TexasMan Tri: She's Going The (Olympic) Distance

Did I ever tell you about the TexasMan Tri, my first Olympic distance triathlon?  It happened back in mid-May at Lake Ray Roberts.  An Olympic distance triathlon consists of a one mile swim, a 23 mile bike ride, and a 10K (6.2 mile) run.  You may remember that I did three sprint distance triathlons before my Half Ironman distance triathlon last year.  It was my plan to do an Olympic distance race during my training, but the epic spring rainfalls left most local lakes closed for the summer and forced many races to be cancelled.  I was looking forward to giving the distance a shot as it sounded like a good challenge.  I was also planning to use it as good baseline measure of my fitness level heading into training for my second Half Ironman distance triathlon coming up in September.  The swim would be fairly close to Half Iron distance and the bike and run were just shy of half the distance.

Post Race with Sandie and Andy (Pic: Andy)

Mr K and I arrived plenty early and went about the business of setting up our stuff in the transition area.  I am getting the hang of this, but still feel like a rookie at times as I forget important stuff.  This time I forgot to take my bike food out of my bag, but fortunately I remembered it before I took off. The weather seemed to be pleasant with temperatures in the low 70s and a slight breeze to blow around the ever-present humidity.  We saw lots of friends as we donned our wetsuits and headed down to the beach area for the start.  The sprint distance race started before us and Mr K and I were in the last two swim waves of the Olympic race, so we had plenty of time to visit with friends.  I think that we were all trying to distract ourselves for the chop that was happening out on the water.  We all knew that this was not going to be fun swim.

Hanging on the beach with Andy (Pic: Goat)

Swim
It probably took 45 minutes from the start of the race until it was time for my swim wave to go.  I heard that they were allowing more time between each swim wave to insure that there was enough kayak coverage to keep everyone safe.  As we stood on the beach, itching to get going, they announced that a boat was bringing in a swimmer from a previous wave who could not make it. Upon seeing this, I immediately thought "do not be on that boat." I wanted lots of open water swimming experience this training cycle, this would certainly count as experience!  We were finally off with a splash as the waves were hitting me in the face.  My initial thought was "I can't do this. I just can't!" I took a second to take a deep breath and focus on the task at hand.  I could and I would do this.

That chop was no joke (Pic: Andy)

The swim course was a triangle shape and my first goal was to get out to the buoy halfway between the start and the first turn.  It was not easy and I had trouble even keeping it in sight at times, but I did it.  Once I made it there, my next goal was to make it to the first turn.  I really couldn't allow myself to think about the fact that I was swimming out into a super choppy lake, forward progress was the name of the game.  There were a few swimmers around me and I just focused on staying with them.  I hoped that once I turned the first corner things would get better as I would not be swimming directly into the waves anymore.  It felt like I was swimming forever, but I made it across the "top" of the triangle and to the final turn.  Swimming towards the shore was a big mental boost - I was going to make it!  I thought that it might feel like a tail wind after the final turn, but it didn't quite work out that way.  I was so happy when I could put my feet on the ground and run towards the beach. Knowing that I could survive that choppy swim was a great feeling, especially after the swim drama at Redman 70.3.  My swim time was 49:11, good enough for 5th in my age group - I'll take it!

T1
I'm not sure that there is anything more awkward than me with the wetsuit strippers.  Maybe I should practice this at my next open water swim - haha!  I think that it is just not a natural skill for me.  A random button on my watch got pushed during my wetsuit removal and I spent precious time in transition trying to mess with it.  I was quite distracted when I heard Goat holler at me to go faster - I really wish that I could have some of that time back, but I consider it another lesson learned.  I got back to hustling and headed towards the bike course.  My T1 time was 4:33, smack in the middle of my age group, but I can do better.

Celebrating with Nikki, Mr K, and Nestor (Pic: Nikki)

Bike
I was super excited to take Vivace, my new bike, out for a race...after the most awkward bike mount ever.  I had been riding my road bike so much and the tri bike was still a little new to me, so getting clipped in and finding the handle bars was a little tricky.  I kinda slow rolled off to the left and hoped like heck that I wasn't about to lose my balance and fall over.  I was embarrassed too as Goat was standing right there and witnessed the whole thing.  The weather was pretty nice for the bike, not too windy and the sky was still overcast.  There were some rollers on the course which made it interesting and fun.  My main thought during the bike was to keep my cadence fast so I would have legs for the run. Since it was my first time at this distance, I wasn't sure what to expect or how to pace it.  I kept my efforts pushed, but manageable and focused on cadence.  I enjoyed the ride, but I was ready to be finished by the time we made it back to the park.  My bike time was 1:23:46 (17.3 mph), the fastest bike split in my age group.  I might be the most proud of that as I have worked hard over the last year to become a stronger cyclist.

Big smiles as I finish up the bike (Pic: Goat)

T2
I'm still working at getting more efficient with these transitions and I think that it is something I will get better at with experience.  This one was fairly uneventful and I was out of there in 2:32. Time for my favorite - running!

Run
Much like the bike, I thought about having fast and light feet.  The run course was two loops so I settled into a pace that felt slightly pushed, but manageable.  There were lots of faces to see as this was a two-way course and I tried to let that distract me a bit.  I didn't look at my watch until the first mile chimed and I was absolutely astounded to see 8:20.  There was no way I felt like I was running that fast....but I was really happy about it!  Taking Meb's advice and focusing on one mile at a time, working to run that mile the best I could.  I was thrilled again and again as the next two miles came in at 8:17 and 8:16.  The sun was out now and I could feel the heat and the humidity.  Where did that breeze go?  I felt fatigued a bit as I headed out on my second loop, but knowing I was halfway done was a good thing. I was grateful to see Goat's face occasionally, he is a great cheerleader!

On the run (Pic: Goat)

 It was during this loop that I remembered that I could pour water on my head - not sure why it took me so long to remember that, the first few warm weather races are rough!  My next mile came in at 8:48 so the struggle was real.  This course isn't "hilly" but there are lots of false flats that make it challenging.  Mile 5 was my slowest at 9:09 as I walked through an aide station just to rest for a bit. It was a huge boost to come to the end of the second loop and take the turn that headed towards the finish line.  The last mile was 8:31 - not a "last one, fast one" but I did rally a bit for the finish.  My run time was 51:27 (my watch measured the course at 6 miles instead of 6.2 making my average pace 8:33) giving me the 2nd fastest run time in my age group - I missed the fastest by 3 seconds, so close!

TexasMan Finishers! (Pic: Goat)

My total time was 3:11:31.  The results were never posted, the names were just announced during the awards, so I had no idea how I did in my age group.  I discovered later that there was a mistake in the first place person's time which would have given me 3rd place in my age group.  I never got this corrected, officially, but I am happy just knowing I did it.  All in all, I was quite happy with my first attempt at the Olympic distance.  It is a challenging race distance as it has you going hard for a few hours and I look forward to taking another shot it at sometime in the future. I am super pleased with my base heading into the next round of 70.3 training and I feel happy to finally have a successful long open water race swim, such a confidence boost.