Race Report - Houston Tri

Ok, the results still arent fixed, but I want to write the RR before I forget it all. Ahh it feels so good to write a race report that has three events!

This was the first time for the event and it was run smoothly and had awesome post race grub! It also was my first race back and had very little expectations going into the race, and pretty much wanted to have a good time and be able to get some calories in during the race. This would be the first Oly I have done with any fuel at all, so it was a challenge.

The bad part about the event was the issue I had with seeding. I am supposed to race in the 35-39 AG since I turn 35 in two weeks (10/10/10 –this has to be lucky in some culture right?) but when I went to packet pickup, I got seeded with the 34 and under. The next day at the race, I went up and asked if I should change groups and was told no, that the computer had me at 34. Which meant I was starting with the last group 25 minutes after I actually should have. It also meant when I checked the race results at the end I was under 35+ with a 25 minute longer swim than I really had. The nice people are correcting this quickly though, or so I have been told.

The swim –
It was a two circle loop with a run in between. The water was brown and you couldn’t see two inches in front of you, but it also was flat and calm. The worst part was having to dodge all of the slower swimmers twice. I came out of the water in second for my start time, but 3rd for my AG (confusing right?). I felt good the whole time, and probably could have pushed it more, but since it was my first one back I didn’t want to die in the run. Looking back I should have gone faster because I died (or never really started) in the run anyway.

T1 – 500 meter run into T1 is never fun after a swim

The bike –
It was also a 2 loop course. It was impossible to tell who was ahead of you and who was behind especially since I started out of my AG. There was a duathlon, an oly tri, and an oly tri with a 300 swim instead of a 1500 swim all on the same bike course. But any time I passed someone I was happy. I am starting to see some progress on the bike. It was an 8 minute PR for me. I am a slow biker, so it was still a slow time (19.something MPH), but I will take it. I was able to get in about 100 calories without puking – progress! And I passed many people, and only heard ON YOUR LEFT! a few times when the second loop elites came by. The course was very flat and the day was overcast, but we had majah cross winds the whole way that really slowed me down. I just have to say, I love my new bike. My saddle, not so much. Looking for a new one and am open to suggestions.

T2 – uneventful. it's a T2 need I say more?

The run –
I should have stopped while I was ahead and never started the run. I forgot my garmin so had no clue how fast (or should I say slow?) I was going which was probably a good thing because it would have only depressed me more. I only got passed twice, but then quickly realized that I was at the slow end of the pack because we started an hour after the race began. No bueno. In my mind I thought I was running, but when I passed the spectators they were probably wondering why that girl in the red was walking so slow. Seriously, it was a shit show. At the last mile some dude who was behind me the whole way came up and said ¨let’s sprint to the finish¨. I told him I thought I was sprinting. He laughed and picked up the pace. I stayed with him for one step. My PW by far in a 10k. My legs just didn’t show up that day. I don’t know if it was the half marathon two weeks ago, the 10 miler I ran last week or what, but I was pretty bummed by this. The good news – no soreness today.

My first tri back in forever, and 2 out of 3 events went well, so I am not going to dwell on the crap that was the run. The plan going into the next two races (a sprint and half ironman) is to work on running. Swimming is going to the wayside for a bit with only twice a week trainings to make up for the extra run work. We shall see if I improve. If not, it is going to be a long day to spectate the half ironman in November - sorry dad and chris!