Lone Star Triathlon Festival - Sprint - TriathlonSprint

Man, that water was freezing! It also didn't help that the course was long. I didn't get my breathing under control until after the first couple of hundred meters into the swim once my body had warmed up. I tried to take deep breaths to get used to the water but it just wasn't working. Once I was warmed up, I guess I did alright, but it was a combination of warmed up and numbness, so who knows. I was able to draft off of a guy that didn't want me passing him 50-100 meters before the buoy, so that was good practice.

Install a heater under the swim course.

Dana's transition clinic showed through here. I was much more streamlined in transition and felt in much better control of the situation as I was getting ready. Plus my bike was racked about ten feet from the exit to the bike course, so that was an awesome bonus. I could pretend that I was elite. The bottoms of my feet did get a little sore from running so far from the swim exit to my bike barefoot, but there's not much you can do.

I would like to pick up a tri top that I can wear on the swim, as the jersey can be a little hard to put on when you're wet. Other than that everything went smoothly.

My quads were still a little fatigued from Hammerfest earlier in the week, so I'll need to not go or tone it down a notch before any big races in the future. There was a severe headwind going out to the seawall, which means a lovely cross-wind both up and back along the coast. But coming back into Moody Gardens from the seawall was a blast. I averaged 14-15 mph going out and 26-27 mph coming back in. I had a solid cadence and was happy with my overall performance. I goo'd during the middle of my ride to ensure the goo was in my system and not just hitting my stomach when I start the run.

Take it a little easier on the bike during the week leading up to the race.

Another good transition due to Dana's transition clinic. Easily my fastest T2 and I felt strong coming off the bike.

I would like to run sockless on the sprint triathlons in the future. Hopefully I'll get to practice and try it out for CB&I.

I ran what I felt was an easy pace until I hit the first mile marker and saw that I was running sub-eights. The pace felt good so I kept it, except when I would walk at the aid stations. The course was mismarked though, as the three mile sign was easily a quarter mile from the finish. Luckily I knew where the course ended so I didn't try to punch it out from there.

I drank a little too much water towards the end of the run.

Hit the massage ten and signed up for a massage right away. Once I had mine, I signed up Erin. By the time she finished, she only had a ten minute wait until her name, so that worked out perfectly. Also did a lot of stretching and walking, plus drinking a lot of fluids.


Rules against allowing a motor on my bike.


Another excellent race by Keith and Co. We went down Sunday to cheer on everyone we knew that was racing the quarter or half and it was just as fun spectating as it was participating.