The Austin Triathlon

Today was the second annual Austin Triathlon. There was a sprint and an Olympic. Following is my race report. This was my second Olympic, the first being CapTexTri. The courses are pretty similar as they are both held right in the middle of downtown Austin, TX, definitely a triathlon city.

It is currently about 3:30 Monday afternoon and my day was excellent. I feel great....I feel totally recovered which seems a little odd but I could use a short nap from the early wake up call.

Time is unofficial...off my watch...but I think I am around 3:02....was hoping for under 3 but I will take it....it was a non-wetsuit swim and I think my swim was the same as in May so I was very pleased with that - maybe that was my 1 or 2 minutes lost to no wetsuit....LOL...bike was average 19.5 mph unofficially and the run was about a 1:05, or 1:06. Again, it was a pretty hot day but did not seem to bother me like the one in May. It was almost the same course as the one in May so I think the comparison pleases me. I felt my nutrition was dialed in, which is why I feel very recovered now I am sure. So I got up, had a bagel and peanut butter and then a banana, followed by a little caffeine fix. Walked over to transition as it opened, got body marked and then set up my little area....it was clean, I am trying to cut down the clutter in all areas of my life. I then walked back up to the room to relax for a few minutes. Back down with plenty of time to spare (I HATE to be late anywhere). Shawn Colvin, a country musician from Austin sang the national anthem and the open wave was off. I was in the fifth wave so I got to stand around a little and then it was into the water with no wetsuit - the temp was 78 so it was wetsuit legal however I made the decision to go sans wetsuit in case my 70.3 is non-wetsuit, I wanted to be comfortable with the swim. No real contact, no bumper bodies, no amusement park ride at the beginning so I just swam. I am pleased with the swim, felt good getting out, HR a little high but okay.

The bike was interesting. There were a couple of tight turns and a couple of turnarounds and a few gradual grades and one hill, I hit it pretty hard and am very pleased with what Polar says was my pace - 3:05 per mile - I will look forward to checking it when the official chip times get posted. I passed several people on the 3 loops and got passed some.

And then there was the run --- ah, the run. I came out of T2 at about 1:56 or 57 and thought, hey, let's see what happens. I knew the bike took a little out of me but hey, I like to ride. Heat was building, sun was bright, it was a beautiful day - so it was just left, right, repeat.......I really would like to see the halfway split, I am pretty sure I may have run the second half faster than the first but I guess I will never know for sure as I didn't hit the lap function on my watch.

Great party after with massage, ART Active Release Therapy, pizza, beer, smoothies, ice cream, fruit, Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies, etc. Put the bike on the back of the truck, took a shower, checked out of the hotel and headed for home.

Approaching the highway, I-35, we saw it was blocked and empty. So, slowly moving with everyone else on the service road, I realized it was for President Bush to travel from Austin down to San Antonio to make an appearance. He met with hurricane volunteers and evacuees in Austin and then in San Antonio (I think he also came to watch me participate in The Austin Triathlon - ROFL). Then, here came all the police, ambulance, bomb truck looking vehicle and a bunch of black suburbans, some with the back windows open and some mean dudes looking out backwards, followed by several press vans and then more police. That was cool, then the highway re-opened and we were able to get out of some of the traffic.

I had hoped to break 3 hours today but it was a PR nonetheless and I feel really good about how I feel now. Next up, Longhorn 70.3!!!!

What a great Labor Day!