(Let me know if you get sick of these Triathlon posts)
Last Saturday we tackled the Gator Bait Memorial Triathlon. I write ‘we’ because Jenn was also out in full force – taking on the elements as much, if not more than me. After months of little to no rain in the San Antonio area, the clouds finally decided to let loose last week, including this past Saturday. Needless to say, Jenn was up to her knees in mud.
This was my second triathlon. After having done the Tri-It-in Spanish in June, I was ready to let it all hang out and not have to wrestle with any pre-race jitters. I had also been doing more lower-body weight training as well as more time on the bike. The rain did change things a bit for the race overall. Because of the way the course was configured, the race officials had to change the location of transition areas and, more importantly, change the format from Swim-Bike-Run to Swim-Run-Bike.
Pre-Race We woke up at about 4:30 am. The race didn’t start until 8 am but the course was about 45 minutes away and I’m not a fan of last-second stuff. Besides, I had gotten in the habit again of waking up for the past two weeks for seminary. I made myself a banana protein shake with a couple pieces of toast, packed up the Centurion, goggles, and spandex, and headed off to Boerne Lake (pronounced Burn-ee).
Swim – 600 meters
There were four or five waves of about 300 people, divided up into age and gender. Everyone around me seemed nervous that the Lake would be cold due to the recent rain. I wasn’t too worried though – I earned the Polar Bear patch from Scout Camp, I spent two years pouring freezing mountain water over me out of a bucket every morning in Honduras, and the Lake had no urine detector capabilities. I’ve been swimming quite a bit since the last triathlon and hoped this would translate into a good time. As part of the first wave, age 34 and under, I made my way out in to the water. Because this would be my first wave start and since I didn’t know where I would stack up, I didn’t want to jump in the front. I also didn’t want to have to claw past competitors doing the backstroke after 25 meters. With those parameters, I planted myself toward the outside of the pack. If I had to swim a little bit extra, so be it. I didn’t want a kick in the face from the hardcore bicycle guy with calves the size of my torso.
I started out well enough and found myself out in front with another guy. I couldn’t really see very well either. I think I’m using the same goggles from my senior year in high school so they weren’t the clearest things in the world. The front of them looked like Cassie and Ted took turns chewing on them. At one point I had to stop, pull up my goggles and find the finish line after rounding the second buoy (thank you contacts!) I was pretty shocked that I was the second person to exit the water in the first wave and first in my age group by about a minute and a half (30-34). It was more intense than the previous triathlon in which the swim started like a time trial (participants starting 3 seconds apart) – and since I was one of the last participants in that race, no one was really there to cheer except for Jenn (not that I need to be cheered for). This time, I was in second place for a little while and I didn't know how to handle it. The transition went okay. At the end of the day (after all the waves) I had the 5th best swim time. My final time for the 600 meters was 8:09. Man, I was pumped.
Run – 4 miles
The problem with being second out of the water is that you can only be passed, which I was, frequently. I had a hard time controlling my breathing at the beginning but was thankfully able to finish without losing my breakfast, which is something I always worry about. My pace in the run was 7:50 min/mile which was a little disappointing, but much better than my last run split for just two miles (8:05) and faster over a distance twice as long. I think if this had been after the bike, I would have done better- my breathing after the swim was an issue. On this leg I was the 3rd fastest time in my age group even though my pace was about 20 seconds slower than I wanted. Not bad considering I was hyperventilating the whole time.
Bike – 12.2 miles
At this point of the race I’m in medal contention, but I knew it wouldn’t last long. At the second transition I realized I had forgotten to untie the laces on my bike shoes. Sure enough, I was again passed frequently. But I’m okay with that for now. I have come to the conclusion through spotty anecdotal evidence that the majority of non-professional triathletes come into the sport with a specific strength – and at least 75% of the time, this strength is the bike. It makes sense since it is the longest of the three legs and it provides additional opportunities to showcase this talent that may not be available otherwise. Also, before the race, the super nice guy next to me at the bike transition was showing me his $7K tri bike with $3K wheels. It was something to behold– and yes, he passed me on his bike.
Notwithstanding being overtaken steadily, I approached this leg of the race different this time around. On my first triathlon I was unsure of how long the 12 miles really was and how it would affect my running. This time, it was no holds barred. Sure enough, my pace went up from 15.5 mph in my first tri to 17.1 mph. Much of it was due to some long rides and hitting the weights over the past few weeks. The only problem was about halfway through I misplaced my lucky Gatorade water bottle and it went flying along the side of the road (I stopped and picked it up). I was 11th in the bike leg for my age group. Regardless, the ‘85 Centurion was a beast!
Results
Putting all this together, I was happy with my second time out. It was a blast even with the rain or maybe because of the rain. I ended up in 4th place in my age group (out of 27) and 35th overall (out of about 300).
This was my second triathlon. After having done the Tri-It-in Spanish in June, I was ready to let it all hang out and not have to wrestle with any pre-race jitters. I had also been doing more lower-body weight training as well as more time on the bike. The rain did change things a bit for the race overall. Because of the way the course was configured, the race officials had to change the location of transition areas and, more importantly, change the format from Swim-Bike-Run to Swim-Run-Bike.
Pre-Race We woke up at about 4:30 am. The race didn’t start until 8 am but the course was about 45 minutes away and I’m not a fan of last-second stuff. Besides, I had gotten in the habit again of waking up for the past two weeks for seminary. I made myself a banana protein shake with a couple pieces of toast, packed up the Centurion, goggles, and spandex, and headed off to Boerne Lake (pronounced Burn-ee).
Swim – 600 meters
There were four or five waves of about 300 people, divided up into age and gender. Everyone around me seemed nervous that the Lake would be cold due to the recent rain. I wasn’t too worried though – I earned the Polar Bear patch from Scout Camp, I spent two years pouring freezing mountain water over me out of a bucket every morning in Honduras, and the Lake had no urine detector capabilities. I’ve been swimming quite a bit since the last triathlon and hoped this would translate into a good time. As part of the first wave, age 34 and under, I made my way out in to the water. Because this would be my first wave start and since I didn’t know where I would stack up, I didn’t want to jump in the front. I also didn’t want to have to claw past competitors doing the backstroke after 25 meters. With those parameters, I planted myself toward the outside of the pack. If I had to swim a little bit extra, so be it. I didn’t want a kick in the face from the hardcore bicycle guy with calves the size of my torso.
I started out well enough and found myself out in front with another guy. I couldn’t really see very well either. I think I’m using the same goggles from my senior year in high school so they weren’t the clearest things in the world. The front of them looked like Cassie and Ted took turns chewing on them. At one point I had to stop, pull up my goggles and find the finish line after rounding the second buoy (thank you contacts!) I was pretty shocked that I was the second person to exit the water in the first wave and first in my age group by about a minute and a half (30-34). It was more intense than the previous triathlon in which the swim started like a time trial (participants starting 3 seconds apart) – and since I was one of the last participants in that race, no one was really there to cheer except for Jenn (not that I need to be cheered for). This time, I was in second place for a little while and I didn't know how to handle it. The transition went okay. At the end of the day (after all the waves) I had the 5th best swim time. My final time for the 600 meters was 8:09. Man, I was pumped.
Run – 4 miles
The problem with being second out of the water is that you can only be passed, which I was, frequently. I had a hard time controlling my breathing at the beginning but was thankfully able to finish without losing my breakfast, which is something I always worry about. My pace in the run was 7:50 min/mile which was a little disappointing, but much better than my last run split for just two miles (8:05) and faster over a distance twice as long. I think if this had been after the bike, I would have done better- my breathing after the swim was an issue. On this leg I was the 3rd fastest time in my age group even though my pace was about 20 seconds slower than I wanted. Not bad considering I was hyperventilating the whole time.
Bike – 12.2 miles
At this point of the race I’m in medal contention, but I knew it wouldn’t last long. At the second transition I realized I had forgotten to untie the laces on my bike shoes. Sure enough, I was again passed frequently. But I’m okay with that for now. I have come to the conclusion through spotty anecdotal evidence that the majority of non-professional triathletes come into the sport with a specific strength – and at least 75% of the time, this strength is the bike. It makes sense since it is the longest of the three legs and it provides additional opportunities to showcase this talent that may not be available otherwise. Also, before the race, the super nice guy next to me at the bike transition was showing me his $7K tri bike with $3K wheels. It was something to behold– and yes, he passed me on his bike.
Notwithstanding being overtaken steadily, I approached this leg of the race different this time around. On my first triathlon I was unsure of how long the 12 miles really was and how it would affect my running. This time, it was no holds barred. Sure enough, my pace went up from 15.5 mph in my first tri to 17.1 mph. Much of it was due to some long rides and hitting the weights over the past few weeks. The only problem was about halfway through I misplaced my lucky Gatorade water bottle and it went flying along the side of the road (I stopped and picked it up). I was 11th in the bike leg for my age group. Regardless, the ‘85 Centurion was a beast!
Results
Putting all this together, I was happy with my second time out. It was a blast even with the rain or maybe because of the rain. I ended up in 4th place in my age group (out of 27) and 35th overall (out of about 300).
This is a lame video of the event I threw together with Jenn's awesome videography skills. Somehow the race-finish portion got all messed up and is unretrievable. You would have seen me almost do a face plant because I tried to get fancy and my foot got stuck.
1 comment:
"So don't say these currents are still killing me!"
Nice one bato.
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