Woke up and the first thing I see outside my window are rain clouds and lightning. Then there was heavy rain on my drive up to McKinney. Driving through Frisco I thought I just wasted money on this race because surely they will be cancelling this one. But once in McKinney the rain went away and only lightning remained and even that only last another thirty minutes. Finally found Dawn and we got ready for the race, walked around and I wanted to check out the pool depth. Which she already knew the answer to so that was nice. Then we found Coach Lyndsi and talked to her for a little while. I, being me, had to do my pre-race routine of going to the restroom. Once out Coach Lyndsi found me and had me watch people jumping into the pool because, yes, that is what caused my freak out last race. Strange as it might sound but last race I jumped in feet first and within a second of hitting the water my anxiety jumped through the roof and the swim before it even got started pretty much ended for me. It was horrible and Coach Lyndsi knowing about that event made sure to pull me aside and have me watch how all these people were entering into the pool because seeing all of those entries did help me when it came my time.
Finally jumped in line with Dawn and followed her into the pool. I entered the pool how I prefer to do and the swim actually started pretty good. I will admit the depth of only 4'11" did help my mindset. I swam but still had to stop every now and then. I did pretty good but was still swallowing some water or at least taking more water in then is normal even for me. When I got to the 200 meter mark I saw these feet coming towards me and at that moment thought, oh great, they are kicking me out of the race for being so slow. Yes I really thought that. But to my surprise it was Coach Lyndsi. She told me about the good I was doing and reminding me that while I was doing good that my stopping was mostly in my head and that I could do this. That I had done this before and can do it again. Inside I agreed with her, but, also inside, all I could see were miles of distance between each end of the pool even though it was only 50 meters. When I finished the swim I actually felt great. This was the first race I did not leave the pool with anxiety high and me not being able to calm myself down to focus on what was next for me. But this time when I exited the pool I was clear minded and could focus on getting my bike gear on and starting the cycling part of the race. Side note is that I swam the 350 in 14:54 which was third worst for the race and that included the people over 70 who killed me in the swim time. But what I see is that for 350 meters to have that swim time is a great start to improving my overall swim game. Because I would normally swim that in a race that had a distance of 275. So I was extremely happy with this swim and cannot wait for the next Cooper Tri to see if I can better that time.
Transition time for me was great between the swim and the bike. It was my fastest transition time for me at least for any race. A 1:19 is still not fast but compared to the previous two years of transition timing this made me like like Superman changing clothes.
The bike portion got me hard. First it was cold and I do not handle cold. Then it was one of those slight yet steady inclines that never seems to end type of hills and to top it off there was an extremely strong wind that was pounding me head on. Of course it would be head on. Why would wind be a benefit in your ride and help you up that hill. I just never saw myself able to maintain a speed that was anything but the speed that I always seem to ride and that being 15mph. So while it was a very short distance of 12 miles it also was a very hard 12 miles. The bike time was 48 minutes which for me is, sadly, about what I would do it in for either a race or training session. I just cannot seem to get my average speed to increase even after all these years, yes, all two of them.
For the second transition time it was a little slower but still better than the previous races between the bike and the run. I did it in 1:45 and mostly due to my shoes not fitting when I tried to put them on. But on a positive note. This was the first race where I did not sit down during either transition to change gear. So lets see that as a positive thing I can get from this race.
The run started good for me. Then my legs finally caught up with my mind and bam it hit me. My legs are worn out. I went from run to run / walk. I did my run in what I thought was a pretty good run. Even though my run time would show differently but I didn't know that during the run or right after. Although yes I did know because I was wearing my Garmin but it felt faster for me. I talk to several people for a brief moment but it was mostly me just focusing on each turn, each step and trying to find the water stops to help me figure out what distance is still needed to finish. I love how running is a strong suit for me but when it comes to triathlons it is not. But that is of course more because I use so much energy in the bike that I just seem to wear out my legs before the run can even start. Time for the run was 34 minutes and yes that is a little faster than my last couple of triathlons so yes another positive thing from this race.
Overall time was 1:40:00 which is my first time under 1:55 or 2 hours. The time looks great compared to those other races but the bike ride was a few miles shorter in distance then those other races but still seeing that time does make me happy.
I finished third from last in my age group which is actually an improvement by one or two spots. :) The one thing I noticed was that if I can shave off even just 2 minutes I would be out of those lowly final three spots for the age group. I think I could do that. Heck I know I should be able to shave at least a minute off transitions and my swim should see some time savings as well down the road. I think I need to continue practicing doing the 50s that Coach Lyndsi is having me do because for this race each lap is going to be 50 long no matter how much I would like to change that it will not change. And if the hurricane winds were not there I can see my speed maybe increasing a little which would also shave off some time there as well for me.
Next race I believe is Wounded Warrior. Going back to my running races for the next one. But lots of swimming in the meantime.
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Monday, May 2, 2016
Race Report - Texadega Nights
First what a great concept for any event even for an old man like me. It has been a few years since I pull something like this. This being staying up late until the early morning hours. But it was worth it. Met some great people, as usual. And I, being me, got their early, which made the night even longer.
So my day starts with me and Dawn swimming at LA Fitness that morning. I got in around 1200 meters for this swim. And they were some hard earned meters at that. I spent the whole morning just trying to catch my breath. It was like I was swimming during a race. Which after about half way through I decided to treat it as such. A race type swim instead of just swimming. And well it was just hard. For whatever reason I just couldn't get from one end to the other consistently without either swallowing water or just having an race type attack. But I didn't quit and in the end the swim was finished and, as usual, I was fine again. So with that being over I headed home to try and get a nap in there and something to eat before the evening event started.
Got to the race track at 9pm, got my race distance changed, and then just hung out for a few hours before the race started. Finally it is 11:45PM, and yes I said almost midnight, my portion of the race starts. I start my run towards the 9 miles I signed up for. I thought I might even run more before the race started. The first two miles were strong for me. I ran both of those miles in a 9:30 pace but the uneven ground finally caught up to my back and I sent the next 3 miles fighting that issue. But with my body I have learned that eventually the pain or tightness will go away. Once my body realizes that I am not quitting it gets back to normal. So the next mile was me deciding to run to the finish line or continue on to the final three miles. Well, of course, I ran the final 3 miles but any additional milage just left my mind. I was finished and to continue would just be unfair for the rest of the group to witness. Nothing more pathic than seeing a grown man crying and crawling on towards the next mile or two. So to save them and myself I just headed off to the finish line. It ended up not being a bad run for me after all. And I would do this race again in a heart beat. Now that I know about the surface I would be better prepared for the run next year.
So I get home around 3AM and the day is finally over.
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