Capital of Texas Triathlon

I did my first Olympic distance* triathlon on Memorial Day! Now that I am thinking about it, Cap Tex was also my first sprint distance** triathlon in 2004. Back then, I thought there was no way that I could ever do the Olympic distance! :-)

Although this was a "race," I considered it more of a quality training day to help me prepare for Buffalo Springs Lake Ironman 70.3***. If I would have been truly racing Cap Tex, I would have tapered my workouts and rested up more the week prior to the event... but I still gave it my best shot, and it was a great learning experience! My goal was to finish in under 3hrs 10mins, and my actual time was 2:49:17! I was very excited and happy with that time!
*Olympic Distance = 1500 meter swim, 24 mile bike, 10K (6.2 mile) run
**Sprint Distance = 750 meter swim, 12 mile bike, 5K (3.1 mile) run
***Ironman 70.3 = 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run

Here is a "brief" race report! It will probably bore most people to tears... but I guess I just felt like blogging about it!

The Swim - I am always pretty nervous about the swim. I don't consider myself a super strong swimmer, especially in a lake. It is scary and nerve racking to me, and right before jumping in I always wonder why in the world I feel the need to face one of my biggest fears so directly. I get a claustrophobic sort of feeling... my heart rate goes up, and then I have to put my face down in that dark water. Suffocating... Ugh. Okay, enough of the drama! Here is how it went for Cap Tex-

The swim start was in deep water, so we had to tread water for a few minutes before the gun went off. This was my first race to wear a wetsuit, and I was so happy when I jumped in and realized that I didn't really have to tread water. The wetsuit pretty much held me up like a big floaty! Anyway, the gun went off, and I went out a little too fast which I think is typical for a lot of people. My heart rate was up, and I was having trouble finding any sort of breathing or stroke rhythm. After about 400 -500 meters, I got myself under control and really got into a rhythm. I had to get my mind off of the darkness beneath me, and really focus on everything that my swim coach has been teaching me. Next race, I hope to find this focus much earlier. By the time we reached the final turn around, I felt great. Looking back, I think the swim was my favorite part of this race. I am pretty sure I could do it faster next time, but I was SO happy with my time! I know this is not crazy fast, but I definitely have improved tremendously! Swim time - 29 minutes (1:56/100meters).

Transition 1 - I was nervous about getting my wetsuit off quickly, as I have not really practiced doing this quickly. So when the volunteers pulled me out of the water and I started running up the ramp, I grabbed my zipper which felt a little different than usual and pulled up??? One of the nice volunteers must have already yanked it down for me, and I yanked it right back up. For a second, I thought my zipper was broken, and I was wondering what I would do. It wasn't broken, so I pulled it back down and had my wetsuit quickly down to my hips before I got to my spot in transition. The suit came off pretty easily, so I gulped down some Gu, put on my shoes and helmet, grabbed my bike and was off. I need to practice running out of transition with my bike... I am pretty awkward when it comes to that! I know I could have made this transition faster by at least a minute, but again, this was a learning experience! T1 time - 4:26.

The bike - The bike course was 4 laps on a relatively fast course. There are a few short hills through downtown, but nothing too bad. I was pretty happy with the bike portion, but I do need to work on a few things here. Mostly, I am concerned with getting in the right amount of calories so I don't bonk on the run. Once I finished all of my Endurox that I had in my aero bottle, I didn't take anything else in (I had about 5 miles left to go when I ran out). Of course, that was probably fine for 24 miles, but the point here was to practice for Buffalo Springs. I didn't want to slow down enough to grab my bottle on my bike and pour it into the aero bottle. I didn't take in any Gu or anything else either. I HAVE to work on this if I am going to make it through the half ironman!!!! I need those calories or else I just won't have the energy to make it through the run, and I know this! The other thing I really need to work on is cornering. Cap Tex had a lot of 90 degree angle turns and a few hair pin turns as well. I slow down a lot when I take the turns. I think my time would have been at least 1 mile per hour faster if not for those turns (probably everyone else too, but I still need to work on this!). Bike time - 1:17:50 (19.1 mph)

Transition 2 - I should have been faster, but I wasn't. I did eat a few bites of granola bar and drank some water. This should have been done on the bike. Otherwise, I felt pretty efficient. T2 time - 3:12.

Run - This went pretty well overall, although I was somewhat hoping that I would be able to run as fast as my normal 10K pace... I was slower by about 30 seconds/mile, but I think this might be normal for triathlon. I did have to walk through all of the water stops. My Yanks were laced too tight and my feet hurt (yes, Rebecca, you were right... I should have worn them a few times before the race!). I kept asking the volunteers to pour water on me, and my socks were soggy. I was basically happy with my effort and felt pretty much in control of my walking breaks. I always managed to start running again after passing through the water stops and that is how I know I was in control.

Every time I want to stop and rest, I always think of this quote from Lance Armstrong's book,"As long as I can move, I am still alive.” Obviously, a triathlon is much more trivial than fighting cancer... but it really helps me to think of this especially when I am questioning WHY in the world I would put myself through this completely optional pain in the first place! Maybe it is my way of really feeling alive!? :-) My other favorite Lance Armstrong quote is, "Running had taught me patience in that, as long as I kept moving forward, eventually I would find the finish." So the bottom line for me is as long as I keep moving forward, I am doing pretty good on the run! Oh, and if I am running rather than walking, I will find that finish much faster! Run time - 54:48 (8:49/mile).

After the race, I found my friends, Rebecca and Alicia, and we took some quick pictures together and then found our families. The official race photos can be found at http://www.asiorders.com/ . For some reason I am not able to create a link to my pictures for the blog. We were missing our other friend (and mentor/coach for Buffalo Springs), Malinda... so the pics are not as special as they should be anyway!

We all decided to go to Freddie's Place on South 1st for lunch. It was a nice afternoon, and the kids had a great time playing together while the grown-ups had a few post-race margaritas and a yummy lunch. Freddie's is a really fun spot, and we will definitely go back soon!

So here is what I learned from this Olympic distance experience... I loved it! I want to do another one! Although it was absolutely challenging, it was still a ton of fun. What else did I learn??? This race confirmed to me that I am scared to death of Buffalo Springs. I definitely do not feel like I could maintain that same effort through double the distance... Honestly, I am scared that the half ironman distance will take all the fun out of it for me. Buffalo Springs is going to push me harder than I want to be pushed, physically, but mostly mentally. I will be happy and proud if (when?) I finish... but I have already proclaimed to most anyone who will listen that I am going to train hard for the Olympic distance next year and have fun doing it!