Spenco Olympic Tri Report

Many of my friends were leaving town this weekend to race at various events in Galveston or Dallas. When I found out there was a triathlon near town, at a venue I was very familiar with, with both sprint and olympic distances - I was thrilled. Perfect opportunity to do a "tune-up" race without a lot of pressure. I somehow convinced Stephanie to come with me... after a weeks worth of "discussion" about which distances we would do, she finally convinced me to do the longer race and she would do the shorter one. Yes, I know. Awfully convenient for her, huh?

Anyway, I checked out some of the competitors on the participant list and learned almost all of them usually won their age groups, if not the whole race, when they competed. At first I was discouraged, but instead I focused on the fact that I wasn't racing - just tuning up and getting back into the game.

On Saturday, Panther gave me my race plan: Go easy on the swim, take the first bike loop moderate, pick it up for the second bike loop, then gut out the run and don't walk.

Stephanie & I arrived at the Ski Ranch at 6:30, and we were set up by 7:00. Glenda arrived a few minutes later to offer support. (She was amazing today!) She helped me get spray Pam cooking spray on myself and put on my wetsuit. Then she shot this picture of Stephanie and me in front of the lake. Notice the "No Swimming" sign - very encouraging!
So, according to the race plan - I was to take the swim easy. I maybe took it too easy, because I never felt tired during this section. 1500 meters = 29:20 (1:57 pace)Since this was a tune-up race, I took my time in transition and was pleased to see Stephanie staged right next to me. (She finished her 400 meter swim just a minute before I came out of the water.) I got ready and headed out on the bike. I took the first loop pretty easy, then tried to pick it up on the second loop. The course was much hillier than I expected, but luckily there wasn't much wind. I felt really great on the bike, and actually was a bit worried when by mile 20, I wasn't even tired. I think I should have pushed more here, but I was nervous about blowing up on the run. After seeing my times, I know I could have done better. (In fact, I "found" harder gears at the end of the ride that I should have been using for the first sections.)But hell, I had fun while biking! I didn't get the usual "get me off of this thing" feeling I used to have during races. 25 miles = 1:26:04 (17.4mph pace)
When I was done with the bike section, I came into transition while Glenda cheered me on. She then ran with me a bit, almost out of the ranch. I somewhat wished she had kept going, because the extra support would have been nice. (But pacers weren't allowed anyway.) The run course was really long. I mean realllllllly long. It was an out and back road with rolling hills (Kris's favorite!) with an extra long out and back on one of the side streets. I knew from my Prarieman experience that I couldn't stop and walk or it would be over, so I just kept a steady (albeit slow) pace and never stopped. It was hard out there - hot, barren, lonely - but I kept going. It's amazing how much more mental tenacity I have over last year. I may have been able to run faster, but at the time I was happy just to be running (versus walking.)
I saw Glenda again on my way back into the Ski Ranch, and she helped motivate me as I ran my last 1/4 mile in. 10K = 1:06:21, or 10:42 pace. Final time: 3:04:57
From my performance today, I am very pleased with:

• I am still extremely comfortable doing open water swim, and I could probably take on any distance and feel fine. (May not be really fast, but I'll always be easily in the middle of the pack.)
• I didn't stop during the run section. (I'm not counting the cumulative 10 seconds I used at waterstops.) Even though I ran slow, I ran consistently and didn't give in to my desire to walk.
• My upper body feels really strong compared to last year- I could definitely feel it during the hill sections of the bike.
• I followed Panther's race plan perfectly. This race was merely a tune-up to get me back in triathlon mindset, and I was able to turn it into the perfect workout based on his feedback.

And yet, there is much room for growth:

• I really need to learn how to ride hills on my bike. I'm going to really start pushing the bike speed so I can get faster.
• I must do more bricks (combinations of 2 sports) so I can feel better on the run.
• I need to work on the run . I was embarrassingly slow today...I should be better than this.
• Nutrition. Wow, I sucked at this. I didn't drink any water during the entire bike ride, and I know I didn't eat enough either. Also, I need to really focus on my total nutrition... I got out of the habit and need to get back in.

Anyway... this was a really fun day. I'm so glad to have an Olympic Tri under my belt already this season. I'm also really lucky that I got to share it with Glenda & Stephanie. Oh, one more thing - I won third in my age group! Granted, there were three of us only, but I have a medal to show for it. And... I wasn't last!