{race report} TexasMan Sprint Triathlon
It absolutely makes sense to sign up to do a race the morning before you leave on a transcontinental flight to London. Naturally.
But honestly, it wasn't that crazy. Our flight to London wasn't until 6:45pm and all we had to do was sit on a plane. So it made complete sense.
Overall, this was a really fun race. The water was a little chilly and the bike course was a little windy, but hey, we can't all be perfect. This race also has a bit of a funny ending...for me.
We hit some serious traffic on the way out to the race which made for an anxious morning. Luckily, we weren't the only ones so they held transition open a while longer to accommodate all the latecomers. After frantically setting up my transition area and making the necessary bathroom stop, it was time to head down to the beach. C did the Olympic distance and started over a full hour before I went off.
SWIM
This swim was an easy 500 meters. The trickiest part was the chill of the water which easily takes your breath away when you dive in. This race was also a beach start, my first. I loved the beach start aspect because I hate having to jump in the water and expend all that energy treading water. Even though I wore a wetsuit, I still struggled to quickly acclimate to the chilly temps. But in the end, I think the cold water made me swim faster because I had a good swim time (for me) of 13:09.
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| wetsuits, y'all. so sexy. |
T1
It was quite a long jog up the beach and through the parking lot to my bike rack. My feet were numb which made running across the very rocky pavement, a little less painful. Cold fingers and toes doesn't make for an easy transition though. I definitely took a little too much time getting myself situated. Oh well.
BIKE
I got new shoes and pedals literally a day before this race so I was a little nervous about jumping on my bike. But once I was on, I felt good. It was slightly chilly as I headed out onto the course but I knew I'd warm up quickly. The course was an out and back along the shoulder of a road that had a lot of chip seal on it. That was sort of frustrating because there wasn't a lot of room to pass or maneuver in the shoulder. We also had SERIOUS headwinds on the way out which made every hill feel like a mountain. I think I averaged 10 mph on the way out. Sad. But as soon as I turned around, I felt like I was flying. All that wind was finally behind me and helped push me along for the 8 miles back to transition. I was hoping that would really help me average a faster pace but alas, it didn't. I ended up completing the 16 miles in about an hour.
T2
My toes were a bit numb which always makes putting on your sneakers a little tricky. But once I got my laces tied, I was off.
RUN
My toes tingled for about half of the run. Sort of annoying because it was slightly painful but I just tried to focus on my breathing. I felt really good on the run and was holding a 9:30/min mile pace which felt easy (go me!). Then all of a sudden, I saw the finish line and was impressed with how awesome I was feeling. I sprinted to the finish and couldn't wait to tell C how hard I'd pushed myself. My run splits were going to be so good....
....but here comes the funny part. As I rounded the corner to the finish, I noticed that my watch said I had another half mile to run. So when I crossed the finish line, I told C that the run course must have been really short. HA! Wishful thinking. I somehow managed to miss a turn during the run and totally cut it short. Ugh. Idiot. But at that point, there was nothing to be done. Technically, I ran a 30 min or so 5K, but my official time shows me running a 26min 5K. The day I actually run 8:30/min miles will be a miracle.
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