Galveston, TX - September 22, 2013

Swim Cancelled due to Weather

1:07:23 (22.2 MPH)

1:09 T2

50:57 (8:13 min/Mi)

Total 1:59:28

It’s like Deja-vu. The last time i signed up for an Olympic in Galveston (what was to be my second Olympic ever, back in 2010), they cancelled the swim due to the weather, just as they did this time.

The winds were howling. The day before, they were steady over 20 MPH with gusts over 30 MPH. And things didnt get much better the morning of the race.

So when they cancelled the swim, they made it into sort of a time trial start based on the positions on each row. Each person started 5-10 secs apart.

The bike was your standard Galveston race bike course: out on Seawall Blvd half way and back. The way out was with the wind on our back, so it felt really good. I was pushing pretty hard, and averaged over 26 MPH. The way back had a pretty strong head wind.

This was the first time i had a Power Meter during a race, and it really came in handy on this return portion. It allowed me to maintain my Zone 3 wattage quite nicely. The most interesting thing was that it actually helped me more by keeping me from taking it easy than from over doing it. A few times i would ease up (not on purpose) but as soon as i would see the wattage drop, i would get it back up. It was really great.

As it turned out, after looking at my numbers, i probably went too easy on the way back (with the head wind). I put more effort with the wind than i did against. On the other hand, that kept me very fresh, which allowed for a great run.

T2 was quick and easy, and off i went on to the run. As soon as i started the run, i could tell i was feeling good. I felt nothing like what i did 3 weeks earlier at the Houston Towne Lake Olympic, when i was exhausted the minute i started running.

The run was the usual 2 loops around Moody Gardens. I did the first loop at around 8:30 min/Mi. The second loop i felt better yet and was able to negative split it, going around 8:00 min/Mi, for an overall 8:13 min/Mi. I probably could (and should) have started a bit faster, i probably could have (should have) ran the whole thing at around 8:00 min/Mi. But i didnt know how good i was feeling.

Either way, i was extremely pleased with my performance, especially when comparing with the previous race, just a few weeks ago.