Cypress, TX - September 2, 2013
33:29 Swim (2:14 / 100 M)
3:35 T1
1:00:26 (23.8 MPH)
2:27 T2
56:48 (9:10 min/Mi)
Total 2:36:47
17th of 71 in Age Group
It was a nice race, with some bumps on the way, but fun.
Im still not back to my racing weight or trained well enough (and it showed today).
The swim started well. After the first 100-200m I was basically alone, which was nice. Got in a nice rhythm and was going well. The swim felt a lot longer than the 0.9 miles. At the last turn, we had to go around a small island, with very shallow water. We could not swim. I had to walk, and it was muddy and pretty slow. Heading back to the finish, we were looking directly into the sun. We couldnt see anything. No finish shoot, no buoys, nothing. I had to stop several times completely, try looking around to see where to go. I am sure it delayed me at last a minute if not more.
All in all, it turned out to be probably my worst Olympic swim ever.
T1 is the usual trek over to the parking lot, about 0.35 miles away from the swim finish. In the past, they had a carpet on the road. This year we ran on the concrete. All in all, it wasn't that bad.
Got my helmet and glasses and went on my way. This was the second race with my new S-Works Trivent shoes. I am still not used to them very well, and it showed in this race. It took me a while to get my feet in and especially tightened. The heel cup did not come back up as I tightened it, and it took me quite a bit to realize it and get it right. Once that was fixed, everything else was great.
This bike course is a really fast course, even though this year they added a very technical mile or so at the end of each lap, inside the College, which slowed overall times by quite a bit (at least 0.5 to 1 MPH off the average).
The first loop I averaged over 24 MPH. Was feeling good. I realized that I slowed a little bit going through the first part of the second loop, by I picked it up and was not too far off the 24 MPH on the second lap. Of course, the technical part was a lot slower, which made the overall a bit less.
I noticed I was drinking a lot during the bike. I had one bottle of Infinit with me, and I think I will carry an extra bottle the next race, just in case.
T2 was fine. I was a bit slower than usual, I could tell that it took a bit longer to get my socks and shoes on. It was a long way to get out to the run course.
My goal was to be under 9:00 min/Mi for the run. My first mile was right at 9:00 min. But I could tell this wasn't going to be a good day. It was hot and just getting hotter. And humid. And this course doesn't have one inch of shade. The second mile was just over 9:30 min, and then for the next three miles, I was just around 10:00 min/Mi. I finally picked up the pace with about 1.5 miles to go (mile six was in the mid 8’s), and the last quarter mile or so, I sprinted like I never did before. My Garmin said my average pace for this last part was 5:34 !!! What???? Really??? All in all it was a great time. One more hurdle in the getting in shape for IMCZ journey.