300 M swim 8:20, Pace 2:47
T1= 1:09
20K Bike 44:21, Pace 17.0 mph
T2:1:25
5K Run 26:38 Pace 8:44
Chip Time: 1:21:55 Ovearall 122, AG 6
Race Prep : The night before the race as I was packing my gear, I decided I wanted to change one of the fields on my Garmin, but I couldn't get it to turn on. Lucky for me, my husband has had the same problem with his Garmin and knew how to reset it. I am so glad I tried to turn it on the night before, I would have been pretty frustrated if it had happened race morning. Lesson for next race: Always check the Garmin the night before to make sure it's functioning. After it was reset, I plugged it in and let it charge. It was the first thing I checked after my 4:30 am wake up. Then I had my usual cup of coffee, braided my hair and suited up. I attempted to choke down breakfast, and was able to eat about half of a banana, and 1/4 of a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter. I always have a hard time eating race morning, but I think the ZBar I ate for the Kemah race was a little easier than the bagel. Or perhaps I should just drink some HEED to get a few early morning calories. I didn't start to feel hungry until after I had set up transition, so I grabbed a few Power Bar gel caps out of my Fuelbox.
Pre-Race: After I set up my tranisition area, I took my bag over to the Tri4Him tent for after the race. As soon as the pre race meeting started, I regretted having left my warm sweatshirt and pants in the tent. Somehow I forgot my usual rule of keeping a throwaway jacket with me for warmth. So I shivered while I listened to the usual Jack pre race barking of orders, my favorite this time was when he reminded us that this was "a race, not a tour". Kevin led our usual Tri4Him pre-race prayer and we headed towards the pool.
Swim: I had decided against a pre race warm up in the pool because I wanted to avoid standing around being wet and cold before the race. As soon as I hit the water, I regretted not having warmed up. The entire swim felt slow, and I could tell I wasn't going to hit my goal pace. I could also see the clock every time I took a breath and knew that more than 6 minutes had gone by before I hit the last 100 M. I only got passed by 2 people, and felt like I had more space between swimmers than in August. So I did seed myself correctly. I need more practice in the 50M lane set up before the August race. I'm used to being able to push off the wall every 25 yards, and remember starting to feel a little tired after the first 200 M. I also didn't push off the wall when I jumped in which would have propelled me a little farther at the start. I had been able to swim 300 yards in 6:40 last week at the Y. 300 M is the equivalent of 328 yards, so I should have expected my swim time to be a little slower. ( Not 8 minutes slow, but slower than 6:40 ) Getting out of the pool was tough, basically we had to be fished out by a volunteer. One thing I was happy about was that they changed up the bike and run start, which meant we didn't have to run down a flight of stairs to leave the pool. And there was a carpet which was easier to run on, and less slippery than the mats from last year. According to my Timex, I swam 300 M in 8 minutes, and took 20 seconds to run to the mat where transition timining started. .
T1: 44 seconds better than last year, probably because I didn't have to run gingerly down a flight a stairs, and I was acutally closer to my bike rack coming out of the water.
Bike: The first few miles were COLD. I'm saying this because I don't remember being cold on the bike at the Toyota Open, and I thought the temperature was about the same. The difference here was the north wind, which the weather forecast had promised would only be about 10 mph, but out on the course it felt a bit stronger. It also contributed to a slower first half. My number blew off my bike again, and I spent a little time worrying about whether that would cause a penalty. I was feeling pretty discouraged by the time I hit the turnaround because my average speed was so slow, and I was in a funk about my slow swim time. But the wind was and advantage on the second half. I keep watching my average speed slowly increase, even though this part of the course has a few more inclines, and is usually the slower half for me. I passed quite a few people, and my good spirits returned. I saw my speed edge back toward my Tri-Rock pace, then I sped up to my Toyota Open pace, and finally hit my goal pace of 17.0 mph. I hit transition feeling a lot more confident than when I left.
T2: 25 seconds slower than Tri-Rock, but this time I had to change into my bike shoes. Also had a little difficulty getting my Garmin off the bike. Might try popping it off before I hit transition next time. Also think I could save time by leaving my shoes clipped in the pedals and slipping my feet out as I slow down before I dismount. That will take some practice.
Run: My legs felt heavy, and I was breathing hard. For this course, I don't think I could have run any faster. Sometimes when I'm racing, I get a little devil on my shoulder telling me " it's ok, you can slow down. It will feel so much better to run slower." He showed up just before I finished mile 1, but once I heard my Garmin beep and knew the first mile was over, I was able to push through and speed up. The last 3/4 mile was the hardest for me, but I had expected it and was able to keeping pushing through the pain until I saw the finish line. I waved and smiled at my family and crossed the finish line feeling content.
Post-Race: Changed out of my soggy clothes into nice dry warm clothes, and wished for even more layers. From now on I will always include a dry change of clothes for after the race. It sure beats sitting around being damp and sweaty while waiting for the awards to be handed out. And we had plenty of reasons to stick around, since several of our Tri4Him teammates got awards.
Post-Race Celebration: Fajita cookout at our house with our teammates and their families. We had a great time, and hope to do this again more often. It was an awesome way to top off an awesome race.
What's next: Metroplex Sprint tri, June 12. I'm going to continue my training plan, now the I've adjusted it to the correct level. I'll be focusing on improvement on the bike, and open water swimming. I've got a blister on my left foot, and one of my right toes is bruised so I'll probably take it easy for a few days while those heal. Next race I'll put body glide on my feet before I swim, and I may look into replacing racing shoes for running. My old workout bag had to be retired, so I'm looking to replace it with a back pack. But first and foremost, I'm going to get a massage....
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