St. Patrick's Day Triathlon 2010

My St. Patrick's weekend tradition - a sprint triathlon in Keller. :-)

Another Dallas Athletes St. Patrick's Day Sprint Tri is in the bag. This was my third time doing this race and the sixth time that I've raced this course - a 300 meter pool swim in the Keller ISD Natatorium, a 12 mile bike ride, and 5K run on the Bear Creek trails.

I finished in 1 hour, 7 minutes, and 9 seconds for 5th out of 58 in the men's 40-44 age group, 56th out of 393 men, and 61st out of 601 finishers overall (though I'm pretty sure the 34th place finisher only did one loop on the bike - 27.2 MPH is kind of a giveaway).

Here are my splits:

• Swim: 5:42.8 (123rd)
• T1: 1:23.9
• Bike: 34:48.9 (20.7 mph average, 41st)
• T2: 1:08.4
• Run: 24:05.7 (7:46/mi pace, 159th)
• TOTAL: 1:07:09

Another finish in the top 10% of the field and this is a new course PR by over a minute - my previous best time was a 1:08:16 at the 2008 Monster Tri. Needless to say, I am very pleased.

Full results at http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1846565&pubID=3

Garmin Connect info - Bike: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26991954

Garmin Connect info - Run: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26991962

I arrived at the transition area fairly early (one of the benefits of living very close to the race venue) and was able to get into transition and get bodymarked without delay. I saw Melissa (doing her first triathlon) and Tyler as she was getting set up in her bike rack and met with Elizabeth, Steve and Archie as well.

After grabbing my chip and a last-minute transition area check, I headed to the pool for a warm-up swim. Said hello to spin-classmate Eddie and did 4 laps (200m). Was winded despite trying to keep the pace nice and easy - still too fast! Another reminder that perhaps the best reason to do a swim warm-up is to remind yourself how painful it will be if you go out too fast at the start. :-P

On to the actual race. After waiting for the approximately 200 swimmers before me, I got into the water at about 8:06 - about 27 minutes after the first swimmer.

The swim itself went very smoothly (except for the approximately 27 minute delay before I got into the water :-P). I was almost perfectly seeded - I only got passed by one person and passed two people myself - and experienced very little congestion in the swim lanes so I guess the wait was worth it.

T1 was pretty fast for me. The weather was cool, but not cold enough (for me) to have to take the time to put on a top. Grabbed two SaltSticks so that I wouldn't experience cramping, but decided to forgo taking a gel.

The bike out/in was laid out a bit differently versus in past years - winding past Keller Town Hall before the right turn onto Bear Creek Parkway. I think it actually made it a bit slower to get onto the main part of the course (and for the reentry back into transition) so I'm pleased that my bike time was only 30 seconds slower than my personal best for this course in light of the changes. Other than that I pushed hard on my bike - was only passed by one person (who ended up in 32nd place and was the female masters winner) - and overall it was a smooth ride as road conditions were good. I did run into a little traffic on Bear Creek Parkway around around Mile 5 as two police motorcycles were parked in the middle of the road with flashers on - they were helping a runner (? - not part of the race?) on the sidewalk - but it ended up being a non-issue.

T2 was also smooth. Unlike last fall's Monster Tri where I lost my shoe, I had no such mishaps this time. Racked my bike, put on race belt and running shoes, grabbed my "green leprechaun hat" and was on my way. As I started off on the run, I got a "go get 'em" from Archie (18th overall at 1:00:22) who had already finished!

I thought I had a decent run. Not a bad run, but not a great run either - or so I thought. Turns out that I PRed the run course by almost a minute (previous PR was 24:54). I guess that marathon training paid off. :-)

After crossing the finish line, I got to see Eddie finish a few minutes later (131st overall) and then met up with Tyler to see Melissa come in on the bike and head into T2 and subsequently out on the run.

Some more good finish times by Elizabeth (84th overall and 3rd in her age group), Faith (125th and 4th in her age group), and Steve (158th overall). And congrats again to Melissa and Leslie on their first triathlons!

After a little recovery and checking preliminary results postings, we enjoyed some pancakes hot off the griddle and listened (and maybe danced a little jig as well) to the band playing some Irish tunes while basking in the sun of an almost-springtime Texas morning. What a great day for a race!

2010 Cowtown Marathon

Hooray! My second 26.2 is complete. I finished the full distance at The Cowtown Marathon in 4:09:01. My goal was to beat my time at White Rock (4:18:35) with a stretch goal finishing in sub-4:10. So I made it with 58 seconds to spare. :-)

Unlike the wind and cold of last year, the weather was perfect today - cool but clear in the morning with only a gentle breeze, sunny and warming up to around 60 degrees by mid-day. (Yes, I remembered to put on my sunscreen.)

Traffic was a little heavier than I expected (and I left the house a little later than planned) so I didn't get parked until about 6:30. Ran into Melissa and Heather while heading to the expo and saw Fiona at race day packet pickup area. After getting my bib, T-shirt, and goody bag I went back to my car to get the rest of my gear and dump unnecessary items (I didn't know that they had a bag check service! - did I miss it in years past?). So by the time I made it (back) to the starting line, it was pretty crowded and I didn't really expect to find any of my friends.

I did run into Sean and Tonda while making my way back to "Corral D" (home of the 9:30-10:00/mi marathoners) and, even better, after hopping the fence and squeezing into the sardine can of runners, I heard someone call my name. Greatness, Derek was standing right next to me. Since the half-marathon (his event) and marathon shared the same course for the first 8 miles and his target pace was the same as mine, we were able to run together for the first hour of the race (as well as hang out and talk while we waited for both the starting gun and the 16-17 minutes before our corral group actually made it to the starting timing mat & archway).

The first 8 miles were exactly as expected. The pace was a little slow due a gradual climb (elevation chart below) following the steep descent behind the Fort Worth Courthouse building. I was perfectly (un)dressed for the run. I had donned the always stylish black trash-bag-as-disposable-windbreaker for the start and peeled it off just before the Mile 2 water stop - tossing my garbage bag into the volunteer's garbage bag.

Derek and I did a 5-min/1-min run/walk and did a nice steady jaunt to Mile 7. At that point, my legs were loosening up and I picked up my pace - according to my Garmin, I did mostly sub-9:00 miles from Mile 7 to Mile 16. The downhill grade from Mile 8 -Mile 13 definitely helped my averages, as well.

Obviously, everything from Mile 8-24 was virgin territory (Cowtown race-route wise) for me; Miles 1-8 & the final two miles are shared with the half-marathon that I've done in 2008 and 2009. However, since I had run parts of the route (Colonial Parkway, TCU area) with the Ranch View Gang in times past and obviously Trinity Park was home to many Fort Worth Runners Club races, there was still some "home-field advantage" working in my favor.

At around Mile 16, I ran into Kevin and we leap-frogged each other for most of the remainder of the race. We saw Michael at Mile 18 - he was volunteering and directed us (and fellow runners) to turn left and head north towards University Ave, Trinity Park and downtown. After crossing the river at the Rogers Road bridge, Mason joined us at the Mile 21 water stop to run Kevin in for the final 5 miles and Lori was added to the group at the top of the hill after passing the Duck Pond in Trinity Park (just before the Mile 24 FWRC-manned water stop).

As we headed into downtown, I had to walk almost the entire hill on 7th Street - I made it over the bridge, but lost all my power after that. Mile 24-25 was my worst Garmin-reported mile split (10:53). But the two-minute walk break helped a lot and I finished climbing the hill (seeing Tonda & Jenna helped too :-) and turned right onto Florence St (a mostly downhill stretch - yay!) before the final test of Lancaster Ave. That was not pretty - had to walk for most of it - but did pick up speed at the top of the hill. And kept it up after turning onto Throckmorton and entering the skyscrapers of downtown Fort Worth. I had hoped to run the rest of the way, but I needed one last break (45 seconds on last part of Throckmorton up to 9th St). During that walk break, my Garmin informed me that I could make my sub-4:10 goal if I hustled - so I fired the engine back up, turned onto Main for the final quarter-mile, and crossed the finish line in 4:09:01.

My official stats showed my overall pace and standing at the following split points:

10K: 59:25 (9:34/mi), 649th place

13.1mi: 2:01:50 (9:18/mi), 543rd place

30K: 2:53:21 (9:18/mi), 467th place

Finish: 4:09:01 (9:30/mi), 381st place

Wow, overall, I passed almost 270 people (more than a fifth of the field) over the last 20 miles. So while I'm definitely disappointed that I had to slow down on those hills in the final 2.25 miles, I still had a strong finish, relatively speaking.

Final stats: 381st place overall out of 1216 finishers, 312th out of 847 men, and 63rd out of 133 in my age group.

After collecting my finisher medal and relaxing & recovering for a little bit at the finish line, I headed over to the "party area". Met up with Elizabeth who had been up since 3:00 AM keeping the food tent stocked and operational. Thanks to Elizabeth and all volunteers for taking care of us runners!

As you can from the photo, with the 2009 & 2010 medals, I am 2/5 of the way to completing the Cowtown Marathon five-medal-series Texas Star. I will definitely be doing at least the half-marathon at Cowtown for the next three years to finish that star!

After feasting on post-race nourishment (an assortment of yogurt, bananas, chicken-noodle soup, ice cream, pastries, bars & gels) - along with downing two Muscle Milk Light recovery drinks, I said hello to Eva, Kim, and other marathon/ultra-marathon finishers. Driving home was "interesting" as my left calf kept cramping up as I pressed down on the clutch to switch gears - the downside of a manual transmission. Luckily, once I hit the highway, all was well.

Twenty minutes later, I got back to my house (another reason I love this race, close to home). After unloading my car, I prepped for my now post-20+-mile run ritual - ICE BATH. Between 20-minutes of my legs in ice water, keeping them elevated for an hour (while I took a nap) and some self-massage, hopefully I can avoid/lessen the dreaded next-day D.O.M.S.

Garmin Connect info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/25672070

Full results (all races, all runners) at http://www.mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=4335

2010 Texas Motor Speedway Duathlon

Rain on Race Day - Boo! I woke up this morning to cloudy skies and some drizzle. A glance at the weather/radar map showed the current rain subsiding, but a second storm cell to hit in a few hours - right around our 8:30 AM start time.

Oh well, I've raced in the rain before, so I headed out to Texas Motor Speedway to do the 6th Annual TMS Sprint Duathlon - my third time attending this event.

The race field was definitely sizeable - bolstered by collegiate teams from Texas Tech and Univ of North Texas. Ironhead Jack said that over 375 people had registered for the race. Some of them didn't show up - probably scared off by the weather - but there were still 300+ participants (301 finishers).

I got to TMS a little after 7:00 and ran into Lee and Serena heading to the transition area. Always nice to see my tri buddies! We got our bikes set up, picked up our timing chips, and relaxed a little in and around the transition area. On the next bike rack over, I was welcomed by Archie, whom I hadn't see in almost a year (since last year's St. Patrick's Day Tri). Melissa arrived a short time later and set up for her first multi-sport event. The standard pre-race meeting at 8:10 and then a little more waiting for the first wave to start.

Unfortunately, as feared, torrential rains (accompanied with thunder and lightning) hit around 8:25, but thankfully the start was delayed until 9:00. Aside from water on the course and a little wind, race conditions were almost perfect. No rain during the actual race. Very nice.

I crossed the finish line in 1:17:05 - 2 minutes & 42 seconds faster than my time from last year (which was already pretty darn good for me). I'm extremely happy with my performance - especially since my legs have felt so tired and sore the last few days. (I did an 8-mile run on Friday afternoon - my last longish training run for the Cowtown Marathon - and my legs just never seemed to recover from it).

My official results:

• 4th out of 21 in my age group
• 55th out of 205 men
• 59th place overall (out of 301 finishers)

• Run 1 (2 miles officially): 15:05 (7:33/mi, 143rd place)
• T1: 01:11
• Bike (16 miles officially): 44:20 (21.7mph, 43rd place)
• T2: 00:45
• Run 2 (2 miles officially): 15:43 (7:52/mi, 119th place)

Compared with last year, I was faster in every part of the race except for T1 - I took some extra time to ditch my long-sleeved DRC Half running shirt (got warm after the run and I needed to be more aerodynamic on the bike).

Here are my stats as recorded by my Garmin Forerunner 305 (split times very close to the official chip-timed results):

My average heart rate was 2 bpm lower than last year despite the faster finish time. Below is my heart rate and elevation stats for the race. I'm not sure why there is a crazy elevation fluctuation during the first run leg (between the 10 and 14 minute marks) and the heart rate spike at 12:00 (which means my max heart rate for the first run leg and overall should be 180 instead of 185).

Unlike last year, when Lee passed me at Mile 1.25 of Run 1 (because I had a 2:00 head-start on his wave), this year he passed me right at the start since we started in the same wave. I didn't feel great during Run 1 (or Run 2), so I was shocked to discover later that my run pace for both legs was my solidly faster than the last two years.

For the bike, I also felt that I wasn't pushing as hard as I should, so I was surprised that I shaved 1:24 off of last year's bike time. Part of it was probably due to the aero Louis Garneau Rocket Air helmet that I picked up a couple weeks ago on clearance. Nonetheless, I was very happy to have a strong bike performance considering that I haven't really ridden my bike since last October (see Monster Triathlon) aside from a few times around the block on Thursday.

The final run leg was also difficult but uneventful. As I rounded the final turn, I saw Lee, who had finished a little earlier; he shouted words of encouragement and jogged me in to the finish line. Done! After catching my breath, I did the same and cheered on Melissa and Serena as they worked on their Run 2 efforts.

So in the end, it was a day that didn't look that great for a race, but it all ended up quite well.

Congrats to Lee (who placed 3rd in our age group - I was in 4th, but finished over 4 minutes behind him so it wasn't even close :-P), Archie (3rd in his age group as well, and 31st overall), Claudia (3rd place in her age group in her first multi-sport event) and Melissa (also doing her multi-sport event).

Full results at: http://www.mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=4070

Next up: The Cowtown Marathon - my next 26.2 in only 6 days!

Lake Benbrook Half-Marathon 2010

This morning's hilly and chilly Lake Benbrook Half Marathon was pretty tough but I survived and had a decent time to boot.

The temperature was only 30 degrees at the start time, and with a 15+ mph wind, the wind chill was only 16-17.

I had a pretty good race - all things considered - and completed the 13.1 mile course (13.36 per GPS) in 1:57:37 for a 8:59/mi pace (8:48/mi per GPS). My time placed me at 94th out of 217 finishers - and 10th out of 22 in my age group. There were fewer runners than in the last two years - the weather no doubt kept participants away.

This is a PR for me for this course, but that is not saying much since I was just 9 seconds faster than last year and in 2008 I had a DNF due to my nagging ITBS. However, I was proud to have a very consistent pace for the entire 13+ miles. Most of the race was done with 8/1 run/walk. Time taken from start to the course's turn-around: 58:47; time from turn-around to finish: 58:50 ... not quite a negative split, but close!

My run started off okay, but there were a few obstacles. Without sweat to hold my PattStraps (a must for my IT bands on the hilly and often banked roads of this course) in place (and I probably didn't put them on tight enough), I had to stop twice (once for each leg) to re-adjust them. At Mile 1, we hit the expected low-water crossing of Benbrook's park road. Unexpectedly, there was quite a bit of flowing water and no way around it. I tried my best to jump over it, but still got one shoe soaked (brrr) in the frigid water. Not pleasant.

At Mile 5, there was ice on the road and we were directed to go off to the grass to avoid it. Unfortunately, the grass/dirt was wet and muddy so it was still not an optimal path.

0.65 miles later, "Nice Hill" was reached. Having taken a walk break less than 7 minutes earlier, my legs still felt pretty strong and I was able to power up the 75 feet of elevation change (in 0.11 miles) in just over a minute - not too bad for such a steep grade. I just "rode the downhill" (and rolling uphill) to Mile 6.66 (hmm) and walked at the turn-around water-stop.

The return leg was the same as the "out" with the same ice & mud dodging at Mile 8.25 as Mile 5 and same low-water crossing/river at Mile 12.3. Unfortunately, the water flow was worse the second time (maybe extra ice had melted further upstream?) and I got BOTH feet wet - and despite (or maybe because of) being warmed up after 12+ miles of running, my feet were VERY cold after the second dousing ... and my shoes were a lot heavier for being wet.

Luckily, I could already see the Benbrook YMCA (the start/finish was right behind it) and pushed myself to an 8:00/mi pace for the final mile.

So not the most fun race, but I'm glad I got in the required 13 miles for my Cowtown Marathon training plan and I got to see some friends at the start and finish - albeit briefly - we all left pretty soon after the race due to the bitter cold (and wet feet!)

Garmin Connect info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/23553989

Official results:http://www.runtimeracingservices.com/Results2.aspx?RaceID=780

2010 Too Cold To Hold 15K

Good run(s) today. Beautiful running weather. 5 miles before the race and then the Too Cold To Hold 15K for a total of about 14.5 miles.

My "warm-up" run went pretty well. My route was west across the northernmost bridge of White Rock Lake and then south down the west side of the lake - past the 5K water-stop & turnaround - and then back to my car. My was a little faster than I had originally planned and a little longer than my Garmin stats recorded. I had mis-read (or mis-recalled) the race information and thought that it began at 8:00 AM (the start time was actually 8:30) so I only took one walk break and really picked up the pace on the return leg. 4.94 miles in 43:36 (8:49/mi pace). But like I said the distance was actually a little longer - I had to reset/restart my watch after 0.25 miles because my heart rate monitor wasn't working correctly.

The Too Cold To Hold 15K had a new course this year (and the 5K did as well) - it was an out-and-back from Norbuck Park down along the east side of White Rock Lake with the U-turn just past the Arboretum. Coming back, there was a small deviation and we went up the hill at Winfrey Point before rejoined Lawther Drive.

Unfortunately, because of my mis-timing, instead of getting back from my workout run and then immediately starting back up on the 15K, I had almost 30 minutes of down time after dumping my fuel belt, soaked shirt and empty gel wrapper. In the morning air, I cooled down quickly, but luckily, there were multiple outdoor patio heaters placed around the registration area (NICE!) so the wait wasn't too uncomfortable.

I ran the first mile with Serena at a relaxed 9:30/mi pace before speeding up. I really felt great during the run - a lot less tired than I thought I would be after already putting in 5 miles. I didn't do my normal run-walk intervals though I did stop and walk for about a minute at all of the rest stops (except for the first one where I only slowed briefly). At around Mile 7, I calculated that I did about an 8:15/mi pace for the rest of race I could break 1 hr and 20 min. I came very close (my official time was 1:20:02) and had a sub-8:00/mi pace for the last half-mile+, but didn't quite make it. Oh well.

My final result of 1:20:02 put me in 200th out of 719 overall (137th out of 268 men and 34th out of 52 in my age group). From the results, my official 5K splits were

• 1st 5K: 27:35.74 (227th place)
• 2nd 5K: 26:23.25 (181st place)
• 3rd 5K: 26:02.21 (177th place)

And here are my splits (yes, I'm really digging the consistent pace and strong finish :-):

I am very happy that my time for the 15K was only 2 min, 20 sec off of my PR (which I set at last year's race). The almost perfect race conditions - mostly cloudy (the sun didn't come out until near the end of the race) yet not too cold nor windy - really helped me today. They also helped Lee (2nd place in his age group and 12th place overall) and Serena (a new 15K PR). Woo-hoo!

I'm probably going to take it easy this week, running-wise. 20 miles on the schedule for next weekend - less than 6 weeks until Cowtown! :-P

Miscellany:

• Garmin Connect info (5-mile warmup): http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22586508
• Garmin Connect info (15K race): http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22586543
• Full race results: http://www.runontexas.com/Results/2010/TooColdToHold002/TooColdMenu.htm

Monster Tri "One"

This morning, I participated in my second Monster Sprint Triathlon of 2009. Monster Tri "One" (in Keller) was actually the weekend following Monster Tri "Two" (in Denton). I had a pretty good race today though not quite a PR - more on that later. I completed the 300 meter pool swim at the Keller ISD Natatorium's 50-meter lanes, "12 mile" bike (12.5 miles per GPS), and 5K run in 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 43 seconds for 11th out of 42 in the men's 35-39 age group ... and 42nd out of 541 total finishers overall. With over 600 participants, turnout for this race continues to grow (last year, there were just over 500 entrants) even with the addition of the Denton event. Apparently, the recession has not damped triathlon event interest in the DFW metroplex.

Jack was 5th in our age group with a 1:06:25, and Lee captured 15th place with a time of 1:05 flat and grabbed 2nd place in his age group. My friend Eddie from spin class finished 4th in his age group as well. My splits:

• Swim: 5:46 (1:47/100yd pace)
• T1: 1:30
• Bike: 35:22 (20.4 mph average, 21.2 mph per GPS)
• T2: 1:11
• Run: 24:56 (8:03/mi pace)
• TOTAL: 1:08:43

Full results at http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1805631&pubID=3

As I alluded to earlier, this is actually 27 seconds slower than last year. I would have guessed that my run would have been my weakness, but it was actually my bike time that was slower - by over a minute! My T2 was also a little slower - I think the reason for that was because my costume today (a "Hugh Heffner" robe) took a little longer to put on than last year's caveman outfit. Oh, well - the sacrifices one must make for art :-).

Last year's splits for comparison:

• Swim: 5:51 (1:47/100yd pace)
• T1: 1:34
• Bike: 34:12 (21.1 mph average)
• T2: 1:00
• Run: 25:40 (8:17/mi pace)
• TOTAL: 1:08:16

The weather seemed to be about par for this race. Cool - a little chilly at the start of the bike when wet from the swim, but perfect for the run.

Lee actually beat me into transition - surprising since I live so close to the venue - and greeted me as I entered the bike racks. After we set up our bike & gear and grabbed out timing chips, we headed out for a short warm-up run.

Back inside the Keller Nat ... and more waiting. We watched the LONG line for chip-pickup. So glad we got there early. By some miracle, the race didn't start TOO late - only 10-15 minutes after the scheduled 7:30 AM.

My bib number was "454", but since the first swimmer into the water was actually "325", I only had about 100 people in front of me for the pool. The swim was uneventful and my time was decent - I probably could have shaved a few seconds off of the 5:46, but I hit some traffic about two-thirds of the way through as well as at the ladder for the pool exit.

T1 was pretty smooth. I was slower than everyone else on my rack, taking in an AccelGel and putting on socks, but that's just how I roll. Mounted my bike fairly smoothly upon exiting the transition area and headed down Bear Creek Parkway to start the bike leg.

I felt a little tired on the hills, though my (GPS) speed was still about the same as last weekend. There was a little bit more discourteousness/cluelessness from fellow racers today with regards to blocking ("On Your Left, guys!") but that honestly didn't mess me up. I did do a spin class yesterday and ran 3 miles yesterday, but I can't really use that as an excuse when comparing with last year because a year ago I did 15K worth of running at the Four Seasons Cool Run event the day before Monster Tri 2008!

As I finished the bike leg, I got a cheer from my friend and fellow Keller Running Club member, Melissa. I had a small mishap at bike dismount - couldn't unclip my left shoe out of the pedal (I really need to take a look at that pedal/cleat) - so in the end I had to just pop my foot out of my bike shoe, dismount, and run through the transition area with one bike-shoe and one sock-foot. Fun stuff. :-P

Aside from being "left-shoeless", I had a fairly smooth T2. As mentioned earlier, the robe costume is a little more involved than the caveman outfit. It was hard to get my arms into the sleeves and tying up the "belt" took a few extra seconds, too. I grabbed a gel and snapped on my race belt and headed out on the run course.

I had neglected to take a SaltStick before the bike and about a 1/8 mile into the run, I started to get some small cramps in my calves. Uh-oh ... Luckily, they disappeared after another 1/8 of a mile and I turned onto the Keller running trails. Since the course is part of the normal Keller Running Club route, I can pretty much run these trails in my sleep. The run went fairly smoothly. I didn't think I was having a very good run - every time I looked at my Garmin, my pace was listed at 8:10/mi or so - but it wasn't terrible either.

My costume wasn't too unwieldy, but it kept slipping off my shoulders. It was also a little warm - I wasn't wearing any top at all during the bike and its 21+ MPH speed - and now I had on an extra layer while going slower and at a higher heart rate! Hmm, something to think about for next year ...

Speaking of costumes, my "side goal" for the last few Monster Triathlons has been to be the first person to cross the finish line in a costume. There was a "referee" who had a 1/8 mile lead on me at the start of the run. We were pretty evenly matched; we were nearly to the turn-around until I finally passed her. After making the U-turn, I saw an "Elvis" and a "Wonder Woman" but they were 1/8 and 1/4 mile behind me, respectively, so I thought I was okay as long as I could keep a steady pace. However, as I neared the Mile 3 marker, I heard a volunteer/fan shout out "Way to go, Wonder Woman". Uh-oh, I guess my cushion is gone. I kicked it up a notch for the final sprint through the grass, around the corner and to the finish line - finishing only a few seconds ahead of her. Actually, Kristina (Wonder Woman's alter-ego) started the swim & race about 45-50 seconds after me and bested my chip time by 52 seconds (and took third place overall female)! Oh well, I guess I was still the first costumed finisher by clock time. :-P

All-in-all, a great race and a nice end to the 2009 triathlon season. Okay, now it's time to get serious about White Rock!

Monster Tri "Two"

My legs were definitely a little tired from yesterday's century ride, but I still finished strongly in the inaugural Dallas Athlete's Monster Tri "Two" at the Denton Natatorium this morning. I still find it weird that Monster Tri "Two" is a week before Monster Tri "One" (this coming Sunday in Keller), but I suppose the latter is the original race.

I can't believe that it's been six months since I last did a sprint-distance triathlon. Between doing the Olympic distance for Texas Man, PlayTri, and Disco (and of course the PrairieMan 70.3) - and skipping the TWU Power Sprint (I never liked that pool swim and Dallas Athlete's charged $20 more than Ironhead did!), Old College Tri (also too expensive) and Take On The Heat (Las Vegas vacation) - I missed out on doing the shorter events. Anyway, maybe the time away was a good thing, because I had a blast at this race and a great performance to boot!

I completed the 250 yd swim, 16 mile bike, and 3 mile run course in 1:19:52, which netted me 6th place out of 25 in my age group and 24th out of 289 overall. This is one of my best performances ever - top 10% - and to think I did it only 24 hours after a hard 100-mile bike ride - needless to say, I am ecstatic! Here are my splits:

• Swim: 4:52
• T1: 1:26
• Bike: 46:51 (20.5 MPH, 12th fastest bike split!) - 21.1 MPH for 16.5 miles per GPS
• T2: 1:15
• Run: 25:30 (8:14/mi pace) - 8:13/mi for 3.1 miles per GPS
• TOTAL: 1:19:52

Full results: http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1804210&pubID=3

Garmin Connect map & data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/16600918 (bike) & http://connect.garmin.com/activity/16600936 (run)

The swim went relatively smoothly, though the 10 x 25-yds set-up made passing difficult. I did pass three people (and got passed by two as well) in the swim including the young woman who went immediately before me; however, she must not have appreciated that because on the final lap she swam up beside me and basically crowded me against the pool wall. Not cool! (I see from the results that she got first place in her age group so maybe there is a competitive streak trumping sportsmanship ... ). Anyway, I finished the final lap and hopped out of the pool a lot more gracefully that I would have expected and sprinted out the open doorway to the transition area.

T1 was okay. I got to the race site relatively late so I had a bad rack position and had to run in my bike shoes the maximum distance to Bike Out. However, despite the cool morning weather I opted not to put on a tri-top so my swim-to-bike transition was pretty fast except for my normal AccelGel & water break.

The bike leg was great. The course was an out-and-back from the Denton Nat with a turn-around at the Aubrey Middle School. There were definitely some hills along the way (~400 ft of elevation change over 16.5 miles) and my still-tired legs were complaining during the climbs. Here is the elevation profile:

However, FM-428 (Sherman Rd) had a very nice road surface - a huge contrast from 70+ miles of chip-seal the day before - and that got me motivated to get some speed. In fact, between getting warmed-up on the bike and the fact that the climbs were more gradual on the return leg, I was actually faster during the second half of the bike (21.5 vs. 20.8 MPH). Speed and other stats below (I ended "Lap 1" as I entered the Aubrey Middle School parking lot for the turn-around):

T2 was very smooth. I had no problems putting on my caveman/Tarzan costume and made it out of there quickly.

My run was not my best, but still pretty good. We had nearly perfect running weather. I'm sure that if I hadn't done such a long bike ride the day before that I could have gotten closer (or perhaps beaten - one can dream :-) my tri-5K goal pace of 8:00/mi. Here is my run speed (blue) and heart rate (red) charts:

The heart rate looks a little funky. I'm thinking those spikes are in accurate. Probably a bad connection between the strap and my chest during the run.

The drop in speed at Mile 0.4 is because I had to stop to redo my timing chip strap which was falling off (bad initial Velcro job on my part, I suppose). The slowdown at Mile 3.0 was a near-collision with the runner in front of me - he was circling around the cone (and me) for his second lap of the run course, while I was making a "hard right" to head to the finish line. Luckily, no serious incident occurred.

Following that I sped up again for the final push (though the hill up to the parking lot did slow me down a little) and crossed the finish line. My streak (2 for 2) of being the first finisher of those wearing costumes is intact! (though a girl in a Twister outfit was probably only a few minutes behind me :-)

With the standard disclaimers ("Hindsight is 20-20"; "If 'if's and 'but's were beer and nuts, oh what a party we'd have!"), I think that if I hadn't ridden yesterday, I probably could have shaved 90 seconds off my time (say a minute on the bike and 30 seconds on the run) which would have gotten me 4th place in my age group and 17th overall. Oh well, no biggie, though - 4th is still not award-worthy, and since this is my first time (okay, everyone's first time) doing this race/course, it is automatically a PR. Anyway, I'm definitely looking forward to a repeat/better performance at "Monster Tri One" this coming Sunday - a familiar course (will be my fifth time doing it) right in my backyard in Keller.

Race Review: The bike and run courses (the small mishap with the "second loop turn-around" notwithstanding) were great. The pool swim was a little annoying with the 25yd "short lanes", but manageable and over before you knew it. Overall, I definitely would do this race again.

Kiwanis Crazy Kicker 2009

Woo-hoo, another century-ride under my belt. My last organized bike tour of 2009 was also my longest. I finished the 100-mile route at the 6th Annual Kiwanis Crazy Kicker this morning in Mineral Wells, TX. It was a tough ride with lots of hills (3,245 ft of elevation change) and not-the-best road conditions. I was fortunate to be able to ride with Angela and her friend Phillip for most of the ride - it would have been pretty lonely without the company.

The ride started off okay - though the cannon blast from two years ago was absent. The road on Rt 180 was very smooth - as was Rt 337 and its Three Amigos - so the first 14 miles of the ride went by pretty quickly despite the hills. However, upon turning onto Rt 254, the chip-seal started. I hoped it wouldn't last, but alas pretty much the entire middle of the route (nearly 70 miles) was chip-seal and about half of it was VERY rough. So it made for a long (jarring, vibrating, tiring) ride - in addition to the overall distance.

However, even with the chip-seal, Angela, Phillip and I kept a pretty fast 18.5 MPH average speed through the first 60 miles. In fact, coming down one of the hills, I hit a new max speed - 39.7 MPH!

We stopped at the Mile 65 rest stop for cookies & pickles (and the porta-potty) before heading for Cherry Pie Hill. I'm definitely in better biking shape than when I tackled Cherry Pie in 2007. While it was still tough (nearly 400 ft of climbing) in about 1.25 miles, I was able to do it seated this year. (In fact, I think I did just about the entire ride without needing to get out of the saddle.) And while my speed did drop to 6 MPH at it's slowest, I averaged around 8-10 MPH for the bulk of the climb.

Unfortunately, I got a flat tire at Mile 75 and it took about 20 minutes to fix (and check the tire for embedded nail/glass - there was none to be found, so it either fell out, or the chip-seal just took its toll on my tire). This was my first flat during a race/tour this year - oops, I just jinxed it - so it may be time to put on the new Vredestein Fortezza TriComp tires that I have sitting in my pile of "backup gear."

After the flat "adventure", we rode another 10 miles to the final rest stop to collect our breath and legs before the final 14 miles and hitting the Three Amigos in reverse - although only the final two Amigos are steep climbs when approaching from the north. In fact, in some ways, the "Reverse Second Amigo" is tougher than Cherry Pie Hill in that it lasts for 1.5 miles and starts at Mile 91. On the other hand, at least it was not on chip-seal (just before the turn onto Rt 337 after the last rest stop, there is a sign that reads "Smooth Road Ahead ... Ahh!" - truer words have not been written) so that made it a little easier.

After those hills, there was just a few more miles on Hwy 180 before the return to West City Park. It was a little tricky crossing the traffic with Jello-wy legs, but I made it. Upon turning into the park I noticed that my GPS read 99.5 miles so I made an extra-wide loop around the park to make it an even 100.

Garmin Connect map & info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/16491257

Ride Review:

• Course: 3/5 - fast blacktop on Highways 180 and 337; other roads had chip-seal galore - much of it "fresh"; course was fairly well-marked and there weren't too many turns (and none on small/non-obvious roads); roads were fairly straight; minimal traffic control but traffic was not too bad; great routes if you like/want hill challenges
• Rest Stops: 3/5 - very limited selection - some fruit, homemade cookies, and water/Gatorade - nothing to write home about. Stops were well-marked with signs alerting that they were "1/2 or 1 mile ahead"
• Logistics: 3/5 - no issues with race day packet pick-up - packet was pretty weak but the long-sleeve T-shirt was nice; only $20 for pre-registration; minimal porta-potties at the start/finish, but lines weren't too long; adequate parking at West City Park for the number of participants (approx 300 this year)
• Overall: 3/5 - a pretty bare-bones ride, but I will definitely do it again for the challenging course to make for a good "end of season" ride; hopefully, by next year some of that chip-seal will have worn-down a bit and this grade will improve!

Heels & Hills & Him Half-Marathon

A lot of my tri friends were out doing the PlayTri Stonebridge race this morning but since I'm training for December's White Rock Marathon, I need to get my running miles in.

So this morning, I ran in the Heels & Hills & Him Half-Marathon in Las Colinas (Irving, TX). The mostly out-and-back course showcased the City of Irving's Campion Trail system. I know these trails fairly well - having done training runs with Derek, Jarrod, and Matt in the past (but not in at least 18 months) and rollerblading on them as well ~10 years ago when I lived closer to the area.

Despite being a warm day, I ran a pretty good race and completed the half-marathon in 1:54:09. I must have started my watch about 20 seconds early because I had the time at 1:54:31. I ran with Kim ("recovering" after running 40 miles yesterday - training for the Palo Duro Trail 50 Miler) for the first 3 or 4 miles and she noted the discrepancy in our Mile 1 split.

My official pace was 8:43/mi. However, even with the aforementioned "early start", I only recorded the course at 12.99 miles. So using the GPS distance and the official finish time, my pace was 8:47/mi. This is a little faster than last week's Tour Des Fleurs 20K for an extra half-mile distance and in warmer weather. So that is pretty encouraging. Some things working in my favor today were a flat course and quite a bit of shade from the trees on the trails.

I finished 57th out of 580 half-marathon finishers and 6th out of 24 in my age group. I completed the first 6.5 miles in about 56 minutes and the remaining 6.5 in about 58, so my pace slowed down by a little in the second half of the race - mostly because I walked more (e.g., almost 2 minutes at the final water stop around Mile 11.5). I had done 2 1/2 hours of spin classes on Saturday, so my legs got tired and I was definitely running out of gas by the end.

As I said earlier, the course was nice, shaded and flat and there were some cute signs every few miles encouraging us on. A couple that I remember: "I like to run, it makes me smile, I think I'll run another mile" and "Running is a mental sport ... we are all insane".

Today's stats:


My heart rate was fairly high due to the pushing of the pace (thanks, Kim!) and the warm weather. After the fifth mile, my average went down only when I walked at the water stops. Speaking of the water stops, we probably could have used one or two more (that would have been hit twice on the out-and-back). There were a couple of water fountains on the trails, but those are not very convenient when on the go.

I was able to catch up to Kim again around Mile 7.5 and we ran together for another 1/2 mile or so before I had to drop the pace. There was an extra loop (around a playground in the La Villita community) and an out-and-back (near the Irving Police Station) on the return trip. I think that it would have been better for me mentally to have done those "side excursions" on the way out, but I guess the runners would have been too bunched up earlier in the race.

Overall, I had a great run today and enjoyed the chance to race at my old training route. It was very nice to see that the Campion Trails (PDF, 13.8 MB) now extend into Sam Houston Trail Park and Valley Ranch. I'll have to come back some time to do more running/riding/rollerblading on them!

Race results: http://heelsandhills.com/Events/Race_Results.html

Garmin Connect map & info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/14500476

Double-Race Saturday, Recovery Workout Sunday

Saturday morning:

Completed the 20K race at Tour Des Fleurs in 1:49:24. This works out to be an 8:49/mi pace for the 12.4 mile distance. I finished 338th out of 1182 finishers, 231 out of 555 men and 53rd out of 111 in my age group. My first 10K was in 54:40 (8:49/mi pace, 359th place) and my second 10K was in 54:43 (8:50/mi pace, 310th place). So I am very happy to have kept my pace mostly constant for the entire run.

My splits/data - obviously, I missed a couple of the mile markers :-P:

Speed chart - the drops in speed are walk-breaks at the water stops:

Heart-rate chart - the drops in HR coincide with the aforementioned walk-breaks at the water stops, but it looks like the final two breaks were too short to make much of a dent!:

The weather was not too hot, but still felt muggy and humid. Although not a PR (my time was 3 minutes slower than last year), I thought I did pretty well. Especially since overall, I have not been running as quickly this year vs. last year and the fact that I had my Half-Ironman race just 6 days ago. Something is quite interesting is the difference between my average heart rate this year (161 bpm) versus last year (172 bpm). I think the walk-breaks definitely helped keep it down and yet my speed didn't drop too much.

Was nice to see lots of friends before and after the event. Melissa and I carpooled from Keller - save the planet (and save some gas) and met with some of her Luke's training team before the race. I also met up with Derek and ran into Chris & Kara before the start. After finishing, I saw Kim and Eva at the finish line area and we walked up to the "party-zone" and I grabbed pizza, bagels, and some breakfast burritos. We met up with some RVG members and compared results and snapped a few photos before heading back to the parking area at Winfrey Point.

Race results: http://www.mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=3891

Garmin Connect map & info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/13586343

Saturday evening:

The Community Storehouse Run In The Dark is a local charity run that occurs at night. The 5K event didn't start until 8:00 PM. Luckily, the streets of the route were well-lit. As far as I know there were no darkness-related injuries.

Before the 5K, there was a 1-Mile Fun Run, which I did with my 6 year old. Actually, according to my Garmin Forerunner 305, it was about 1.3 miles - and she completed the entire thing!

The starting area of the 5K was a little cramped and crowded. Because I wasn't paying close enough attention to the time, by the time I made it to the start line, I had two choices - just jump in at the front of the pack or go all the way to the back behind the strollers, etc. So I chose the former because it was easier ... and thus I started off way too fast (7:16 for the first mile) - swept up by the speedy front-runners.

The route had a fairly steep hill up Bear Creek Parkway between Mile 1.15 & 1.45 so that slowed the pace for me (8:13 for the second mile). About 2 1/2 miles in, I got some encouragement from John from my spin class - his wife, Cassie, and daughter were running the 5K as well.

I finished up the remainder of the course and crossed the finish line in 25:22 for 116th place out of 946 overall and 20th out of 82 for men 30-39. Not too bad considering I had done a 20K just 12 hours prior.

Officially, my pace was 8:11/mi. However, my Garmin showed the course as 3.25 miles long - which calculates to a 7:48/mi pace. I'm going to with that ... since my ego is bruised thinking that I can't keep an 8:00/mi pace for a 5K. :-P

Race results: http://www.runontexas.com/Results/2009/RunintheDark965/DarkMenu.htm

Garmin Connect map & info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/13618057

So between the two races and the Fun Run, I ran 16.5 miles (17+ if you believe the Garmin) today. Logging the distance in my Dallas White Rock Marathon training log. :-)

Sunday:

No more running - gotta give my knees & shins a rest. So the workout of the day was a 2,500 yd swim followed by 1:15 of spin class. I completed the swim in 48:09, which is a pretty good time considering the hard efforts of yesterday (and the long swim on Friday). Here are the 500 yd splits for the swim:

• 1st 500 yds: 9:23 (started off fast, probably too fast)
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:30
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:48.5
• 4th 500 yds: 10:04 (the fast start is definitely catching up to me)
• Final 500 yds: 9:23.5 (alternating breast-stroke/free-style)

I was able to speed up for that last set, but I paid for it. After getting out of the pool, I needed about 5 minutes to fully recover.

The spin class afterward was a solid effort. Our instructor, Michelle, is a cyclist (has done the MS-150 a couple times) and triathlete as well - and is planning to do the Monster Triathlon at the Keller Natatorium in October. Always nice to meet fellow racers.

As for the class itself, I avoided coming out of the saddle (so as to not put too much weight on my legs), so my heart-rate only averaged 146 bpm for the 75 minute session (usually when I do standing climbs, my heart-rate goes up quickly). However, it was still a great class and the spinning really helped get the blood flowing to my legs and should speed recovery.

Whew, that was quite a weekend. I think I'll take a well-deserved rest day tomorrow!

Ironhead PrairieMan 2009

Oh yeah! I have finished my third Long Course (Half-Ironman distance) triathlon! I completed a rainy and soggy (but FUN!) Ironhead PrairieMan "56.3" on Sunday in 5:01:24. (The bike course was re-routed and shortened to 42 miles due to flooding on some of the roads. It's been raining here for four straight days.) I finished 12th out of 28 in the men's 35-39 age group, 59th out of 134 male finishers, and 62nd out of 170 finishers overall. Needless to say, I am ecstatic about my performance.

Here are my splits:

• Swim: 43:20 (48th place)
• T1: 3:12
• Bike: 2:03:36 - 20.4 MPH (25th place)
• T2: 1:07
• Run: 2:10:07 - 9:56/mi pace (96th place)
• TOTAL: 5:01:24

Full results: http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1796401&pubID=3

Garmin Connect info - bike (3 loops on Lake Ridge Parkway): http://connect.garmin.com/activity/13238704

Garmin Connect info - run (out-and-back course): http://connect.garmin.com/activity/13238709

From the Garmin Forerunner 305 info, it appears that the distances were longer than advertised. I had the bike course at 42.97 miles (20.9 MPH average speed per GPS) and the run course at 13.37 miles (9:43/mi pace per GPS). Fellow finishers also commented that they thought the swim was a little long too.

Random thoughts:

Pre-Race: Loading up my car the night before, driving to Lynn Creek Park in the rain, setting up my gear in a downpour ... I was seriously questioning my sanity. Luckily, I had brought along an extra trashbag - a staple of winter running pre-race wear - couldn't believe that I was actually using one in the summer! My cardboard bike number had already eroded away (along with everyone else's) and there was no body marking. Except for the race belt & bib - no numbers today.

I ran into Steve, who was doing his first tri ever, Sabrina & Tim, and Tara in transition ... and Melissa at the pre-race meeting. Nice to see familiar faces. On a day like today, fan support is pretty much limited to fellow racers and the great race volunteers. The "sprinters" started 30 minutes before the Long Course so Melissa and I huddled under Sabrina's umbrella to try to stay dry (well, drier) before our start at approximately 8:00 AM.

Swim: Not too bad. The water of Joe Pool Lake was in the low 80s and actually felt much warmer than the air temperature! There was a little chop in the water, not sure if it was because of the rain or the boats out there. Regarding the boats, I really wish they could stay further away so their wake wouldn't affect the swim course. Also, the motor fumes were horrible - between that smell and the chop, I was getting nauseated. Ideally all boats near the swim course would only have exhaust-free electric motors!

T1: Wasn't feeling the greatest after the swim so I pretty much just walked from the lake to the transition area. I actually missed my rack and had to backtrack 2 or 3 aisles to get to my bike. Helmet, glasses, wet socks, wet bike shoes ... the trash bag I had set over them helped a little bit, but on a day like today it's pretty much a lost cause.

Bike: Not as tough as I thought it was going to be. Though, you know how you're supposed to spit in your swimming goggles to keep them from fogging up ... I should have done that to my cycling glasses! I must have wiped my glasses lenses at least 10 times during the 42-mile 3-loop bike course. Not the safest thing to do when riding at 21+ MPH down in aero and in rain.

Actually, the most treacherous part of the course was occasionally having to move from the right lane to the left lane to avoid large pools of water collecting on the side of the road. The changing of lanes itself wasn't too bad, but Lake Ridge Parkway like many suburban concrete roads had "turtles" on the white lane markings. Those bumps might not seem to bad in a car, but when going over them on a road bike, there's a possibility of catching some air and there is definitely some jarring of the hands.

Because of the cooler weather I didn't drink very much - just going through about 20 oz of water from my AeroDrink. I had grabbed a Gatorade at the aide station but ended up not needing it at all - I guess I will count that as a race souvenir. Because of the danger of the ride, I didn't eat much either - just one AccelGel about an hour into the ride. Hopefully, my lack of nutrition won't hurt me ...

T2: Uneventful. I had already resigned myself to soggy running shoes and was not "disappointed". Ditched my helmet and glasses, switched shoes, and grabbed my hat and I was off.

Run: Having done the F1 Duathlon earlier this year, I was familiar with the course (PrairieMan run = F1's 2-mile run + 11-mile bike) which is always a nice feeling. The rain felt great, but the puddles on the road were annoying. Luckily, those were mostly just at the beginning 1.5 and (since it was an out-and-back course) final 1.5 miles. The road on the dam (being elevated) was fairly dry. I started at a steady 9:30-10:00/mi pace and my heart rate was in the mid to high 150s, which is pretty good for me.

I had two AccelGels with me - I took the first one at the 0.5 mile water stop and the second at the Mile 7 aid station. It was around Mile 3 that I realized that I had forgotten to put on (well, actually, forgotten to even set out in transition) my PattStraps - they were sitting safe and sound in a closed Ziplock bag in my tri-bag. D'oh! (Luckily, as I write this Monday night, I appear to have escaped any IT Band issues - phew).

There was a short, but fairly steep hill to get to the turnaround at Mile 6.63, but after that I think I actually accelerated on the return. At around Mile 7.5 I saw Melissa (at her Mile 5.5) and she shouted "Don't let me catch you!" - I think that may have helped me for the final 5 and half miles as well . Yep, the stats confirm this: 1:05:39 for the first 6.63 miles, and 1:04:28 for the final 6.74 miles. Woo-hoo, negative splits! (Thanks, Melissa :-)

After another water and walk break at the Mile 10 aide station at the base of the dam, I knew I was getting close. I ran past the lot where I had parked my car and once again waved at the one hardy fan standing under an umbrella and cheering as loudly as she could (I saw her going out and coming back in on the bike, and going out on the run as well - 5+ hours standing in the rain - wow!) Aside from her, the only cheering section on the run course were passing fellow athletes on the out-and-back and the great aid station volunteers.

A final loop at the eastern park of the park road and there I saw it, the finish line. Oops, nope, have to do the final loop down by the water - only about another 1/4 mile, but that was a little deflating. Oh well, just a little bit more running and then a charge up the hill from the water to the finish. Done!

Nobody at the finish line except the volunteers to collect the timing chip and hand me my finisher's shirt and mug. No finish line photo - the photographer had long since left - and the only other people were fellow Long Course triathletes sitting under a canopy eating pizza and drinking Gatorade & Vitamin Water. But that's okay. Today was the kind of race (and kind of weather) that is just for the athletes. And it was great. Out of the three half-Ironman distance races that I've done, this one was the most enjoyable despite the lack of festivity and fanfare.

In fact, the ONLY regret that I have about the race is that the bike course had to be shortened. Unfortunately, I still have not done a true 70.3 distance. At last year's Lone Star Half (completed in 5:59:01), the bike and run courses were 55.09 miles and 12.55 miles respectively per GPS. And then at Ironman Longhorn 70.3 (5:46:32), the bike and run were pretty much spot-on (55.94 and 13.03), but the swim about 500 meters short - there is no way I can do 1.2 miles in 33:45. I figured if we had done another loop (~13.5 miles) on Lake Ridge Parkway, even at a more conservative 19 MPH pace, that would have added about 43 minutes to my time ... for a 5:44 total time ... definitely would be a PR and at a true (even slightly longish) 70.3 mile distance to boot. Oh well, there's always next year - right?

Post-Race: Water, water, everywhere. As I detached my AeroDrink, I was initially surprised by how much "remaining" water I had to dump out of it - "gee, I thought I drank more than that on the bike?!?" ... seconds later I realized that it had collected "a wee bit" of rain during my 2+ hours on the run and time spent for post-race refreshments. Ditto for my super-heavy backpack, it was only when I got home that was reminded that the water-proof lining of my tri-bag was in serious decline (note to self: order a new one) and discovered that my towel and spare clothes had absorbed 10+ pounds of water.

The morning/night after, I'm pleasantly surprised to find that my body bounced back pretty well - my knees (no IT band issues), feet (no Body Glide and wet shoes & socks and yet no blisters - what are the odds?) and legs in general survived pretty much unscathed. The only sore parts are my shoulders (I gotta keep my upper body loose on the run!) and back (not enough long bike rides!), and they should be good to go in another day or two.

Okay, so when's the next one? :-)

The Goatneck 2009

Finished 69.5 hot and hilly (~2,900 feet of elevation change) miles at the 2009 Tour de Goatneck in 3:36:10. Overall, it was a good ride.

I was crusing with a 20.3 mph average speed through Mile 47, which was my first rest stop (stopped about 5 minutes). Of course there were some hills after that as well as a headwind, which dropped my average, but a 19.3 mph for the whole 69.5 miles is pretty good for me.

After crossing the finish line, I got back to my car and stared at my running shoes for about a minute ... brick run DENIED. Had my recovery drink (Endurox R4 - chocolate), took a shower, and then ate some pretzels & peanut butter, bananas and watermelon instead. :-)

Here are the stats from my Garmin Forerunner 305:

"Lap 5" was the Mile-47 rest stop. "Lap 3" and "Lap 6" were slow because there was a lot of climbing during those stretches.

Goatneck elevation chart: Big (up)hills during Miles 33-39 & 50-60. :-P

Garmin Connect map & data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9729497

Ride Review:

Course: 4/5 - road conditions were pretty good - little bit of chip-seal in the middle of route was the only downside; hilly, challenging course; good traffic control in the busy areas (and overall there wasn't much traffic at all)

Rest Stops: 4/5 - I only stopped at the 47-Mile rest stop (which had a luau party/rock and roll theme) so this is not a complete evaluation, but there were decent refreshments (pop-tarts & cereal in addition to fruit) and water & Gatorade (well-mixed, not watered down) at that one.

Logistics: 4/5 - easy online registration; reasonable entry fee; decent parking at Cleburne High School (good considering that there were over 2,400 riders); nice T-shirt (electric blue again, though!) and water bottle; no post-race meal, but at least there was some snacks (the aforementioned pretzels & PB with bananas, watermelon, and oranges)

Overall: 4/5 - will definitely do again; good, challenging course with excellent ride support

Disco Tri 2009

Completed the Olympic-distance course - a 1,500 yard open-water swim, a 23 mile bike leg, and a 10K (6.2 mile) run - at my second Disco Triathlon. My time was nearly 6 minutes slower than last year (which was my PR for the Disco/Texas-Man course) - finishing the course in 2:34:38 (vs. 2:28:49 in 2008), but I'm still quite pleased with my performance.

I finished 20th out of 40 in the men's 35-39 age group ... and 103rd out of 273 overall. Here are my splits:

• Swim: 26:57 (111th place)
• T1: 2:56
• Bike: 1:03:56 - 21.6 MPH (23rd place) - 21.9 MPH for 23.3 miles per GPS
• T2: 1:20
• Run: 59:32 - 9:37/mi pace (157th place) - 9:40/mi for 6.16 miles per GPS
• TOTAL: 2:34:38

Full Results: http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1773386&pubID=3
Garmin Connect map & data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9184530 (bike) & http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9184584 (run)

For comparison, here are my splits from last year's PR:

• Swim: 26:53 (133rd place out of 277)
• T1: 2:12
• Bike: 1:03:38 - 21.7 MPH (54th place)
• T2: 1:10
• Run: 54:59 - 8:52/mi pace (151st place)
• TOTAL: 2:28:49

As you can see, the difference was mainly because of a much slower run pace this year - along with slower transitions (mainly T1). It's also interesting that my bike time was slightly slower than last year, yet I improved to the top 10% vs. top 20%. Maybe the bike course was a little long this year, the road conditions worsened or the overall field was weaker.

The swim went smoothly. I really want to get the new swim-proof Garmin Forerunner 310XT GPS watch so I can see exactly how close the distance is to the advertised 1,500 meters. I just need to keep improving and do more long swims in preparation for the Ironhead PrairieMan 70.3 in September.

T1 was non-eventful - a little slower than I would have liked, but I took extra time to down a SaltStick and AccelGel before taking off on my bike.

Very solid bike ride. I'm very happy with placing 23rd overall - though I still would like to cross the 22 MPH threshold one of these days. I definitely felt stronger today than back at May's TexasMan race. As I was loading up my bike the night before I noticed that my rear tire was quite low and probably had a slow leak. So even after reinflating it before heading to the race, I had the Bicycles Plus crew take a look at it in the morning and replace the tube just in case. I think it was worth it!

In contrast, today's run wasn't my best. Running the 15K yesterday definitely had some detrimental effects on my legs. However, in addition, I just plain haven't been running enough in my training. In fact, the 15.5 miles that I ran over this weekend is the most running I've done in a 27 hour period (or less) in quite a while. Oh well, this is a good jump start to get my running up to snuff before PrairieMan.

Crossing the finish line, I met up with Lee, who had finished about 10 minutes before me, and Jenn who had finished her sprint race an hour earlier (thanks for waiting for us!). Lee crushed the race - especially the run (10th overall with a 6:47/mi pace) and took 37th place overall and 4th in his age group. And to think he could have been even faster if he hadn't do the 15K with me yesterday - hmmm.

Jenn shaved 6 minutes off her time in the Texas Man sprint race. Jenna did her first open-water swim tri (success in Lake Ray Roberts) and continued with a solid bike and run. Charlie also did the sprint and finished 48th. And last but not least, this was the first Olympic tri for Serena and her friend Roxanne; they finished strongly and were all smiles after the finish ... simply awesome!