CapTex Olympic Tri RR - 5/30/05

Executive Summary:

1/9 Athena

9/76 AG

232/1013 Overall

Swim: 26:50.8 Rank - 327

T1: 3:48.5

Bike: 1:08:46.1, Rank - 163, Pace - 21.7 mph

T2: 2:17.2

Run: 49:27.7, Rank - 397, Pace - 7:58

Total Time: 2:31:10.3

PR by 4:30 (5:30 better than at this race last year)
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/TriFilly/CapTex05/photo#s5118341203532633170

Long Version:

As Michelle wrote in her RR earlier, this weekend is all about the fun w. friends and the race is merely an afterthought, although still a good time & good race.

Arrived at my parents on Friday night & got up Sat. AM for a 5 hr training ride. An hour in & the heaven's opened up w. thunder & lightening too... Most of the group called the ride after Michelle flatted, but I persevered w. Chuck (Michelle's B-friend) and we ended up getting in about 4 hours on the bike. Had scheduled a masseuse to come to the house & four of us got massages. Later in the day, went out for a short recovery ride, so total ride time for the day was close to 5 hours and then had a nice cookout.

Sunday, ran 75 min. early and then off to the golf course. Had a great time & the weather held out. Drove down to Austin to drop off bikes, pick up packets & then back home for pasta dinner & an early bed time - along w. the other 10 athletes staying at my parent's house. Needless to say, the house was a sea of aerobeds, but my parents are the BEST & really good sports about the whole annual CapTexTri invasion! Did I mention we brought three wiener dogs with us too?

Monday 4:15 AM alarm, on the road by 5 AM. Get set-up, near a huge mud puddle due to the off-on t-storms all weekend. But, made it easy to find my rack! Went out for a 10 min. warm-up run & had a little mental battle with myself about whether or not to put cleats on & run thru muddy transition or to carry cleats... Determined that I didn't want to risk having muddy feet for the bike and run, so I'd chance the muddy cleats.

I was in the fifth wave (Athenas started w. Age Group - so didn't know who I was racing against as Athena) and the water was comfy in my sleeveless. Swim was going well until about halfway thru I got knocked aside the head & goggles went ajar. Finally got them back on after a few tries, but I was a bit stressed out. Took about another 1/4 mile until I could get my breathing back under control and get some open water to calm myself down. Overall was pleased w. the swim, then ran the LONG transition, thru the mud, on w. the bike shoes & ran the bike out the LONG transition. Todd said his bike computer registered 0.2 mi. when actually started the ride - as I said, it was a long transition.

Jumped on the bike & had no problem clipping in, despite the mud (think it is because I have LOOK cleats). Immediately my quads started to burn! The same thing happened at Gulfman Half IM last month & figured I'd just gone out too fast. Knowing this was an Olympic, I knew I'd just have to endure the pain for an hour or so. Got passed by some guys in the waves behind me & I passed a lot of people, but I don't think I got passed by any women :) Had my family, friends & racing nemesis (sidelined w. baby on the way) cheering for me along the sidelines & I could hear them at the hairpin turn-around on all four loops. That was awesome & got me fired up to keep pushing thru the quad pain.

On to the run & my quads were so happy to be off the bike! Didn't feel great, but not awful & there we no mile markers, so I had no clue as to my pace. Again, heard my family/friends cheering for me on both loops of the run & that was great. Saw a couple other training partners out there on the race course, but not once during the whole race did I see Todd - very odd w. all the loops we did!! Finished the run and was pleased with my overall time and my splits for each discipline, especially after the long bike Sat. & run on Sun. Disappointed a bit in that there were no finishers medals (which they've had for the previous three years), just a little hand towel. Heard from Michelle that the hardware was a sweatshirt - instead of a medal/trophy/plaque. Haven't seen it yet, but not to thrilled w. that either (especially with an $90 entry fee)...

Afterwards, drank a few Ultra beers (race sponsor) and hung out w. Todd & family/friends waiting for Michelle & others to finish the Sprint. Thought we had a friend who went missing during the sprint & got concerned enough that we actually talked to the guys in the timing truck. When they couldn't find him, we went into transition & found his bike. By the look of his bike shoes, very muddy, he must've biked, so apparently everyone in the group had just missed him as he went from swim-bike and bike-run. Had my stomach a bit knotted until then, but all turned out ok!!

Headed back to the P's house for showers & brats and then back to Dallas. Napped all evening & slept thru the night, so I guess the weekend took quite a bit out of me. Thanks for reading my ramblings...

Katie