A successful opening day.

This morning was my first race of the season. As usual I would have liked to have done better, but based on how I felt, and the conditions, I am very satisfied with my results. That said, my watch reported a better time by 3 minutes than what I read at the site. I know my watch matched what I did, so the only solutions I can imagine are that I misread the time this morning or I got 3 minutes in penalties. I will be pretty irritated if it was the latter! Regardless, I wasn’t there for the time, just to build a little confidence and get ready for Lonestar in two weeks. Here is my recap:

At the start of the race it was cold and windy, but the skies were mostly clear. The wind was coming from offshore, giving us some nice choppy water – a new experience for me. I wanted to stay out of the way of the masses, so I picked a spot about 2/3 back away from the front. At the 10 second count down I looked around and everyone else had moved up, leaving me at the very back. At 66 degrees, the water was the coldest I’ve swum in. I was really glad I’d swum the day before in 68 as it didn’t seem that bad in my sleeveless wetsuit. Once we got going I just put my head in the water, started stroking and breathing just like I’ve done in the pool many times. I couldn’t seem to get a seal on my goggles, and the cold water didn’t feel all that great washing around inside my lens. That was nothing, the real problem was the waves! Like I said, I’ve never experienced that, and it was difficult swimming conditions. Some strokes I would bring my arm around and find nothing but air as I had gone over a wave. Other times I would push my arm forward expecting to smack the water only to push it through the middle of a wave. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective) I am a better swimmer than I give myself credit for. I should have started further up, because it wasn’t long at all before I started passing people. I didn’t swim over anyone, but I did deliver a few hard blows – accidentally. The swim was much easier after the turn around. I didn’t even notice the waves. What I did notice was someone knocking off my Road ID. I haven’t taken it off in 9 months, so I feel a bit naked without it.

I crawled out of the water and headed up the ramp. I didn't see anyone removing their wetsuits, so I raised my hand and yelled out STRIPPER! As fuzzy headed as I was; I wasn’t so bad off that I didn’t get a chuckle when I heard myself. It wasn’t as funny when some big guy ran over and helped me undress. He was in such a hurry too; you would think he was in a race!

After a quarter mile jog to the transition area I made it to my bike, made a clean and I thought quick transition, and was on my way. Everything was going according to plan. Dead ahead of me was the Kemah Bridge. Not a horribly big hill, and with the training I’ve been doing in Magnolia I figured I was better prepared than everyone else. I planned to hit it hard, keeping the gears as high as possible, and then standing up for the extra push. I was going to crush and demoralize everyone in front of me when I flew by them. I was barely on the hill when my legs asked me what I was doing and forced me to immediately start dropping gears. I settled on the small chain ring, kept spinning and still passed several people. After a bit of a technical section where we doubled back to go over the hill again, we had a straight shot: 5 miles out and back. The way out was mostly a head wind, and I was pleased with the pace of 17-18 mph. I passed many riders, and was passed by several young bucks that were really cruising! After the turn around, with the wind at my back, I was able to pick up the speed a bit more, hitting between 21 and 24 mph. It was a short bike leg, so there wasn’t much to report. I stayed in the aero position and went as fast as I felt I could. Someone passed me at the last minute, which irritated me a bit. I hope I wasn’t thinking bad thoughts about him because he crashed at the dismount line and had to get help to get back up and de-cleat.

T2 is where I experienced my first difficulty. I should have investigated it after the race to see what the problem was, but for some reason I couldn’t get both brakes to catch on the rack. I don’t remember my solution, but I was out of there and on the run pretty quickly.

I set my sights on the guy in front of me, and the guy behind me must have done the same because he caught up right away. He was breathing very hard and I knew he wouldn’t last. I was right: it wasn’t but a couple of minutes before he dropped back, never to be seen again. I had some youngsters pass me on the run, including at least a couple of women that started 10 minutes behind me. I’d wish I were young again, but then everyone else would also be faster. I think I’ll stay where I am! Long before the first mile marker I noticed the sun was out and I wasn’t cold anymore. My glasses started to fog up (a common occurrence for me), I guess from the heat off my face. I grabbed a cup of water at the next aid station and dumped it over my head. That really helped not only cool me off and rinse my glasses, but it was cold water and snapped me back to the race. I did the same thing at all the remaining aid stations. The course ran through the boardwalk and neighborhood, making it difficult to get a real feel for where I was on the run. It wasn’t long though before I saw the finish line and it was over. For the record, my watch and the clock both said 1:21:30 as I crossed!

Having finished the race, drunk my beers and taken the obligatory nap, I realize why I like triathlons more than running: they are harder. There is so much going on that you can never just get in a groove and zone out. Maybe that will change with the longer distance in two weeks (the part about being able to zone out), I’ll be sure to let you know!

Oh yeah, Dr Schmedding if you are reading this: What ankle injury? :)