Start was a little rough. I had never swam in water with any kind of waves before so it took me a minute or two to get my rhythm down. After that it was fine though. I hadn't put a whole lot of mental effort into getting ready for this race so I didn't even know what direction we would be turning at the buoy.

After the turn (it was a left, in case you were curious) I didn't have many swimmers to sight off of anymore. There weren't very many buoys in this section so sighting was king of tough. I would just look for a swimmer ahead of me and head that direction until the bouy finally came into sight.

When I had made it to the marker buoy the leader of the second wave finally passed me. Same routine of sighting off other swimmers to get me to the next buoy. Along the way I brought my left arm down and as I pulled back something sharp hit my elbow. I have no idea what it was but it hurt like hell.

Made it to the next turn buoy and got passed my the leader of the third wave. Had a bit out trouble finding a good line on the way back in. They yellow start buoy had been moved onto the shore and I was heading towards it thinking that I had to keep it on my left like the others. Instead I should have just been swimming to the dock like everyone else. Oh well.

Swam until my hand hit the dock and then it was finally time to race on dry land.

I could have worn my wetsuit but it's got a huge tear in it and I didn't want to bother.

Would have been a good transition if I hadn't forgotten to put on my race belt.

Put on my race belt!

I forgot my freaking race belt! I got a minute and a half down the road before I remembered. Had to turn around and go back to transition. Dumbest mistake I've ever made during a race. Cost me at least 4 minutes, if not more. Grrrrrr.

Anyway, once I had everything I need it was back to business. Only this time I had to make up 4 lost minutes on top of my sub-par swim. Luckily we had a really fun course. The first half of the ride was on the highway! The police had blocked off all the on ramps and we had our own lane of the highway to ride in! I've always wanted to do this.

I was immediately passing people as fast as I could. Flats, downhill, uphill; it didn't matter. We came to the first really tall bridge (one of those ones for large ships to pass under) and I could see a woman walking her bike ahead of me. "Wow! I better get ready. I don't have hills to train on and this one looks killer!" I dropped to my small ring and just stayed in the saddle and churned away.

Then I passed someone. Then another person. Then a group of three. Then the woman walking her bike. By the top of the hill I had passed a dozen people and had a huge downhill to send me on my way. Made the next u-turn and then it was back up the same hill.

I reached for my water bottle near the top and as I went to put it back I knocked of my CO2 cartridge. Had to stop and go back to get it. "Damn! How many mistakes can I make in a day?!?" Heading back down the hill I was really picking up speed. I was in my hardest gear and had a cadence of 115. I look down at my computer to see that I had broke 45MPH! "OMG! I never want this to end!"

Of course it did end and we made the short out and back look on a side freeway. We finally got back on to regular roads which weren't as interesting but were certainly faster. I heard a truck come to a screeching half as I headed down the access road. Scared me for a second that I might have gotten hit. Then I saw a sign outside of a restaurant that read "CANJUN CRAWFISH" with the extra N painted over in white. That made me laugh and I forgot all about the truck.

The next road was flat and straight. A great road to race on. I had moved my way past the middle of the pack by now and didn't have alot of people left to chase down. Came up to two people riding side by side and yelled as loud as I could at them. Damn people not caring about the rules. Where was a race official when you needed one?

Rode through the industrial section of town as we neared the San Jacinto Monument. Not the best smell in the world which just made me want to ride faster. As we turned onto the road for the monument I passed a guy in my age group. Finally! He was the first one I had seen all day. At least now I knew I wasn't in last place.

Volunteers were radioing our numbers to the people in T2 so they could have our stuff ready for us. As I crossed into the park enterance I climbed out of my shoes. Unfortunately as I dismounted I hit a bump and one of my shoes and my CO2 pump fell off my bike as well as my chain coming off the ring. Thankfully the volunteer said he would get it for me so I could just keep on running.

Not knock off my CO2 pump, look more carefully where I'm going as I jump off my bike.

Handed my bike to a volunteer and waited a second for another volunteer to hand me my bag. I looked around and didn't see where I was supposed to go. Thankfully someone pointed out the huge tent right in front of my and it all became very clear.

Opened my transition bag and got out my shoes, cap and flag. Put everything on, stuffed my helmet in the bag and dropped it as I ran off.

Know how transition is setup so I'd know where to go.

Started out down a short gravel trail before hitting a series of bridges that took us over the marshy area. Next was some rocky trail running and a seemingly out of place asphault section. About a half mile in we hit the hard packed dirt trail which lasted until mile one. Then it was all freshly mowed grass until the mile 2 markers and our first aid station. Along the way a guy in my age group went blowing past me (obviously on his second lap). Okay, I know I'm not first in my age group but not last either. I can live with that.

I wasn't feeling terribly good at that point. I had a stitch in my side and I just didn't have a good rhythm. I walked through the aid staiton and sipped my water while I had some shade to cool me down. Then it was back to running on the asphault that took us back to the monument. The run was a two loop course and we got a drink as we passed by the finish line.

I saw Holly and Hannah as I started my second lap. This time there were alot more people on the course and this gave me someone to pace off of finally. About a mile into the second loop I get passed by the guy in my age group who I caught on the bike. Uh oh. For all I know this guy could be taking my second place trophy away from me. Or third place. Or not last. I couldn't let that happen.

I wasn't planning on pushing the run very hard since I had another race the next day, but I couldn't let this one guy beat me. I decided right then and there to shadow him the rest of the way. I'd stay a foot or two behind him and make him listen to my footsteps. I'd focus on controlling my breathing so he thinks I'm not as tired as he is. I'll stay with him step for step until I can see the finish line and then sprint past him.

We stay together step for step for the next mile. As we approach the aid station I'm really struggling to keep pace and don't know if I'll be able to make it another mile like this. I need to walk through this aid station. If he runs through then I'm toast. There's no way I can keep this up. If he walks then I'll walk too and run when he runs, but I can't run the whole way with him.

As the aid station comes into view I can see that there's no one there! Looking down the road the volunteers are there but just picking up cups. OMG! They ran out of water! As we pass under the trees there is a line of people getting a drink from a small spigot off to the side. There's no way I'm going to stop to drink from that; I'll just walk for a bit to catch my breath.

Then my wildest dreams came true. The guy stopped to walk over and get a drink! I passed him! If I can keep running he'll have to work twice as hard to catch me! If I run even faster I can break his spirit right now and eat his soul as my victory meal!!! HAHAHAHA!!!

I pick up the pace a bit and don't look back. It's just a mile to the finish line he will not catch me. The San Jacinto monument is getting closer and closer and I don't hear anyone behind me. Finally as I come around a corner I turn to look back and he's not even in sight!

Victory is mine!

Take it a little slower to start out. Try and put myself in a better place mentally.

Haley was waiting for me at the finish gave her my flag as I went to find the nearest shady spot to cool down. Once I caught my breath we got some food and hung out with everyone else. When I checked the results I found out that I got 3rd in my AG and beat the other guy by 50 seconds. Pretty good considering all my mistakes and that he caught me with two miles to go. You never know what can happen during a race.

We grabbed some breakfast burritos and sat in the shade while we ate. It wasn't too much later until Bill came across the line and we all congratulated him on his first oly.

Haley went back to T1 with Holly so she could pick up our stuff and bring the Jeep back so we could load up our bikes. Jeanette(Nette213) found us as we were waiting for the awards ceremony and we all hung out on what turned out to be a great day.


Mental preperation. Stupid mistakes.


4 is a pretty damn good ranking for a first time race. Having two seperate transitions sucks! They had U-Hauls to take people's bikes back and busses to bring the athletes, but it was still a big mess. There was a Battle of San Jacinto re-enactment going on in the same park so traffic was a nightmare. It's 50/50 if I'll be back next year.