Old College Tri

Derek and I completed the Old College Tri in Southlake this morning. 300 meter pool swim in the Southlake Carroll Aquatic Center, 12 mile bike (actually 12.29 miles), and 5K run (actually 3.05 miles). I had a sprint tri PR time of 1:08:42, which was good enough for 52nd place out of 394 finishers (there were almost 450 people in the race) and 17th out of 44 in my age group (Men 35-39). Derek would have been right on my heels if he hadn't started the swim about 8 minutes after me - he was 184th in the pool and I was 98th. Derek's time was 1:08:56 and 57th place.

Here were my splits:

• Swim: 5:43 (1:55/100m pace)
• T1: 1:38
• Bike: 34:38 (20.8 mph average)
• T2: 1:37
• Run: 25:09 (8:07/mi pace)
• TOTAL: 1:08:42

This is more than 3 minutes faster than the Saint Patrick's Day Tri which had a similar course. A PR (personal record) by a substantial margin.

The swim was a standard pool swim. Since we had two TNT practices at the Southlake Carroll Aquatic Center, I was familiar with the venue and natatorium. I hadn't swum in over a week so when Derek said he was going to do a warm-up swim, I did one too. I didn't think I swam that quickly (and I wasn't trying to) but it was still my fastest 300m tri swim to date. Not bad for slacking off in the swimming.

I had a really good time on the bike. My fastest average speed ever - the new tires definitely helped. My speed improved not just by a little bit but about 2 MPH(!) - for an average of 21.3 MPH per GPS (the bike was actually 12.29 miles - a little more than the advertised 12 miles). After seeing Derek's (even better) improvement on the bike, now I know I need to get new wheels (or a new bike :-) too.

My run was good but not great. I still need to work on my bike-to-run bricks. It just takes too long for my legs to loosen up after the bike and to get (consistent) speed.

Also, my transitions were slow - especially T2. Forgetting to take off my
sunglasses (and running back 25 yards to drop them off) probably cost me 10 seconds. The 5 seconds for putting on the Penn State T-shirt for the finish line photos was totally worth it, though! :-)

Overall, a great performance for me. A good course and the venue is close to my house which is a bonus. I'll definitely do this race again next year.

Results at http://www.doitsports.com/results/page.tcl?id=193811

Back-To-Back Rides

In addition to the Zoo Run, I did a lot of cycling this weekend. Today, I completed the second of two fairly long bike rides. I did about 46 miles yesterday and 55 today for a two-day total of about 100 miles.

Saturday's ride started at 9:15 AM on the Trinity Trails. After a 3.5 warm-up ride (and hunt for a bathroom), Jonathan G and I headed south on the trails towards Lake Benbrook. It was the same route as two weeks ago. I was happy to average 16.3 MPH because I had already run the Zoo Run 10K earlier in the morning. I did the nasty hill in Lake Benbrook park twice to get some hill training in.

Sunday's ride was with Plano Cycling's MS150 team. Derek and I thought it would be a good idea to get to know some of our teammates, but in reality there were over a hundred people there representing various MS150 cycling teams (Plano Cycling, Richardson Bike Mart, EDS). It was a nice day - warm, but with some cloud cover - and with all the people it had the feel of an official bike rally.

The route started from Legacy Business Park, went past Stonebriar Country Club, through Main Street in Frisco, down Virginia Parkway through Stonebridge Ranch, then a loop along country roads that took us north of Hwy 380, and then back to Stonebridge Ranch, a pass through Craig Ranch and all the new development there and finally back to EDS.

Route map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://pages.andrien.com/2008-04-2087km851m.kml

As you can see below, the course was hilly in spots - with over 2,000 feet of total ascent/descent.


We also had some wind out of the south/southwest, so the first half of the ride was definitely easier and faster than the second. (Note all of the instances of 20+ MPH speeds before Mile 35 and their virtual disappearance in the last 20 miles).


I completed the total distance of 54.6 miles in 3 hours and 17 minutes (a 16.3 MPH average). Derek arrived about 25 minutes later - held up by (yet another :-( ) flat tire and a broken shifter/derailleur cable that caused him to finish the last 7 miles in the highest gear on his rear sprocket. Very good considering the hardships.

With the consecutive rides under my belt, I am pretty confident that the 150 miles should not be complete torture - especially since it will be done at a slower pace and with rest stops and lunch breaks. (However, according to the maps, it looks like the MS150 will actually be closer to 160 miles :-P)

(Fort Worth) Zoo Run Run

I ran in the 11th Annual Fort Worth Zoo Run this morning. I did the 10K race in some gorgeous weather.

Met up with the "Keller Running Club" before the race and also ran into a few members of the Ranch View Gang afterwards. Walked around the expo briefly and scored a free Adias technical shirt from Luke's Locker for signing up for their mailing list (I think I was already on it).

Despite a tough course, I was able to set a PR (personal record) for the 10K distance! Unfortunately, somehow (and disappointingly) my time didn't show up in the official race results (yet). However, my GPS recorded my stats: distance: 6.21 miles; time: 48:34; pace: 7:49/mi; avg HR: 173 bpm; max HR: 182 bpm.

Race route: http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/tx/fort-worth/874719564

As I was saying, the course was fairly tough with quite a few hills. As you can see, the route was mostly uphill for the first two miles, evened out for the next two (with a spike at Mile 4 - I remember that hill!) and then mostly downhill to the finish.


My speed was inversely proportional to the changing grade.

After the race, I enjoyed some good post-race food: bananas, chips & crackers, bagels, various smoothies and energy shakes, and orange juice. I also got a free chair massage. Oddly, even though this was a post-RUNNING massage, they didn't work on my legs and calves until I pointed them out as a sore area. :-P

UPDATE: Looks like the results are up now (at http://www.runtimeracingservices.com/Results2.aspx?RaceID=664), but many people’s times are missing. Actually, if they’re like mine, they're stuck in the 5K list. My 10K PR time of 48:31.9 has been relegated to a 1339th place finish in the 5K as "Unknown Partic. 2848" (sniff)!

Oh well ... C'est La Vie

Final TNT Update - Mission Accomplished

I’m so sorry that this update has been late in coming. In between recovering from the race and Galveston trip (a five-hour drive with a one-year-old is not recommended), backlog at work, and finishing my tax return, I’ve finally been able to get a proper THANK YOU message composed.

We did it! On Saturday, March 30, my fellow Teammates and I swam, biked and ran in the Lone Star Triathlon Festival at the Moody Gardens in Galveston, TX. While doing so, we also raised over $230,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to help find a cure for these devastating diseases.

Personally, I took great satisfaction in being able to complete the 70.3 miles (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run) of the endurance event. My personal goal was to (1) just finish the race and (2) complete it in under 6 hours. Well, I crossed the finish line in 5 hours and 59 minutes (and 1 second) - so mission accomplished.! With your generous donations, I was also able to meet my fundraising goal of $2,600.

A little bit about the trip. My family and I arrived in Galveston on Saturday afternoon after staying in Houston the night before (just trying to break up the trip a little). After picking up my packet and a TNT open-water practice swim in the actual water, we joined TNT that night for a pasta “carbo load” dinner which was capped off with inspiring stories from our TNT staff as well as a great success story from a Hodgkin’s survivor.

Sunday morning, I was up at 4:00 AM and meet the rest of the Team down in the lobby of the Moody Gardens Hotel at 5:00. From there we walked to the race site/transition area about a 1/2 mile away and we each got settled into our respective slots on the racks.

At just after 7:30 (I was in the second swim wave, which left at 7:35), I started the swim. The water wasn’t too rough nor cold, so aside from swallowing a little salt-water (yuck) it went well. I trotted out of the water, got shucked out of my wetsuit and went to the transition area to get ready to ride my bike.

The 56 miles (about 3 hours) of cycling actually went by fairly quickly. With the cold winter weather, I didn’t do much cycling in the off-season so about two-thirds of the way I said to myself, “Wow, this is the furthest I’ve ridden my bike since last fall!” Maybe it was the adrenaline or the moral support as I saw many other TNT members and we shouted words of encouragement to each other, but I felt much better than I thought I would. I also really enjoyed riding on the Galveston Island seawall — seeing and hearing the ocean waves and the seagulls really gave me an inner calm. By the time I returned to the transition area for the final leg of the journey, I couldn’t help but smile at the accomplishments of my team and I, both for this race and our mission.

After re-racking my bike, putting on my running shoes, and hitting the porta-potty (small bladders and 6 hour races don’t mix) I started the half-marathon towards the finish line. Running after nearly four hours of swimming and cycling wasn’t easy, but the spectator-friendly course allowed us to get some cheers and high-fives from our TNT coach and support staff who were just great. Also the running route had multiple U-turns so I got to see Derek, my TNT
mentor, as well as other Teammates up to four times during the run. Both the spectator cheering and our racer-to-racer support really helped keep us going all the way to the finish line.

Thanks again for your interest, words of encouragement and kind donations — it really means a lot to me and a lot to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society staff and beneficiaries.

Best Regards,
-Andy

=====

Lone Star Triathlon — Team In Training Accomplishments

• TNT had 89 participants (the North Texas chapter had 67 and Gulf Coast chapter had 22) and many family members, support staff and Honored Heroes at the event.

• Together, the North Texas and Gulf Coast chapters raised $231,000 for the cure. (The Dallas
& Fort Worth teams raised $176,800 of this.)

PlayTri Festival - Day 2

Yesterday's sprint tri was a good warm-up to today's event. Derek and I had decent performances. Before the race, Derek said, "Now that we have a half-iron tri under our belts, we probably aren't giving this Olympic-distance race enough respect." I think he was right. The race WAS tough (mostly because of the wind - see below), but in the end, I think I did pretty well. Here are my results:

• 1,500m Swim: 33:52 (125th, 2:15/100m)
• T1: 3:54
• 27mi Bike: 1:25:08 (70th, 19.0 MPH)
• T2: 1:31
• 10K Run: 52:38 (110th, 8:29/mi)
• Total: 2:57:05 (12th of 33 Men 35-39; 71th of 181 Men; 82nd of 242 Overall)

Full results at http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1571334. 242 Total Finishers - 188 Males / 54 Females.

My swim time seems slow - with a pace that is much slower than yesterday's sprint tri. I don't think this should have been the case because I was much closer to the front of the pack today and I feel that overall I had a better swim than yesterday. So I am guessing that the slower pace is because:

1. The Sprint tri swim course was shorter than 500m
2. The Olympic tri swim course was longer than 1,500m
3. The water was a little choppier because of the wind
4. All of the above

(Yep, the swim was definitely long. See http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/tx/irving/132526756 for the course. Switch to Satellite or Hybrid view to see the actual lake boundaries and select metric units to get the distance in meters. The distance appears to be almost 1,600 meters and that assumes efficient/direct swim routing - which was difficult since the course had so many turns, the current kept pushing me off-course, and the morning sun hindered eastern visibility.)

My T1 time was slow. Even slower than yesterday because my rack was much closer to the swim/run end (instead of the bike in/out end) of the long transition area. So I had to run much farther in my bike cleats - which is not only slow but damaging to the cleats. One of these days I'll have to learn how to mount/dismount while leaving the bike shoes clipped in and just run barefoot with my bike.

Here are the bike and run stats from my Garmin Forerunner 305:


(The bike time is a few seconds different from the official results because I forgot to start the timer until I had passed the chip mat and mounted my bike.)

The bike was tough - much windier than yesterday. We had a stiff headwind for most of the first 10 miles (up to the first turnaround), which was also mostly uphill. So as you can see from the chart below, my average speed for the first third of the bike was a disappointing 16 MPH or less.


However, after the U-turn, the wind was at our backs and the course had a lot of downhill parts for the next 8 miles, so I racked up around 19.5 miles by the time my watch said one hour of bike time had elapsed. (I also hit a top speed of almost 37 MPH coming downhill on Royal Lane with the wind at my back - that was something new. :-). The final third had a lot of hills and some rough roads and that headwind came back in the final two miles as we headed back to the transition area.

Bike course: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://pages.andrien.com/2008-04-13Bike43km611m.kml

T2 was uneventful. I had an Accel Gel but I forgot to take the 2 SaltStick pills that I had laid out. D'oh!

The run started off well and I was running a sub-8:00 mile for the first 1.25 miles, however, once I turned onto the Campion Trail, the southerly wind really kicked up and slowed my pace (slightly) and sapped my energy. I got a reprieve at the (approx) Mile 3.2 turnaround and with the tailwind was able to pick up the pace a little (and took a gel since I knew the aid station I just passed would be coming up again). I saw Derek on the out-and-back course at around Mile 4 and we exchanged greetings and words of encouragement.


The stretch between Miles 5 and 6 was tough, I had some uphill to get from the Campion Trailhead back to Colorado Drive and then the entire stretch along Lake Carolyn Pkwy had that nasty headwind again. As I turned left onto O'Connor Blvd, the wind died down and I got a burst of energy for the final stretch. The guy about 50-100 yards in front of me was in my age group and I wanted to try to pass him to pick up a place in the standings, but apparently he had the same energy burst as me so that plan went down the tubes. :-P

Run Course: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://pages.andrien.com/2008-04-13Run9km827m.kml

After the race, I signed up for a massage, got my post-race burger/potato salad/baked beans, and waited at the finish line for Derek who came in about 15 minutes after me. We enjoyed the sun and music and watched others finish their races (or start the second loop on the Half-Iron run). Very relaxing.

So, overall, I am very pleased with my performance. Luckily, no leg cramps on the run despite forgetting the electrolyte tablets - I guess the Accel Gels and a few cups of Accelerade at the aid stations were enough. In comparison with my first Olympic-distance tri, last fall's Texas Man, everything definitely improved. The numbers don't seem to bear this out - 2:57:05 finish vs. 2:42:17, slower swim/bike and transition times - but I know that the swim distances were different, the long run (almost 0.1 miles) through the PlayTri transition area slowed me down, and the bike course was more than 4 miles longer with a killer wind. The key, though, is that after all of this, I was still able to have a very good 10K run at a good pace - at 8:37/mi (per GPS), this is less than 10% slower than my normal 10K pace, and this is much better than the 9:46/mi for the Texas Man.

So I now have completed two Olympic-distance tris (and a half-Iron tri). I will do the Texas Man Olympic tri again in about 5 months and see if I can improve again.

Next year, I may do the half-Iron distance for the PlayTri (and hope that it's a lot less windy!) - it seems like a good course and a great race with lots of traffic, volunteer, and fan support. Or maybe I will again do the Sprint-Olympic back-to-back for comparison purposes. Either way, this was a fun race weekend and I look forward to doing it again.

PlayTri Festival - Day 1

Yay, Matt and I finished the PlayTri Sprint Triathlon in Las Colinas (Irving, TX) this morning for Day 1 of the PlayTri Festival.

I parked my car in the Williams Square west parking deck and got to the transition area at about 5:40 AM. Unfortunately, there weren't enough volunteers and so there was already a line of athletes waiting for the bike check and body marking.

The weather forecast was not bad (high of 70 and clear skies), but in the early morning, it was still a bit chilly (about 48 degrees) and there was a stiff wind. I was thinking about what I would wear for bike and run and decided that I would probably wear a long-sleeve T-shirt for the bike to cut down on the chill.

Anyway, I met up with Matt in transition and also ran into Charlie (again). In fact, all three of us were in adjacent bike racks (Matt was across the aisle from me).

Here are my results:

• 500m Swim: 9:56 (87th, 1:59/100m)
• T1: 3:25
• 10mi Bike: 30:00 (34th, 20.0 MPH)
• T2: 1:27
• 5K Run: 24:07 (79th, 7:43/mi)
• Total: 1:08:55.7 (8th of 25 Men 35-39; 38th of 136 Men; 49th of 227 Overall)

Full results at http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1571246

I think the course may have been a little short - I had 9.73 miles for the bike and 3.03 miles for the run per GPS. But I’m not complaining.


The transition area was quite large. Or at least very long. Probably 40 rows of racks (but not all were used today – maybe they will be all filled up for the Olympic/Half-Iron races tomorrow???)

The swim in Lake Carolyn was decent in terms of the water temperature and quality (not as nasty as I thought it would be), but Matt and I got stuck at the back for the swim and spent the first minute or so doggy-paddling before we could get anywhere quickly. I definitely need to be at the front tomorrow or my swim time will again suffer.

My feet took a pounding with a tough run from the swim exit to transition. It was a fairly long distance (I think the time was tacked onto T1) and a good bit of it is on “bumpy” concrete – but some of it was grass and the transition area was “flat/smooth” concrete.

When I arrived at T1, I was all warmed up from the swim and decided not to take the time to put on a shirt. Luckily, it was not cold enough (or I didn't notice it) during the cycling for me to regret this last-minute decision.

The bike course was a little hillier than I expected. I guess when I drove the course, long-gradual hills weren’t very noticeable. So there were times when I was bitter as I pounded away at the pedals and only got 13-15 MPH as a result. But on the other hand, it was a blast hitting 31-32 MPH on the downhill stretches. Because the women’s swim wave was first, I passed MANY people on the bike and only got passed by 4-5 guys (on nice bikes - yes, I will keep using that excuse :-)


Bike Route: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://pages.andrien.com/2008-04-12Bike15km657m.kml

The run was pretty good. Mostly flat except for a hill on Colorado Drive and at the entrance/exit to the Campion Trail. We didn’t spend much time/distance at all on the trail for the 5K, but will be doing quite a bit more tomorrow for the 10K. I started off strong with a sub-8:00/mi pace for the first mile, got a little slower in the middle, but finished strongly for a GPS recorded 7:57/mi pace (7:43/mi in the official results). In fact, I was so focused during the last part of the run that I don't even remember seeing the Mustangs of Las Colinas as I passed Williams Square.


Run Route: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://pages.andrien.com/2008-04-12Run4km880m.kml

Bananas, oranges, bagels, and Accelerade at the finish line. (Tomorrow, we're supposed to get hamburgers and other "real food"). Also, there was hardly any line at for the post-race massage, so Matt and I got on the list and had the best 10-minute massage possible. Greatness. I think that will really help my recovery.

Getting psyched for Sunday's Olympic-distance race!

Vacation Days

Not much training the last two days because I'm on vacation at the Great Wolf Lodge, an indoor water park resort in Grapevine, TX. (In an unrelated note: it's awesome :-)

Today, I ran 2 miles on a treadmill in the hotel's fitness center - just want to keep the running neurons active before tomorrow's Sprint tri. At lunch time, after checking out of the hotel (but before heading back to the water park for Day 2) I drove to Irving Bible Church, the site of the PlayTri Festival packet pickup & Expo, and met up with Derek and Don T. (In another unrelated note: Irving Bible Church is one of the largest and most impressive church buildings I've ever been in - not counting Notre Dame Cathedral and the like).

After getting our packets, picking up some cheap gels and drink mixes from the Luke's Locker booth at the expo, and saying hello to various people (including Charlie from the Lone Star Tri Half-Iron - he's doing the PlayTri Sprint too), Derek and I grabbed some lunch at Isshin Sushi - sushi rice = lots of carbs.

Another Taper Week

Doing not one, but TWO, triathlons this weekend at the PlayTri Festival in Las Colinas. Doing the Sprint-distance triathlon (500M swim, 10mi bike, 5K run) on Saturday and the International-distance race (1,500M swim, 27mi bike, 10K run) on Sunday. Sometime late last year when I signed up, it seems like a good idea. That or I was enticed by the huge discount for the “package deal”, which made the Sprint only $25 (which is more than half-off a normal sprint tri race fee). :-P

Monday: Did some swimming today - 3,000 yards in 1:04:03. Again, I concentrated on my form, but didn't want to take all the breaks. I'm happy that my times were actually just as consistent last Friday's swim even without the breaks. Times for the 500 yd splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:32
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:34
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:37.5
• break: 0:37.5
• 4th 500 yds: 10:27.5
• 5th 500 yds: 10:37
• 6th 500 yds: 10:38

Tuesday: Work, work, work. Did an evening workout - one hour on our home elliptical trainer.

Wednesday: One hour spin class and then 1,000 yard swim - with some pretty good times

• 1st 500 yds: 8:57
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:10

The 8:57 split is a personal best! (The 9:10 time is not too shabby either.) And 18:07 for the 1,000 yard distance is also a personal best. A good performance, especially after 55 minutes on the spin bike.

If I have time, I'll try to do some running tomorrow morning. Tomorrow & Friday, my family and I are going to the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine. So I'll get a couple Off Days (not counting time in the waterpark :-) before the back-to-back tris.

Derek was joking that with all of events (Lone Star Tri two weeks ago, PlayTri this weekend, Old College Tri in two weeks, and the MS-150 bike ride May 3-4) *every* week will be a taper or recovery week. He's right to some extent, but if we exercise good post-race recovery (nutrition, stretching, massage) we can still work out with just a few days rest after each event and just taper a few days before the next one.

Run - Bike - Run

Did a quasi-duathlon today - albeit with a long break between the first run and the bike.

Met the "Hidden Lakes Runners & Walkers" - a Keller-based club - at the "Keller-Smithfield Actity Node" neighborhood park at 7:00 AM this morning. Ended up running a solid 7.28 miles in 1:04:51 along the Keller trails. Basically, it was this route but run starting from the eastern point with a loop around the Keller Sports Complex and a steep & long hill (see elevation chart below up Elaine Street. Even with a couple water breaks, my overall pace averaged 8:54/mi. That hill was really tough, I look forward to doing it again in the future as hill training for both running and cycling.

A few hours later, I met Don T and Jonathan G at the Fort Worth Trinity Trails. We did a brisk ride south to Benbrook Lake, biked the park roads after paying the $1 entry fee, and then returned to the starting point for a 42.54 mile round-trip (in 2:32:48 - 17.2 MPH average speed going out, 16.3 MPH coming back, 16.7 MPH overall).

Don wanted to ride at least 50 miles so we continued north on the trails for another 4.25 miles. We still kept a good pace for this second ride - 16.4 MPH - but I was definitely getting tired. When we returned to the parking lot, our grand total was 51.05 miles.

Don had planned all along to do a brick, so after reracking/locking up our bikes, we ran for 2 miles (again, on the trails). I stayed with Don for the first mile (when we turned around) but he poured it on for the return trip and he finished the 2 miles about 1.5 minutes quicker than me (16:28 vs. 17:57). In my defense, I DID run a little over 7 miles this morning. :-P

Great workout and nice weather (although it did get a little hot by the end) - this was exactly the type of workout I needed to get into better cycling and triathlon shape.

Recovery Week

Monday: Still in Galveston. Spent the day walking around the Moody Gardens and seeing all the attractions. My legs were a little sore from Sunday's tri, but any and all pain was manageable. :-)

Tuesday: Very busy at work (catching up on all those emails and tasks) and a little tired from last night's 6 hour drive (didn't get home until almost midnight). Squeezed in a spin class - but tried to keep the intensity at "medium". No brick afterwards - my legs are still in no shape to run. Instead, I swam 1,000 yards in a fairly fast 18:41 (9:29, 9:12 splits) after the spin class.

Wednesday: Still extremely busy at work. No time for lunch-time workout and no energy for an evening workout. So, it ended up being off day. Probably for the best anyway.

Thursday: 3 mile threadmill run (1 mile with 5% incline in 10 minutes, 1 mile with no incline in 10 minutes, 1 mile with no incline in 8 minutes). Then a 45-minute spin class. Some sad/disappointing news: Our favorite spin instructor got a full-time job in Fort Worth (Congrats, Leslie!) and starts on Monday - so today was her last class. I guess we'll be "breaking in" a new innstructor next week.

Friday: Long swim. 3,000 yards in 1:05:19. The overall time was a little slower than normal because for the first few sets I tried to really concentrate on improving my form and took breaks between the sets to avoid lapsing into bad form as I got tired. My 500 yd splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:14.5
• break: 0:45
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:28.5
• break: 0:31
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:36
• break: 0:34
• 4th 500 yds: 10:26.5
• 5th 500 yds: 10:34
• break: 0:21.5
• 6th 500 yds: 10:48

Planning to do a long bike ride (50-60 miles) tomorrow morning with Don T, Scott, and Jonathan G. I need to start ramping up my cycling mileage to prepare for the MS-150 ride (coming up in less than a month!)

Lone Star Triathlon Festival

Just got back from Galveston late last night. We spent all day Monday visiting the "three pyramids" (Aquarium, Rain Forest, and Discovery Museum) of the Moody Gardens Resort, watching IMAX and "4D" movies, and just walking around the park grounds. Then came back to a mountain of work and emails (after just 1.5 days of vacation!) - grrr. So I am just now getting some time to do my race report.

First of all, the Lone Star Triathlon Festival was a very well run event. Just about everything ran smoothly. The course was very nice and well-supported (well-stocked aid stations). Good post-race refreshments and entertainment. And a very scenic locale in the Moody Gardens.

Sunday morning I got up at 4:00 AM. Felt foolish to be up so early when I could almost see the transition area from my hotel room window. However, since I always need about an hour to wake up/prepare/pack and our TNT team was meeting at 5:30 in the lobby, it was still necessary. I forced myself to eat some energy bars even though I was still quite full from the TNT pasta party (carbo-load!) from the night before.

So right at 5:30, a large group of TNTers (including me and Derek) left the Moody Gardens Hotel and headed over to the transition area, which was only about a quarter mile away. The transition area was very neat and orderly - wide aisles; water station inside the transition area; tons of porta-potties. I've been to races with open racking (first-come, first-served) and races with numbered racks (but still first-come, first-served within those racks). Lone Star took it a bit further: all the slots in each rack were numbered and the numbers were on alternating sides so that people knew which side of the rack to use. Very nice.

At around 6:45 I began the walk to the swim start (about a half mile away). I wanted to get to the dock early to do a warm-up swim in Offatt's Bayou. We had a practice swim on the course on Saturday with TNT and so I knew what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the water seemed even calmer than it was the previous. Probably because it was early morning. I climbed out of the water and was walking back towards the shore, when I ran into Derek, who also wanted to do a warm-up swim. So I decided to jump back into the water for a second time. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that my goggles were still sitting up on my swim cap and they flew off as soon as I hit the water. Oh no! Luckily a fellow racer up on the dock spotted them and directed me to them floating in the water. Disaster averted!

The race/swim started off pretty much on time (my watch said about 7:35 - just a few minutes late from the advertised 7:30 start). Derek's wave (men 30-34 + elites) went first. After seeing him off, I was settling into a pre-race daze when a guy behind me said, "Hey, don't you go to spin class at LA Fitness in Irving?" Too funny. Anyway, Charlie and I had a good conversation both on the dock and while treading water at the swim start buoys before the gun went off for our wave (men 35-39).

My swim went well. The water temperature was perfect - not too cold, but not so warm that the wetsuit would get uncomfortable. The water was fairly calm; having a wave splash water into my mouth during breathing was never an issue. However, there was definitely some current in the water as I did have to course-correct my swimming from time to time. I really need to practice my sighting.

I got a little dizzy (I get motion-sickness fairly easily :-P) during Saturday's practice swim with TNT - partly because of the ever-so-sight waves and partly because I was rotating my head so much to breathe/sight - so I knew to take a Meclizine before getting in the water. And so I felt no dizziness at all after the swim. Yay! I did accidentally take in a big gulp of salt water (yuck!) sometime in the first 10 minutes of the swim. I had visuals of vomiting and/or other stomach ills, but luckily I survived the experience unscathed.

I finished the 1.2 mile swim in about 42 or 43 minutes. After coming up the ramp and out of the water, I jogged up the path, yanking the strap to unzip the back of my wetsuit, and peeling the top part off my chest and shoulders. Near the transition area, there were "wetsuit strippers" at the ready. Lay on your back, feet/legs/butt up in the air and they pull the suit right off you (our TNT coaches had warned us earlier "make sure your tri-shorts are tied tightly or you're going to give every one sometime to talk about ... nudity may only be a 2-minute USAT penalty, but we know in that in life the penalty lasts A LOT longer").

With the 250 yard jog, wetsuit removal, and gargling about 3 cups of water at the swim exit aid station (to get the salt-water taste out of my mouth!) my official swim time was 44:32, which was about what I expected.

The T1 transition was not hurried. I took some time to make sure I didn't miss anything (for example, taking three SaltStick pills) and also to apply a generous amount of BodyGlide on my feet/toes to prevent chaffing on the run (yes, I know that the bike leg is next, but once my socks went on before my bike shoes, I didn't want to have to remove them in T2)

The bike also went well. It was hard to pay a lot of attention to the scenery when I was so focused on keeping a good pace, but I did see a great ocean view with waves and birds while we biked the seawall portion of Route 3005. I kept a 20+ MPH pace for the first loop. I slowed slightly for the second loop probably close to 18 MPH, but I was still able to finish the 56 miles in 2:53:19 (19.4 MPH average). Actually, I might have been even a little faster had I not dropped my water bottle at Mile 15. Not only did I have to stop to retrieve it, I also had to stop at the Mile 24 aid station to get more fluids (my AeroDrink contents were emptied when I laid my bike down to go after the fallen water bottle).

T2 went smoothly and I reracked my bike, switched shoes, eat three more SaltSticks and another AccelGel (I had one in T1 and 4 during the bike) and grabbed my running hat and race belt. (In the possibly TMI department, my T2 time included 30-45 seconds to hit the porta-potty to pee. My time wasn’t going to be fast enough to necessitate “on-bike urination”!)

The run was a great course and VERY well marked-and supported. Definitely a cut above all the local races (Ironhead, Dallas Athletes, PlayTri). I believe there were 6 aid stations (each with water, Gatorade Endurance, Clif Shots, pretzels, defizzed cola, bananas, etc.) and 3 cold-water sponge stations on the course, and you hit each station TWICE (2 loops). The run was about as least painful as 13.1 miles can be at the end of the 70.3!

Notice that I said "least painful" but not painless! It was definitely tough to run a half-marathon after nearly four hours of swimming and cycling. The first half mile was slow as my legs adjusted from the bike to running - I think all that brick work helped. The next mile was a little better and I was even able to settle into a 8:30-9:00/mi pace. However, by the 1,5-mile rest stop, my pace had already started to slow drastically.

I ended up doing run-walk: run between rest stops and walk when I reached the aid stations. Even with the walk breaks, I still averaged a 10:15/mi pace, so I was pleased with that. At each aid station, I would drink a cup of Gatorade Endurance and then some water and dump the rest of the water and/or a fresh cup of water on my head to stay cool. (It was cloudy and overcast for the swim and most of the bike, but during the run the sun came out often and the temperature was rising). Even though I had two AccelGels in my race belt pouch, I never took them - partially because I sort of forgot that I had them, partially because I was just too tired/lazy to reach back and take them out. In hindsight, I wonder if the protein in them would have helped my aching leg muscles and the caffeine might have given me a little more pep in the last half of the run.

Like I said, the run course was essentially 2 out-and-backs for 2 loops, so I actually saw/passed Derek (and our TNT teammate Cy) four times on the course. That was very nice. We exchanged high-fives and words of encouragement with each pass. I also saw a lot of other TNTers - including some during the Olympic/quarter-iron distance. Seeing our teammates and seeing/hearing TNT cheering was definitely inspiring and helped us along on our journey.

As I came back towards the transition area for the final time, I knew the finish line was near and started to pick up my pace (as much as I could - the gas tank was running low). I crosses the gate threshold, smiled for the photographers and received my finisher's medal, water bottle, and cool wet towel for a job well-done.

My final time was 05:59:01 (the photo shows 6:04:01 because my swim wave started 5 minutes after the first gun). My goal was to break 6 hours - so I am very happy about my performance. Other stats: 64th out of 88 finishers in my age group, 219th out of 383 men, and 294th out of 560 overall.

Such a great day and great race. Even the weather cooperated - the forecast was sketchy the week before with possible thunderstorms, but the rain stayed away until about 4:00 PM - an hour or so after everyone had finished the race.

Actually, I slept through the rain. I was SO tired afterwards. After eating some snacks and cheering on other TNT participants, I took a two hour nap and nearly overslept for the TNT “victory party”. Filled up on some fajitas, got my kids ready for bed and then slept again from 9:30-6:30. Felt pretty good the next day – no major pains or anything. A little bit of sunburn on my shoulders, but it’s not too bad – I had put on sunscreen, but I think it may have gotten scraped off when I taking off my wetsuit after the swim.

So, first half-Ironman complete! I'm not sure exactly when I'll do another one, or when I will ever do a full Ironman, but I'm not looking to stop now that I have the first one under my belt.

Full Results: http://www.mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=3021

Bike Course Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://pages.andrien.com/LoneStarHalf-IronBike.kml

Run Course Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://pages.andrien.com/LoneStarHalf-IronRun.kml