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LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron
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LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman
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 Swim
Comments: The swim went really well. The wetsuit was a huge confidence booster. I've struggled with the OWS portion of races all summer long. I felt really calm and relaxed during the swim. Since I knew the 35-39 year old guys were in the next wave I stayed to the outside of the course. My goal was to survive the swim. Once I got out of the water everything else was icing on the cake! I just learned how to swim in May of 2007. Completing an OWS of this distance was a huge achievement for me!!! What would you do differently?: Nothing! I am very happy my swim.  Transition 1
Comments: I sat down to pull part of the wetsuit off. Took time to stuff the wetsuit into a bag so it wouldn't drip on my gear. My family was right there by transition waiting for me. Stopped for a few photo's and went off for the ride. What would you do differently?: I took extra time to put on gloves. I probably shouldn't have put them on but I'm glad I did. My nose was running a lot during the bike so the gloves were nice to have as a tissue!  Bike
Comments: Once I got on the bike life was great! This is an excellent bike course. I was happy riding my pace and passing a lot of people on the bike. I took in my Infinit drink every 15 minutes as planned. Things were going great on the bike until I got a penalty for drafting. Actually I still don't really understand what happened. There were so many people riding in huge groups (within 1 bike length of each other) that should have gotten penalities in my opinion. I was passing 3 groups of people climbing up a hill that were riding 3 abreast and within 1 bike length of each other. I guess I got a penalty because it took me more than 20 seconds to pass someone on the climb. I was passing the group because I can't climb that slow. Mentally getting the penalty really set me off for a while. Instead of focusing on my race I got distracted with what had happened. And it really pissed me off when I saw blatant drafting on the ride. One girl was drafting me so close I could hear her coasting behind me. I really toned down my ride after the penalty. I didn't want to get another one and get DQed. There were a lot of people who were drafting on the bike. I saw 2 girls riding side by side and chatting! I guess they thought we were doing the Danskin? Where were the race officials when all of this was going on? What would you do differently?: Not get as distracted with the penalty. Not altered my riding pace because of the penalty. Transition 2
Comments: 4 minutes of T2 were spent in the penalty tent. Since I had to stand there for 4 minutes I took the time to take in hydration, take off my gloves, helmet, grab gu, and reset my watch. Ran away from the tent and saw my family in transition. They thought it was really funny that I had gotten a penalty for drafting. What would you do differently?: Nothing. I made the most of my time in the penalty tent!  Run
Comments: I ran the flats and downhills and walked the hills. I felt pretty good running. I was really glad I had my Infinit run mix in a gel flask. At every .75 mile, I would take a swig of the super concentrate mix. At the mile water stops I took in 2 sips of water just as planned. I'm not a fuel belt fan but it really worked for the HIM. I only felt bad at mile 8 for a few minutes. Took in a few pretzels and a sip of coke. I think I just needed something solid in my stomach. My nutrition was right on for this race, weather and the course. I chatted with people on the run. It was interesting to see so many people walking. Normally walking would bother me. Today I just wanted to enjoy the race and finish. Saw Marci and Steve and a few friends from Houston. My right calf started to cramp up 1 mile away from the finish. Rounded the corner and a girl yells "125 til the finish". I asked her what she meant-1.25 miles? She laughed and said no- 125 feet. I've been fooled before so I wanted to make sure we were at the end. Ran into the finsh with a smile! What would you do differently?: Nothing. Move to Austin and train on hills. Post race
Warm down: The athlete line was really long. I asked a volunteer at the exit if I could just have a coke and he said no, I had to wait in line. I ended up buying a coke since I wanted on ASAP. Chatted with family and friends and gathered my gear. We had a really LONG walk to the car. I'm counting that as a warmdown. What limited your ability to perform faster: Noting. I'm happy with my race. I completed my first HIM. Physically and mentally I feel great. I completed my goal- To cross the finish line with a smile on my face. Today at work several people asked me if I had "won" my race! Yeah- I'm a professional triathlete. That is why I'm at work with you! Actually I did "WIN" my race. Just depends on how you define winning! Event comments: Excellent race! Everything was perfect. The extra buoys on the swim course were wonderful. Very well organized and great athlete support. Last updated: 2008-03-31 12:00 AM
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 2008-10-06 8:20 PM |
Master  1779    |  Subject: LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron |
| 2008-10-06 8:35 PM in reply to: #1722474 |
Veteran 209 Austin TX | Subject: RE: LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron Wow, fabulous job on your first HIM!!!! I can't believe you got a drafting penalty! I only saw 1 official out there and TONS of drafting and riding 2-3 abreast like it was some sort of social hour. I guess you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and were unlucky enough to be seen. Craziness. Great job of moving past that and making the best of your time in the penalty tent. Congrats! |
| 2008-10-06 8:54 PM in reply to: #1722474 |
Veteran 283 Va Beach | Subject: RE: LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron x2 on the drafting. The entire race there was not 4 bike lengths by anyone, numerous side by side riding. After the athletes meeting I thought 4 lengths would be no big deal. After the first mile of the race I realized that was a joke, too many bikes not enough room. I guess it's like the state police, they need their quota, sorry it had to be you. |
| 2008-10-06 9:06 PM in reply to: #1722565 |
Champion 8540  the colony texas | Subject: RE: LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron Congrats on your first HIM.... I think it's cool you had to sit in the penalty box or whatever they call it, I would have laid down for a quick nap.. and just tell your co-workers that yes you did win |
| 2008-10-06 9:26 PM in reply to: #1722474 |
Elite 2998 Fishers, Indiana | Subject: RE: LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron GREAT RACE...I can't believe with how crowded some of the course was that you got a penalty...wow...great job though! Way to push through and WIN YOUR RACE...that's right, you did...you conquered that HIM! Glad I got to meet you! Great job! |
| 2008-10-06 10:35 PM in reply to: #1722474 |
Expert 1024 | Subject: RE: LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron Holy Cow, you beat me by 18 SECONDS??? I want a DO OVER. I can at least knock 30 seconds off my time. Congratulations Rene, great race. I'll read the whole race report tomorrow. |
| 2008-10-07 3:25 PM in reply to: #1722474 |
Elite 3221 the desert | Subject: RE: LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron Great race Rene! That was a tough course and you did awesome! Great meeting in the car ride over Edited by Fitzy 2008-10-07 3:26 PM |
| 2008-10-07 3:58 PM in reply to: #1722474 |
Champion 8766 Evergreen, Colorado | Subject: RE: LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron Congratulations! There was SO much blatant drafting on the course! I agree with you! where were the officials for all THOSE people? I saw at least three "packs" go by me and then there were lots of folks not following the USAT rules of getting out of the draft zone before passing, or falling back once you got in front of them, etc. etc. Sorry you got tagged...that was honestly bad luck since I'm sure you were not deliberately drafting and I only saw one official all day! Edited by jldicarlo 2008-10-07 3:59 PM |
| 2008-10-07 11:23 PM in reply to: #1722474 |
Elite 3488 Lakewood, CO | Subject: RE: LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron Way to win!!!  Too bad about the bike, but it sounds like you had a solid swim and enjoyed yourself! Keep it up |
| 2008-10-07 11:31 PM in reply to: #1722474 |
Veteran 188 | Subject: RE: LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron You did a great job with mentally getting over the penalty. That would definitely affect the rest of my race. The course was so crowded and I saw plenty of clumps of people who were trying to avoid drafting but were so close together because of the crowdness. glad you were able to get over that! |
| 2008-10-08 5:34 AM in reply to: #1722474 |
Master 2005 South Florida | Subject: RE: LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron CONGRATS on your first HIM!!! Nice execution...nice results Super job Rene!!!! So happy you not only survived the swim, but did great!! |
| 2008-10-10 9:54 AM in reply to: #1722474 |
Veteran 101 The Colony, TX | Subject: RE: LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron Congratulations on your first HIM and dealing with the penalty. I agree with Gary (scary thought), just tell your co-workers that you won, or that you would have won but they penalized you and cost you the race. |
| 2008-10-10 11:55 AM in reply to: #1722474 |
Master 1651 Breckenridge, CO | Subject: RE: LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron Great job Rene. Wish I could have met you but I was in pretty bad shape after the race. |
| 2008-10-14 4:01 PM in reply to: #1722474 |
Expert 1083 The Woodlands, TX | Subject: RE: LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron Congratulations!!! Great job out there despite the penalty. I'm just floored you got a penalty - there were so many blatant peletons and pace lines out there. At least you used your time out wisely. PS - It was great to meet you  |
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Overall Rank = 1429/1929
Age Group = 45-50
Age Group Rank = 22/37
Drove up on Saturday with hubby and son. We were able to drop the bike off early and check out the race site before the crowds showed up. I ate dinner at 5:15 at Whole Foods. Met up with the BT crew at 6:30.
Afterwards I went back to the hotel and watched TV with the family. They wanted to watch the Titantic. I told them the last thing I wanted to see before my OWS tomorrow was a bunch of people drowning in deep water.
Slept pretty well. Woke up at 3:50 and got ready for the race. Ate my standard Pre-race breakfast of Champions! Peanut butter sandwich and Diet Dr. Pepper. Rode over to the race site with Erin, her hubby and Tom. We got to the race site early so there was plenty of time to get everything settled.
Luckily for me the race was Wet Suit legal! Yipee!! I was really glad that I swam and checked my goggles before the race started. They were leaking a bit so I tightened them up.
Visited with my parents before the race. I wasn't able to see my husband and son before the race. They had to walk in because of the bus situation?