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Galveston International Triathlon
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Galveston International Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic
View Member's Race Log
 Swim
Comments: Alright, I will have to update with my times when the results are posted, which who knows when and if that will ever happen. However, I distinctly remember my swim time because that's almost 2:30 faster than what I swam at Canyon Lake. Another thing, they said the swim was a mile, which to me is 1600 meters, but I know in the swimming world a mile is often referred to as 1500 meters and on my medal it said 1.5k so I put the swim as 1500 meters. Either way, that is a enormous improvement from 2 weeks ago. I had to stand in my wetsuit for about an hour before I got to get in the water and naturally I had to go to the bathroom about as soon as I put the thing on. I was holding it for the swim to warm up, but man I was in some excrutiating pain. I wanted to get in the water so bad so that I could go, yet at the same time, I didn't want to get in the water because that meant the race was going to be starting. The water was shallow for so long, we had to walk a long ways to get waist high in the water. I peed the entire length of the walk out there, I almost didn't think I was ever going to stop. The water temp was 64 degrees, which after Canyon Lake, felt like a hot tub, no way was it going to bother me this time. No numb feet, yea! I was nervous about the swim because it was my first wave start with guys. Guys are so mean. However, as soon as the horn went off I quickly got in a groove. My goggles got knocked out of place, but I stayed calm, raised my head, emptied the water, and pushed them back in place, no problem. I got bumped around a little bit in the beginning but I just swung back, come on, who wants a piece of me?! People started messing with my feet, I started kicking like a mad woman...hmmm, perhaps I'm the mean one in the water. I really tried to focus, focus, focus on my swim this time. Normally during a race I am just windmilling it out there with no regard to technique. So I thought about my technique this time and it obviously seemed to help. I could hear in the back of my mind Eric telling me to swim with "perfect stroke." On the leg back into shore I got behind this guy that was moving about the same pace as me and was swimming in a good straight line for the shore. So I thought I would just draft off of him back to shore. Well, he all of a sudden stops dead in his tracks and of course I run into him grabbing his butt. He looks back at me, oops! I quickly dart around him and carry on. Nice butt though :) As I ran out of the water I hear several people cheering for me, who the heck are they? (turns out they were the people we met in the transition tent) Then I hear Lindsay cheering for me. I say I "heard" these people. I kept my eyes forward on where I was going...I tend to get in a zone. What would you do differently?: Stop trying to cop a feel off of innocent guys. Actually, I think it just comes down to just continue to work on my form. I was really proud of myself for concentrating on technique. Oh, I should have put more bodyglide on, but they were rushing me. My right under arm started to rub a little bit, but it ended up not being bad at all. Oh, and swimming in salt water wasn't bad at all other than that I was so thirsty by the time I got out of there. I'm just so glad the water was smooth!  Transition 1
Comments: Don't know the time, but I'm sure it was ugly because we had about a 300-400 meter run back to the transition area then we had to run quite a ways before we could mount our bikes, but everything went smoothly...wetsuit came off just fine this time. Oh, and Ms. Swim Team, her bike was still there, ha ha (man, I really do get mean in these things). Lindsay later told me that she freaked out in the water. She finished it, but she had a panic attack in the beginning. What would you do differently?: Nothing.  Bike
Comments: I can't remember the exact time, but that's somewhere close. I don't understand it though. I averaged 20 mph on the way out (if my comp ever dropped below 20 mph I started cranking away to get it back up), and then 23-24 on the way back in, so ou would think my pace would have been at lease 21 mph, but perhaps all the winding through the gardens slowed the overall average, oh well, because I KICKED BUTT!!. Or another thought is, I'm not sure where the timing mats were, I think they were right next to the tent, but we had to run quite aways before we could mount our bike, and then run back a ways with the bike, perhaps that was it. That overall rank, is out of the men and women. I was haulin', I passed so many people. I knew we would have a headwind out so I allowed myself to grind on the way out because I knew I would have the way back to spin and recover. On the way out I kept watching for people to come back on the return. When I hit 13.25 miles, I finally saw the first place guy go by. There were only 2 girls ahead of me (one of them being a pro). Man was it great hitting that turnaround. I was cruising along at 25 mph at first, but I knew that wouldn't be smart to try to hold that speed. Oh, and let me tell you, there were people drafting all over the place, but of course, I don't think there were any race officials. CHEATERS!! Oh well, go ahead, I'm still going to kick your butt!! As I came back into transition I see Lindsay sitting in front of the cheering crowd and she is going crazy (everyone was). Lindsay is yelling that I am the third female overall. Then that one lady we met who was friends with Miss Swim Team is yelling that I was the second overal female (she thought that pro female was a guy, lol). I did the same thing as I did for my previous race...mixed two servings of hammergel in my water bottle and sipped on that throughout the ride, didn't feel like I needed a gel before the run so I didn't take one. What would you do differently?: Not a whole lot I could have done different...it was flat, it was windy. All you can do is just tuck it in and go! Transition 2
Comments: Again, don't know my time, but no issues. What would you do differently?: nothing  Run
Comments: GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! This is where it all goes downhill (Ironic, improve my swim, run goes to crap). As usual, in a comfort zone. TWO girls passed me! The first girl there was no way I could keep her pace, but that second girl...I should have tried harder to go with her. Am I too scared of a little pain?! My pace was a lot slower than TST, however, this pace seems more typical to what I'm capable of, perhaps TST was a little short, or perhaps I really did just have a crappy run today (it's weird, before TST I would have been ecstatic about this pace, but since I know I'm capable of going faster, it's frustrating). The run was a little longer than TST, but that shouldn't have affected the pace. I wish I could see the results so that I could compare my pace to the other females. Guess I will just have to wait. What would you do differently?: STOP BEING A BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Post race
Warm down: After I came across the line I ate a couple of apple slices and grabbed a cup of gatorade. I found Lindsay and she was going crazy: "Wooohooo, Gina, you did awesome! You kicked so much ass! Oh my gosh you were hauling on the bike! Did you hear all of us cheering for you?! I recruited some cheerleaders. Oh, I've met so many people and I've been telling them about you and how you're going to do an Ironman and they think you should totally go for it! BLAH BLAH BLAH" Alright, who needs to be force-fed the margaritas now?! It was great though because she totally caught the triathlon bug today, not that she wants to do one, but she had a blast watching it. She just kept saying, "It's so cool to be cheering for someone who's so good." Umm, whatever. I was trying to be excited, but I was so mad about my run. I grabbed my clothes bag and went into the Moody Gardens hotel to change and then grabbed my stuff out of transition. We found out they weren't doing awards until 3:00. Ugh! Do I seriously have to wait that long?! So much for making it back at a decent time. So we left to find mexican food. Saw a mexican food place that claimed to be the best on the beach...they weren't, but it was food and I ate every last bite! We came back to Moody Gardens and laid down in the grass where I nearly fell asleep. Did I mention I am sunburned from today? Not good. Waited, waited waited. They finally got to the awards, I got my medal and we finally left Galveston around 4:00. Got back to Longview around 8:00. Whew, what a long day, but so worth it! What limited your ability to perform faster: My slow ambling, my grandmother could beat me, RUN! Event comments: I had to rate this race badly because of the disorganization. However, this was a great place for a race and the race itself was a blast. Hopefully, they can learn from this years mistakes and things will run more smoothly next year. I had a lot of fun at the race and am really sad that I don't get to do another triathlon until June 5th :( Oh yeah, I was the 5th overall female (since I freakin' let TWO girls pass me on my BABY RUN) and I was 11th overall out of men and women. My nemesis, Autumn Ray, didn't show up today like she said she was going to. Gee, I certainly didn't miss her. Man! I think my race reports just keep getting longer. I hate to think what my half-iron race report will be like. I'll have to submit it in volumes. Last updated: 2005-04-03 12:00 AM
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 2005-04-03 11:54 PM |
Expert  736    Longview, TX |  Subject: Galveston International Triathlon |
| 2005-04-04 12:22 AM in reply to: #137572 |
Extreme Veteran 386 Fort Worth, TX | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon I nominate you leader of the Hoss Chick Nation! Gina I am in AWE of your athletic ability, not to mention your ability to put me in the middle of the race with your awesome reports! So what'cha wanna do chick? You wanna do Kona? I know you can earn your way there. Just decide thats what you want....and its a sealed deal! GAH...and your an engineer too. Damn....you've got it all! |
| 2005-04-04 7:23 AM in reply to: #137572 |
Extreme Veteran 348 Melbourne | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon I am sitting her at home on a cold Monday night in Melbourne, Australia and I read every word and I am reading and reading and I AM THERE with you during that race - so many hilarious parts! I must say you are an incredible athlete but the engineering thing could become a problem - you get so stressed out!! (I am married to an engineer so I am allowed to say that!). I love your attitude and how you take note of just about everything! Congrats on 5th place - I dream of one day making a top 10 finish in my age group. Once again, you have inspired me. Go GINA!!!  |
| 2005-04-04 9:43 AM in reply to: #137572 |
Master 1558 Pensacola, Fl | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon Yeah, I read every word too.....took a nap halfway through....had lunch....finished my laundry..... Now, first of all, you have to get more faith in your abilities....actually you need to get pretty damn cocky!!! Cockiness is uncool for people who can't bak it up....You CAN back it up!!! It sounds like you have that killer attitude when on the course, but you don't seem to have it prior to your races!!! Cockiness can be good if contained to certain levels...plus it can let you relax more before the race........that is the only weakness I see in your game!!! You kick butt.....your results prove that, now believe in yourself and you will take your abilities one step higher!!!! Great job! |
| 2005-04-04 10:03 AM in reply to: #137572 |
Expert 994 Dallas, TX | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon Congrats on a great finish! I too did this race, but was much further behind you. I was in the middle of the pack, and by the time I was on the run course, 2 of the aid stations ran out of water! Unbelievable, considering how hot it was out. I was considerabl slower because I sliced my foot open with about 5 1" long gashes in it during the swim. That made for a fun run! I'm feeling better now that I got a tetanus shot and and Rx for some antibiotics. I'm not holding my breath for the results either! -Seb |
| 2005-04-04 10:36 AM in reply to: #137572 |
Pro 4228 Broomfield, Colorado | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon Gina, you are too funny! What a crazy race....and you still kicked butt! Great job! |
| 2005-04-04 12:13 PM in reply to: #137572 |
Expert 615 Littleton, CO | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon Could you feel the vibes? COgirl and I were already talking about how your race went while we were hanging out at the finish line of our race. Fantastic race management (especially in the face of adversity)! You still write the best race reports on BT. I wish you had another race before June too!  |
| 2005-04-04 8:55 PM in reply to: #137572 |
Extreme Veteran 591 Miami, FL | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon Great race Gina! Congratulations on your awesome performance. You are so good. Loved the race report too. Felt like I was there and I finished 5th!!! Again, congrats! |
| 2005-04-04 9:11 PM in reply to: #137572 |
| Veteran 155 Houston, TX | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon Great job! You really move! I am impressed that you were able to do as well as you did with the "stellar" organization of this event. I did the sprint on Saturday and it was not very well organized... In any case, congratulations. You did great. Brittain |
| 2005-04-05 10:31 AM in reply to: #137572 |
Extreme Veteran 458 Denver, CO | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon You win FIRST PRIZE for the best race reports. I read every word and you made it feel like I was there too! You are such an amazing athlete. I'm kinda thinking that you need to graduate to advancedtriathlete.com. Just kidding. We are all inspired by you, so you have to stick around. Oh, and can Lindsay come to Colorado and cheer me on in my races? She's just the kind of cheering section I need Great job and congratulations! |
| 2005-04-05 1:11 PM in reply to: #137572 |
Master 2233 Mechanicsburg, PA | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon Great race Gina! You are indeed the most HOSS CHICK that I don't know Keep up the great work. I always enjoy reading your awesome race reports. -Frank |
| 2005-04-05 1:29 PM in reply to: #137572 |
Expert 623 Issaquah, WA, | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon Great job Gina! You are an inspiration! |
| 2005-04-05 9:50 PM in reply to: #137572 |
Got Wahoo? 5423 San Antonio | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon You can kick it, gina. Any news on the True Texan and Prarie Man? |
| 2005-04-05 9:51 PM in reply to: #138549 |
Got Wahoo? 5423 San Antonio | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon Oh, and I think the TST run was shorter than normal, so that might have effected your time. |
| 2005-04-05 11:14 PM in reply to: #137572 |
Expert 736 Longview, TX | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon Thanks everyone, once again, I had a blast. I'm definitely addicted. If only I could get over the two week panic attack before the race. Welshy: My coach wants to wait and see how I do at BSL before we make plans for the fall, so it's still a wait and see, but I hope that even if I can't do Prairie Man I'll still come watch. I'm glad you thought TST was short too...makes me feel a little better. |
| 2005-04-08 4:52 PM in reply to: #137572 |
Expert 736 Longview, TX | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon Well, they finally posted the results. Found out why my splits seem slow to me...they lumped the transition times in with the swim, bike, run so that makes me feel better. The second female in my division was over 27 minutes behind me. I was 7:40 behind pro triathlete, Andrea Fisher. I was a little under 5 minutes away from the 2nd place female. Oh, but get this, my bike split was faster than Andrea Fisher's!!! Woohoo, I beat a pro triathlete! Nevermind the fact that she kicked my tail everywhere else. |
| 2005-04-09 7:09 PM in reply to: #137572 |
Master 1494 Kingston Ontario | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon Gina, you kicked some hoss butt out there!! You'll have to coach the rest of us so that we can get faster Congratulations! |
| 2005-04-09 10:37 PM in reply to: #137572 |
Champion 6627 Rochester Hills, Michigan Gold member | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon Congratulations, girl, you ARE the bomb. This season (as your spectator) is going to be fun...hehe. More hardware, bling. I'm just giggling like mad. Your race report is wayyyy too much. My favorite parts (in no particular order): Grabbing the guy's butt, almost telling the swim chick 'no savies', the fact that the race HQ was named 'Moody Gardens', and going to get Mexican while the tri's still underway. I got the biggest kick out of all those... Awesome job, congrats again. |
| 2005-04-11 3:03 PM in reply to: #137572 |
Veteran 240 Austin, TX | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon That was an excellent read! Too bad the event was poorly organized. I actually almost signed up for this but I decided I need more time to work on my swim. |
| 2005-04-12 11:57 AM in reply to: #137572 |
Veteran 282 Dallas, TX | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon You kicked my butt. I was there somewhere. You forgot to mention all the of jagged rocks we had to walk across when wading out to the start. And I am sure you had plenty of water/sports drinks on the run. But when us slow folks(3 hrs) came through, the last aid station that had anything to drink was at the turn around. That was unfortunate for a guy doing his first triathlon EVER! I still had a blast though. Can't wait for Buffman & Squeky and Buffalo Springs Half. |
| 2005-04-12 5:07 PM in reply to: #137572 |
Expert 736 Longview, TX | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon You're right...I forgot to mention the rocks. I guess I just forgot because I didn't have any problems with them, but sounds like a lot of people did. It was kind of funny because when they let us in the water we all were walking so fast until we hit the rocks and then everyone was tip-toeing all over the place and grabbing on to each other. I followed someone out who seemed to have a good path. I just took my time, I wanted to line up in the back of everyone anyways since I'm such a slow swimmer. |
| 2005-04-12 5:14 PM in reply to: #141790 |
Veteran 282 Dallas, TX | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon If you are a slow swimmer and swam a 27:42, what does that make me coming in at 32:50??????? What wave were you in so I can estimate when you blew by me??? |
| 2005-04-12 5:43 PM in reply to: #137572 |
Expert 736 Longview, TX | Subject: RE: Galveston International Triathlon Wave 5 (the first wave of the oly). That is the fastest I have ever swam in a race, so I was quite happy, but still it is slow compared to most others in my age group. I'm working on it. Your time is certainly nothing to be ashamed of either! |
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TriTexas.com
65F / 18C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 11/?
Age Group = F25-29
Age Group Rank = 1/9
I'm calling this triathlon "The Do-it-Yourself Triathlon." You'll understand shortly...
Once again, I have to start back the day before (Saturday). I was nervous about this race, but surprisingly calm for me. Saturday I did a quick workout, packed and loaded, dropped off my dog, and headed out a little over an hour earlier than what I had originally planned. It was absolutely grogeous outside, blue sky, light breeze, and the drive was gorgeous...everything is so green right now; I love the drive down Hwy 59. So as I'm driving I'm thinking to myself, man this day is just perfect! Then I started think, uh oh, this isn't good, things never go completely right...something is going to happen. Not 10 minutes after thinking this...I'm cruisin' along when all of a sudden...what is that noise interuppting my booty music?! I quickly realize my low tire gauge sensor is going off. Great! A flat tire (yes, the car, not the bike)! I pull over and step out of the car and I can hear the air rushing out...it was the rear driver's side tire. I look at the tire and can easily see the leak, and of course, it's in the sidewall, ugh! When that tire pressure gauge went off, I just had to laugh because it was just too typical. So, I think to myself, alrighty, no problem...I can handle this. I pull my hair back, push back my sleeves, and get the jack out. I grabbed the car manual to see if it showed where exactly to put the jack because I know how important that is. So as I'm looking under my car to try to figure out where to put the jack, a guy pulls over and asks if I need help. This guy was awesome! He had that thing changed so fast. It was funny because he saw the car manual and he looks at me, grins, and says, "I'm just going to pretend I didn't see that" and tucks it under a bag. What?! Cut me some slack...I'm a girl! I tried to pay him for helping me, but he wouldn't accept...he just said, "you have a good weekend." Gotta love Texas! (that, and being a girl has it's benefits every now and then). So, off I went to Galveston (I did stop at a Discount Tire along the way to see if they might have my style tires to replace it, but they didn't so of course, I was paranoid the rest of the time that I would get another flat...this is me, it was totally possible). I was still pretty calm because I was still going to get there by 4 when packet pick-up started. That's when drama even no. 2 happened. I get to Moody Gardens right after 4. I walk into the visiter's center and the line is all the way to the other end. You've got to be kidding me! So as I trudge to the back of the line I see my swim coach, Eric, standing in line (he's holding a pizza box. He ate a freakin' pizza! That boy is a bottomless pit; he eats anything and everything and he's a toothpick boy, not fair!). The line moves incredibly slow, so I get to stand there and get intimidated by all the hoss looking people. Oh, and the people behind me had no clue about the concept of personal space. I just wanted to yell, BACK OFF!! 45min. later I am finally at the room where the action is. Everyone is just kind of walking around in chaos, not really knowing what's going on, and the volunteers weren't about to help us. I finally find a table with S-Z on it and jump in line. They ask me for my name and they dig out my run number from one pile and my bike number from another pile. Then, they had me my sweatshirt. I tried to show my USAT license, but they acted like they didn't know what that was. They then told me to go grab a plastic bag, a water bottle, and my swim cap. Here's the great part (one of many), all of the swim caps (for both the olympic and half) are yellow. You had to look at a chart with the wave assignments and then write your wave number on your swim cap (yourself). Are you kidding me? I'm supposed to be in 5, but wave 2 sounds nice. Some people had such awful handwriting you couldn't tell what it was. They didn't give us any race instructions whatsoever. I finally asked a race director when transition opened and whether it was first come first serve or assigned. By the time I left there, I was all in a frazzle, calm mood gone!! I hate disorganization...you can't do that to an anal engineer! I went to the hotel and my friend, Lindsay, met me there shortly after. I was of course talking 90 mph and was totally stressed and nervous so we talked for awhile and then decided to go eat. We just drove down to the seawall to see what we could find. I wanted Italian and she wanted Seafood...as soon as we turned on to Seawall Blvd. we saw Mario's Italian Seafood so we decided to eat there. And of course, everyone in there is a triathlete...great, more intimidation. I start talking rapidly again and Lindsay threatens to start shoving margaritas down my throat if I don't calm down. Dinner was good. We headed back to the hotel and flipped through the channels of crap on tv. For some reason we ended up watching Twister, which is such a ridiculous movie because half that junk would never happen or be possible so we just picked it apart the whole time. Afterwards, Lindsay turns it off so that we can go to sleep, but I don't want to sleep. I keep talking until she tells me to shut up. 5 seconds later I hear her snoring and I'm laying there with my mind just racing. Then I hear some yappy dog that won't shut up. I really don't think I slept much at all.
The big day: Transition opened at 5:15; therefore, I figured we should leave the hotel at 4:30, which meant that I needed to get up at 3:30, which felt like 2:30 old time. Gee, why did I even bother turning out the lights?! I set my watch alarm and the hotel alarm and Lindsay had set her cell phone alarm. I woke up before the hotel alarm so I just got up and turned it off. My watch didn't go off because I set it for PM, and Lindsay's phone didn't go off because she didn't set her phone forward. Anywho, I got up showered, painted the toe nails, and we loaded up. Lindsay insisted that we stop so that she could get coffee if she had to be up that early so we stopped at a gas station. I ate my typical power bar and oj (3 hours before race start). Naturally, the coffee is not ready yet at the gas station so we have to wait. I'm dancing around crazy thinking about all the people that are beating me to transition. Lindsay, trying to be funny while we wait for her stupid coffee, sees some DVD that says Girls Gone Wild New Orleans and says, "Hey Gina, we should get that to see if you're on it." Ha ha, very funny. The coffe is finally ready (it probably took 2 min., but I can't take it) and we head to Moody Gardens. I get my stuff and we head to transition where people are just walking in, no bike check, nada. Alrighty then, so it wasn't very crowded and there was even a rack left at the entrance without any bikes on it yet, so I head to it. Well, there is this lady standing there saving the closest spot for her friend. What? There's no savies! No bike, no good rack spot! But I'm a coward so I took the second spot over. As I'm setting up the girl with the bike shows up and so we all start talking. She's done sprints before, but this was her first olympic, but she (and her friend) ran the Austin marathon (4:22, ha ha, I beat them) and she teaches spinning. So then I'm getting nervous about this chick. To make matters worse, she was on the swim team in high school so she's a good swimmer. Well, at least I don't have to worry about her bike being in my way when I get out. After setting up, I go back and forth from the bathroom at least three times and then decide that I need to get body marked and get my chip. Yeah, so...it was pick out your chip yourself, and...you guessed it, body mark yourself. Nobody had instructions on how to do it so everyone was putting their race number on their calf rather than their age so it was a great mystery as to who was in my age group out there. They had the thin, sharp markers rather than the fat markers for marking. Those things hurt! I thought Lindsay was going to draw blood! It was obvious this thing wasn't going to start on time, because some people still didn't even have their race packets yet, and several were still rolling into transition at 6:50 (half was supposed to start at 7). So I was in no hurry to put on my wetsuit. However, then they start telling us that we needed to start heading to the waterfront so I slap on some bodyglide and start doing the wetsuit shimmy on the way to the water front. Of course, we didn't start on time, no where close...we were supposed to start at 7:30, I think we finally went off a little after 8:00.