Tri #2

I finished my second tri yesterday - the Pioneer Power Sprint at Texas Woman's University in Denton, TX. The event was a 300m pool swim, 20K (12.4 mile) bike, and 3.3 mile run. I finished in 1:25:26.7 for 106th out of 204 finishers and 8th out of 21 in the Men 35-39 age group. [Of course, I'd be 19th (out of 23) in the 40-44 age group. And second from last in the 50-54 age group. I also got a kick out of the existence of the Men 80-84 age group – that’s amazing!]

Derek and Jarrod finished in 1:19 and 1:22 respectively for 65th and 90th places. Jonathan, who was doing his first tri, finished the swim and bike portions and did a lot of the run as well - way to go!

It was a little tough to wake up for the 6:45 AM start (with 5:30 AM check-in) – I’m always too excited/nervous the night before a race. I didn’t go to bed until almost 1:30 and had to get up about 3 hours later. The morning wasn’t too bad – adrenaline, I suppose – but I was very tired yesterday afternoon. We went out to sushi in Addison (Tokyo One) for lunch and I made my wife drive so I could nap. :-P

I showed some improvement over the Metroplex Sprint Tri from last month. My swim was faster, my run was faster, my bike was about the same (which is actually good because this course was not as flat as the MST), and my transitions were faster.

The pool swim was not too bad. I was number 283 and the first bib number was 201 so I only waited for about 80 x 10 seconds - maybe 14 or 15 minutes - until it was my turn in the water. I thought it would be crazy to have 3, 4, 5, 6 (?!?) people swimming in the same lane (and sometimes trying to pass!) times five bi-directional 25 meter laps (the first and last 25 meters were one-way). However, it wasn't too bad - the swim order was determined by swim speed and most people were truthful/accurate on their entry forms. I only passed one swimmer and never got passed myself (although the person following me was never more than 1/2 a length behind).

After again taking way too many attempts before being able to clip in (need practice, or better pedals), and also trying to put on my helmet with my swim cap still on (duh - you can really lose your mind during transitions!), I felt very comfortable for the bike portion. Since it was an out-and-back course, Jarrod and I said our hellos as I hit the 5.5 mile mark and he was at about 6.5 mile mark after making the U-turn. Oh, and I love my aero-bars and "Aero-Drink". It was great to easily sip water without the distraction (and, for me, the danger) of reaching down to grab a water bottle.

The run was tough for me and the course started with a steep downhill and then a gradual uphill over the next 1/2 mile ... and then repeated for a second lap. I tried to do 4-1's (4 minutes running, 1 minute walking) and kept to that schedule for the most part (although I immediately skipped to a walk portion when I saw the water stations :-). I probably only walked about 7 or 8 times this race instead of 12-15 for the MST.

Here were my final stats:

Swim: 6:31.2 (2:10/100m)
T1: 2:29.6
Bike: 39:50.5 (18.7 mph)
T2: 1:01.0
Run: 35:34.2 (10:47/mile)
Total: 1:25:26.7

Full race results at http://www.doitsports.com/results/page.tcl?id=171572

Another nice thing about this race was the excellent weather. It was a little sketchy watching lightning over the Denton skyline as we drove north on I-35W at 5:00 in the morning. Luckily, by the time we arrived, the rain had passed, and although there were a few wet spots on the bike and run - it was nice and sunny by the time we crossed the finish line. In fact, we had to seek some shade after the race while we munched on bananas and bagels and rehydrated.

And last, but definitely not least, we had our own cheering section! - in attendance: Jonathan's wife, Jarrod's entire family, and our friend and riding teammate, Don - who took these wonderful photos.

Great weather, great race, great friends ... what a great way to start July 2007!