have been through more training.

Course was very scenic. Was nice to see the countryside of Austin. Although I wasn't looking much...
Lots of up/downs...reminded me of the river trail on steroids because no sustained climbs but constantly up/down. Some rough streets made it tough at times. I was expecting to get passed quite a bit on the bike starting in wave 2 but it didn't happen. Got passed by maybe 6-7 guys and I passed another 6-7 (including a pro female) so I was pretty psyched. Also it was pretty darn windy out there. I like the wind though b/c I train in it often. Towards end of bike it was getting hot. Came off the bike 6th in my AG.

Chain fell off at about mile 5. Lower back was giving me fits almost entire ride, had to get out of the saddle to stretch is quite often...
Everything else went great. Was a strong ride.

This is where my life was sucked out of me. I wanted around a 1:45 run split for this race but this course was not suited for me at all. All my tri's and training have been done in relatively cool weather and mostly on flat courses. This race was nothing but hills and hot. When my legs loosened up around mile 2 I wanted to really start putting down the hammer but couldn't because there was another little hill in front of me. These hills weren't big (besides 1) but for me they were. I have no hill training on my run. My quads were full of lactic acid and it was hurting. Was painful to see my sub 5 hour time slip away. Really painful. But I gave it all I had and gutted out an ugly 1:58 run.

Strength train my run. Run hills. My cardio and head were great. I was hydrated well and felt fresh. My quads were 100% done after the first 7 miles.
I thought I was going to walk the last 5 miles or so until I saw cola at the next aid station. About 2 mimutes after I drank that I was back running again and felt really good. Every aid station after I drank more cola and it kept me going until 13.1. Passed sooo many people these last few miles, helped take away some of the pain not hitting sub-5. Note to self....CAFFEINE last few miles of run!!!

burritos...picture with the longhorn


Run course too hard for me. Heat would have slowed me down by itself with a flat course. Combine the two my run was 13 minutes off of goal pace...
Chain falling off on bike...
Other than that I hit this race fairly well tapered and feeling great. Pleased with my swim/bike.



Parking was a disaster. Events started late because of it. Swim course too short. Bike course was nice, run course was pretty awesome as well although tough. Volunteers were the best I have seen at any race. Post race was slightly above average. It didn't match the hype I had heard previously about this race, but it also didn't dissapoint at all.
Big thanks to my mom and stepdad for coming to the race. It is so nice to have someone there for support and encouragement. Although I wasn't violently ill and half dead like after the Full Vineman, it was nice to have people help with the post-race recovery!!!
Now it is time to hire a coach and crank up my training. Next year Jan-Jun is 100% commited to tri with 20-30 hrs/wk. I want a podium at 70.3, I want Clearwater and I will get it next season.