CapTex Race Report

up at 4am...coffee...peanut butter and jelly...banana...last check of race bag...checked the notes i left myself (don't forget your wetsuit) and was out the door at 4.45...

parked easily and for free :) at one texas center parking lot...and walked over to get body marked...just a short line so not bad...saw jackie from the group and travis as well...then to stand in line for transition to open...it's the waiting around that i don't like...but was happy to run in to amy b and her husband matt...we had run into each other....twice the day before and as it turned out like every five minutes on sunday...it is _really_ nice to know people at these events...it just makes me feel better

in transition and getting ready...i like this part...tinkering around with my equipment...getting everything ready...and at right angles...not really...well yeah really...i had scored a spot on the end of my rack...sweet!...the early bear gets a good rack spot in transition :)...but had to move my transition spot to the left of my wheel cause a ref told me so...he was very nice...but i guess my towel was sticking out from the rack a bit...no big deal...photographers were everywhere and they took a million pictures of me...that was weird...realized at one point that i had forgotten to put my race number on my helmet...argh...mistake...but it didn't seem to matter...

walked from the swim in to bike out to run in to make sure i knew where i was going...it was a long way from swim in to bike to bike out...and the same with the run...i knew this would just make my transition times longer so that was fine...was good to go...walked down to the swim start with a billion other people and ran into amy b again...so i hung with her and a few other girls she knew until swim time...it was hot standing around in a wet suit...and things got off to a late start but i was glad when we got into the water...cool!...yeah...lost amy so just decided to do my own thing and get to the buoy line...got horizontal and then the gun...

this swim start was more jostling than the others...but it was ok...there were just a lot more people...i need to figure out a better place to start though...maybe i need to be more towards the front...i'm good at not starting off like a bat out of hell...and i seems i get myself into a position where the peeps around me go off to fast then _really_ slow down about 100m out...then i just spend a lot of time passing people...so i kept finding toes...then the toes were too slow...so then i just gave up and decided to swim...the way out felt long and kind of hard...like swimming through pudding...but i guess that we were swimming against the current...it was fun to be able to swim under the bridges and use things like the first street bridge to sight on...right turn then about 35 yards then another right...and i was on my way back...i had caught up to other colored swim caps at this point...so i thought that was a good sign...even though i felt like i was going slower than i had hoped...i just focused on my form and swam...at one point i thought i could hear people cheering for me in the water...turns out it was true...oh man...that was awesome...i smiled and dug in for the finish...got into a bottle neck coming out of the swim...then up the row of volunteers who pulled us out...

wetsuit down to my waist then into transition...long jog...tried to get the water out of my ears...had some trouble getting my swim cap off...got the wetsuit off and into a pile of dirt no problem...(yuck)...sunglasses...helmet...racebelt...socks....bike...go...running in wet-ish socks through lots of dirt to bike out and mount line...crossed the mount line...and flying mount...:) got my shoes on and right...before getting onto the bridge...had a huge smile on my face...thinking...i'm on the bike in my first olympic tri....this is awesome...i love triathlon....generally took it easy for the first mile or so on the bike...trying to get adjusted...smoothing out...turned up and around the capitol...and had my first gel climbing 15th street...remembered to drink water...and was coming back down congress...heard my name :) that was awesome...it was john brown from marathon group!!...turned down first street/cesar chavez...and heard my name again....it was my own cheering section...it was great!!! thanks guys...cranked it and got into the aerobars (finally!) in this section...back up again...by my fans...then over the bridge and a u-turn...loop 1...of 4...

the rest of the loops went pretty well...here were some issues...felt a bit of a bubble in my tummy while on the bike...this has happened before during training so i knew that on the bits i was out of the aerobars i need to sit tall and try to clear it out...i burped a bunch...that felt good...and i forgot about it/it went away by the time i was done...had water in one ear the whole time...gave me a little vertigo at one point on the third loop...concentrated on where i was going and was able to get my head in the game...had my back bottle tip out of my cage and drag on my back wheel for a bit...a kind rider told me...the friction wore down the bottle top a bit...looking back i had hit a huge!!! pot hole about a block back and didn't check my bottle after i had put it back just before hitting the hole...and there was a lot of traffic on the course...but it wasn't that bad...there were parts of the course where i was riding alone...and parts where i was passing someone and lots of people were passing me...i was very cautious on the sharp turns as others were not...and i really wanted to avoid crashing...lots of inexperienced riders riding too far left...i was thankful for the communication from some riders...and a little ticked when there was no communication by some boys in pointy helmets and race wheels who like to touch shoulders with you when they pass...geeze...other than that...all good...and my cheering section was amazing...

came back to the bridge and got to turn off! back down to transition...couldn't flying dismount as i didn't have enough room to swing my leg over the bike...there were that many people around...but was able to get off the bike with shoes attached to pedals and run through lots of dirt to my rack...found it just fine...racked by my brakes...(thanks for the tip coach amy...much faster than re-racking by the seat)...tried to get a little dirt off my socks...with no luck..and into my running shoes...helmet off...grabbed my visor and my lil water and was off running...i think i still had a big smile on my face...and i got the water out of my right ear...i think i cheered out loud when that happened :)

i remembered to take it slow on my first loop...there were already a lot of people walking...it was really hot and humid...but i just plugged along...over to jack and adams...their water stop was the best!...it was so great to hear them all cheering...drew! thanks!...and hot pro aussie richard...both telling me i was looking good...yeah!...and jack with a hose...half a cup of ice on my head...i had my little water in hand...and back out riverside...left on barton springs...and i was done with my water...so i slowed...walked and drank...and picked it up again to get over the bridge...more people were walking...walking through the water stop then just not running again...i was taking it easy...it was hot...did i mention that...and there was my cheering section again on the bridge!!!...coach amy with words of encouragement...lots of cheering from Katherine mark jeremiah and my husband!!!...i really wanted some gatorade...and had passed three water stops that didn't have any...i was hoping the next one did...we turned into downtown...and thanks to the buildings...we had some shade...seriously like 10 degrees cooler...and the next water stop had gatorade!...i was golden...back over the bridge...some more cheering on :) and i was back to the transition area...which meant i was going to be starting my second loop...OMG...starting my second loop...time to pick it up a bit...i felt like i did a little...got some more kind words from jack and adams...back through the crowds...over the bridge...coach said quick feet...oh ok...that made sense...more turn over...makes me faster...then it kind of dawned on me that i was more than halfway on my second loop...i was almost done...wow...i knew that i could pick it up but it was going to be hard...then on my last pass of my fans...i got a "dig deep" from coach...and i was totally there...i dug...grabbed one more water...i had thought about skipping it and said...i don't want to end up doing the crawl over the finish line...so i took it...drank deep and dug deep...turned right onto riverside...saw amy b...didn't say anything because i don't think i could have...and tried to start picking people off...passed a few more people then i was into the shoot...crossed the mat and looked at the clock...3h 19m i was happy...and tired and hot...they had iced towels...that was so great...

i think i had a huge smile...all day...it was great...hard but great...and i was very happy with how it all went...i told j that i had wanted to break 3h and was a little disappointed when i saw the clock...but i wasn't sure when the clock started...i thought probably i was just over 3h...and owing to the fact that i felt like the swim was really slow...(not how i had planned) i was going to be ok with just over three...saw lots of folks at the finish area...cheered in a few friends...and checked the results...2h.54m.06s oh yeah...here are the details...

swim	33.42	2.15m pace
t1	3.33
bike	1.20.06	18.6 avg
t2	2.25
run	54.19	8.45 pace

606 of 1438 total finishers
143 of 578 women
26 of 110 age group

so looking at some other results that i have...i guess the swim wasn't too bad...i averaged 2.00 at the open water swim (1.2 miles) and 2.24m at rookie...so yeah...i'm happy...and not too beat up today...which is my 7th anniversary!...

happy anniversary j...i love you...