I started in the first wave in the front and right in the middle. My confidence was high since I was wearing an Xterra speed suit (borrowed from Richard) and I was about 10 yards to the right of a guy I thought was a fast swimmer. He was closer to the buoy line and I was taking a slightly shorter route cutting the corner of the bend in the river and not following the buoys on my left side. I was off quickly at the start and didn't see anyone to my right or left for the first 200 yards. Then I started to see the fast guy on my left and another group far to the my right cutting the corner even more than me. I was too far from both sides to drop in behind someone's feet and draft so I just kept going ahead waiting for them to close in front of me. That never happened and I slowly started to fade further behind them after I had a coughing issue with some water that I never really recovered from. Once they were past and too far in front to draft off of I settled into a nice pace and just tried to swim a steady and consistent race pace. My goal was to get out of the water before my buddy Richard, who was in the wave behind me and 5 minutes back. Over 1500 meters he typically puts about 5 minutes in me so it was going to be tough to beat him out of the water, especially since he was gunning for me and trying to win the race overall. At the 750 meter turn I was beginning to wonder if anyone was behind me since I felt so alone. I could still see the 3-4 swimmers 100-150 yards ahead of me working as a pack and they were all I could sight on since we were heading back into the early morning sun. On the swim back I started seeing people on the other side of the buoy line and some swimming on MY side of the buoy line. It reminded me of swimming at Barton Springs were people have no sense for swimming on the correct side of the pool to avoid head-on collisions. The swim back seemed long and I kept looking for the yellow buoy to turn back to shore for the finish. Each time I passed an orange buoy (that looked yellow in the sun) I would get disappointed and have to keep going. I finally got to the turn buoy and made the quick left to the shore still waiting to get that tap on my feet from Richard. I had to fight the urge to look behind me and just keep my head down and pull for the shore. Once I was out of the water and pulled up the boat ramp by the Marines, I stole a glance at my watch, then the bike racks looking for Richard's bike (still there!) then behind me to see where he was. My Spidy sense told me he was close. Total swim time was about a minute behind where I thought I would be but I was pleased since I didn't swim all week after last week's RiverCities Sprint.

Start off a little slower and move over to the faster feet, even if off the desired line to the buoy.

I was so excited to beat Richard out of the water that I rushed in transition and fumbled with the zipper on the speed suit. I got stuck and then started to get frustrated like Chris McCormick in Kona. I just couldn't get that zipper to come undone. Then, finally I saw Richard coming out of the water and the zipper let go. I was out of the suit and grabbing my bike as Richard got to his bike and started to unzip his full body speed suit. I ran to the mount line with a big smile on my face thinking that this race was a success since I met my first goal of beating Richard to the bike. My shoes were on the bike and rubber-banded level for a fast mount but I just couldn't get coordinated going up the incline and looking back so I just stopped and mounted the bike and was away. What happens from here on out is gravy!

Get the speed suit off quicker and practice the speed mount onto the bike.

Richard passed me within the first 100 yards and we went from competitors to supporting friends as he said "good swim buddy" and I told him to "light it up and catch the group ahead. The first 2.5 miles are in a park and have 1-2 small hills. The whole course is on Texas chip seal so it's rough. The park road was probably a little worse with pot holes and uneven sections but nothing we haven't ridden on before. I think I pushed a little too hard here in my excitement of being in the top 10 people of the race on the bike course. The right hand turn out of the park and unto the main road was tough. The wind was directly in your face and the road was a slight rise for the next 5 miles or so. I was working hard and only going about 16-17 miles per hour. The good news is that I was only passed by 4-5 riders on this section and they were all much better cyclists. We then turn unto a road that goes over a bridge. I was up and over the bridge with burning legs and hoping for a nice downhill and only a cross wind. To my disappointment, the downhill was short and the cross wind was more in your face than to the side. This section seemed much longer than it was and I felt like I was barely moving (14-15mph) I got passed here by another couple of riders (from my swim wave) this time. I finally spotted the lead vehicle coming towards me and saw that it wasn't Richard, it was "Sun disc guy" David Hoffman, another triathlete from Austin. This guy is 50-54 and is one of the nicest and fastest guys out there. He lead the entire bike ride! Richard was behind him but never caught him on the bike. The turn finally arrived and I grabbed a water bottle at the hand-up. I had finished my aero bottle of carbo pro and needed to drink another bottle on the way back. At this point, the wind was behind me and I felt I had some time to make up from all that hard work at 15-17mph so I dropped the hammmer and quickly got up to 25mph before I started to feel the legs. I settled into this new pace and just tried to lower my heart rate and take in some liquids and PowerGel. I was passed on the right, off road by a car that was plowing through the grass and flowers and then they cut in front of me as I rode through a plume of dust, pollen and grass. Being someone with allergies and asthma, this did not sit well with me. I struggled with my breathing a little from that point on but the tail wind and the nice decline in elevation made up for it. At one point, after the turn back on the main road, I was cruising at 35mph. I don't think I dropped below 25mph the entire ride back to the park turn. I might have burned a couple candles too many on the bike but it was fun coming back. After the turn into the park I paid for my fun time and dropped back into a sub 18mph pace as I struggled to keep my legs going for 25 miles. I came into T2 with some tired legs and a long hard run to go. I didn't realize that I was still in first place in my AG. I lost track of the number of riders that passed me.

Back-off a little on the windy uphill and ride with power. I would also take in more water.

The family support coming back into T2 was tremendous and well appreciated. Kari was there video taping and both daughters were there screaming and running along. Madison was just on the other side of the transition fence the whole time I was in T2 asking me how I was doing and giving words of encouragement. I struggle a bit in T2 to get my socks and shoes on so I sat down (taking too much time). I had heard that you have to have socks on for this run due to the nature of the dirt road. I was taking no chances. Once out of T2 I took another PowerGel and grabbed a water and was off running with a strong feeling of carrying a load of bricks in my legs.

Don't sit to put on socks and shoes.

The first mile is on park road leading along the river to the back section of the park. At the 1 mile marker, the road turns into a red clay dirt road. The dirt is the same kind used on baseball field and has a fine powdery feel. Some sections of the road was deeper than others so it was hard to get into any rhythm since it was like running on the beach. I was so focused on running in the dirt that I never heard anyone talk about how hilly the course was. The first 2.5 miles were basically all uphill/up and incline. When it wasn't going up, it was flat and deep sand. When it was going up, the sand was more compact. The saving grace was the slight wind left over from the bike and the low humidity. I was able to keep fairly cool by dumping one water cup on me and drinking the other. I also ran with a water bottle which was a good choice. The hard bike, the lack of training during and after my back injury and a general lack of running ability coupled with a very hard run course made for a slow and painful run for me. I just could never get running in those conditions. It was like trying to run after time trialing the bike in an Ironman. My legs were just dead. I did have a little voice in my head that said I might be in a position to podium so keep moving. After the turn, the course gets a little easier and I was able to start to keep running for longer and for a decent pace. The flat sections were tough with the deep sand and the time of day at that point in the race. It wasn't until the last 1-2 miles that I started to really feel the effects of the heat. However, with only 1-2 miles left it didn't take much to motivate me to want to finish sooner rather than later. Once back on the real road and less than a mile from the finish, I was passed by my other friends from Austin (Christine and Deena). Christine won 3rd in her AG (W45-50) and Deena won 2nd in hers (W40-45). We finished one right after the other with me just going over 3 hours. Bailey ran with me the last 100 yards and all my friends were there, including Richard, who had won the race overall to cheer me to the finish. Kari was there videoing the conclusion and grabbing water and gatorade for me after I finished. I was sure glad to be done cause that was one beast of a run course.

ALOT more run training.

Bent over to gave thanks for the race being over.


Running


I think that was the hardest Olympic race I have ever done. However, it's a very small race (less than 150 people) and it's run by one of my favorite race directors (love him or hate him- Jack Weiss). I am glad that I did the race and very excited that I got a trophy for second in my AG but I don't know if I would go back. It's a 3.5 hour drive from Austin, it's hot, it's windy, the bike course was rough with long sections directly into the wind and the run was just brutal. I know the race is known for the "Dirt road from Hell" but what they don't tell you is that dirt road is over some pretty tough hills. There is practically no post race activities but the race site is a nice place and we really enjoyed the company we were with. Who knows, maybe I will go back to see if I can knock off the 1st place guy...