I rocked the Lonestar Quarter Triathlon yesterday in Galveston Texas. The weather cooperated nicely and the race was produced well. The course was easy to follow and all the volunteers were fantastic. Overall it was a great day.
My day started at 5:00 am. My wife Jami and brother Robbie were with me. They were up with me at five. Jami made us french toast in our hotel room on a portable griddle we brought with us. I gathered my stuff and we were off to the race site.
I got transition all set up and had a quick ten minute warm up jog. It was time for me to make final preparations and head to the swim start, as my wave was first in the water at 7:15 am. I got my wetsuit on and headed over to the dock.
After a few announcements and the National Anthem, the 30-34 year old group (and pros/elites) filed over the starting mat, down the dock, and into Offat's Bayou. The water was very chilly on my toes, but luckily the wetsuit protected me for the most part. It was a short 50 meter swim to the starting buoys and a couple minutes of treading water before the gun.
This is when I noticed something was wrong, not disastrous, but not the best. I still had my wedding ring on. I never swim in my ring because my fingers always shrink and I've almost lost it a number of times. Too late now. Horn blew, it was time to go.
Swim started well, except for the ring which I had to constantly adjust with my left thumb. Made it to the first buoy fine and turned left. The next time I sighted, I realized that I was running blind. My goggles had fogged up completely. Completely. Nothing. Just a yellow-grey mist. Oh well, follow the bubbles and keep going.
Unfortunately, a couple minutes later, I realized I was quite a bit off course. And still blind. And still fiddling with the ring. So I threw my self in the right direction, back towards the buoys and the other racers, and plugged on. I was getting a little irritated at this point, but tried to ignore it and get into a rhythm.
I was probably 500 meters into the swim when the lead of the next pack began to overtake me. The fast ones at least, and they were quick! No matter, I was feeling good a this point and plugged along. Still blind. Still jacking with the ring. Then I sighted. And then I sighted again. Where the hell was I? No racers, no buoys. I was off course again!! This time, I'd had it. I stopped and cleaned my goggles. At least 25 meters from the buoy line and other racers. Now I was pissed and looking for trouble. And I could finally see.
I grit my teeth and it was on. I went hard the final 400 meters, passed a few people, and finally made it to the blessed land. Good lord, I had some practice ahead of me. I popped out of the water, pulled the wetsuit down, ran up the ramp and to the strippers (wetsuit strippers that is). With one solid yank that guy had my suit off (nice!) and I was over to the bike with a disappointing swim time of 19:19. I had some work ahead of me but I felt fine and was up for the job.
T1 was all right. Found my bike with no problem, got my gear on easily with the exception of my shirt, which was all rolled up when I put it on. Should have just worn it under my wet suit. Lesson learned. Grabbed the bike and off for a ride.
After a few turns and bumps getting out of Moody Gardens, we were off on a long, straight, flat, and windy out and back ride. It went well and I was able to keep the cadence and speed I had hoped for. I did a little passing but was passed for the most part by guys in aero helmets and race wheels, which wasn't so bad. At one point I had a little chat with a guy who passed me on a normal bike, nothing fancy. He looked strong but said not to worry, I'd catch him on the run. I hoped so.
Pretty uneventful ride, 14.5 miles out and back. Nice scenery and the cloud cover kept it cool. The wind seemed to be blowing in my face the whole time so that cost a little extra energy, but I guess the flat course made up for it. Ended up finishing the ride 1:22:39, averaging about 20.3 mph (according to the race times, as my computer is now tainted from wheeling the bike back to the parking garage). My goal was to average 20 mph, so I am very happy about the ride although it is clear that I've got work to do to hang with the big boys.
Riding into T2, I was happy to execute my first moving dismount in a race. Bike was racked and shoes were on quite quickly. I was off to the final leg, a two lap, 6.5 mile run. Right as I left the run start, I heard Robbie and Jami hollering for me, which felt great!
After a mile or so, my legs came back to me and I was able to get in a running groove. I kept wondering if I should have gone slower so that I could run a little faster. I had to push that out of my mind so that I could concentrate on this final task. I was able to complete the first 5k on a solid 6:35 pace. I felt ok after the first lap. The only problem was I was not able to get liquids down very well and it was causing me to cramp up every time I tried. I skipped a few water stations and began to feel better. However, after a few more miles, I did start feeling pretty dry and knew I needed a little liquid. I never drink Gatorade. But I tried this time and it went down really well and I felt much better.
I fell apart a bit on the the last 5k of the run, dropping the pace to 8:27s. Oh well, I was happy to see the finish line and end this thing.
Final time: 2:33:11.
Swim split: 19:19 (965 meters)
Bike split: 1:22:39 (28 miles)
Run split: 47:12 (6.5 miles)
16th (16/69) in my age group and 95th (96/784) overall.
In conclusion I was very happy with the race. It was only my second triathlon and my first at this distance. It was a great experience and I learned a lot. I also have a good idea what I need to work on.
