9.26.13 Taper

I swam yesterday for 36 minutes and covered a mile (1750 yards).  No drills, just straight swimming.  I was supposed to do 30 minutes as a part of the taper.  Felt ok.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/381329852

After work, I rode a soft 17 miles with the Enduroshark group.  Didn't really hammer any sections at all and it took about an hour.  Felt good on the hills.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/381513500

This morning was supposed to be an easy 3 mile run.  I headed out through the park this morning.  I was going to do about 1.5 miles and then turn around.  I kind of forgot to look and turned around at 1.6.  I then decided to go across the new trail on the south side of the park.  The old bridge appears to be permanently removed so I added some distance to get back home.  Ended up running almost 3.5 miles but my legs are coming around a little bit.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/381528375

9.22.13 Open Water Swim/Northshore Trail Run

It finally felt like fall this morning.  My truck said 59 degrees on the way to the lake.  I was the only one who showed up for the open water swim.  Shelby followed me around in his Kayak and I swam about a mile this morning.  The warm water and the cool air created a fog on the water.  Kind of cool looking, it was hard to see between the buoys.  Joe is in Lubbock this weekend so it was just me and the Matrix for our trail run.  Jeff had 8 miles on my plan so we ran from Murrell to Rockledge and back.  8.6 miles round trip.  With the weather being cool, it was so much easier than the last few weeks.  I think we were fairly fast but it didn't seem like we were working that hard.  Our average pace was about eleven and a half minutes, which is quick for a trail run.  Glad to see the weather turning.  Time to taper for the rest of the week.

Swim:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/379590760

Trail Run:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/379590784

9.21.13 Bike

It's the last official day of summer and the weather was nice.  I think it was 83 today for the high.  Patty did a mud run race this morning so I didn't ride the bike until about 2pm today.  It was really nice outside.  There were some big dark flying bugs and lots of grasshoppers when I got out to the country today.  Several of them bounced off me today and a few of them stung a little.  This is the last long ride before the race.  I dropped by the bike shop at the beginning of my ride and let the boys check out my bike.  I wanted to make sure I didn't screw anything up after the crash last week.  It checked out ok.  Didn't really push the pace much today.  51 miles in a shade over 3 hours today.  Jeff had me doing 3 hours today so I made that work.  Felt tired this afternoon and never could seem to get in a good groove.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/379178909

9.20.13 Swim/Run

It started raining last night and was still raining this morning.  We haven't seen that in quite a while.  No lightning in the area so the CARC was open this morning.  Had a fairly basic 2250 yard swim with some speed work and some kickboard work.  Left shoulder was still stiff but I did get a flu shot in that shoulder the other day.  This evening I had a slow recovery 31 minute run.  It was really humid and we still had a light rain.  I still feel a little fatigued but that should give way some next week.  My wife got hit by a guy who ran a stop sign this morning so I'm hoping she's ok.  Wild day to say the least.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/378652602

9.19.13 Tempo Run

Didn't have it today at all.  Jeff gave me a 8 mile plan with 2 warm up miles, 2 miles at 8:40, 2 miles at 8:20, 1 mile at 8:10 and a cool down mile.  I started late so I wasn't sure the whole run could be done or not.  I decided to try and get it in.  My miscalculation of distance before I left was in full effect again.  I ran my usual route backwards to get a new perspective and change things up.  However, I was on the 6 mile route instead of the 8.  I was able to tack on enough mileage to get about 7.7 miles in.  My legs were not buying in from the get go today.  It has been a hard two weeks of build.  My warm up miles were slow, 10:22 and 9:43.  I could tell getting up to speed was going to be rough.  The first two 8:40 miles were 8:51and 8:45 but I knew there wasn't alot in the tank today.  Getting down to 8:20 for the next two was going to be rough. I decided to knock out what was possible and turned in 8:55 and 8:52 for the next two.  Disappointing to be sure but I was doing the best I could considering the fatigue.  I was up late the night before and was not operating at full rest which was a possible contributor to my slow times.  I really tried to make the last fast mile but could only turn a 8:32 mile.  Just wasn't happening today.  When the seventh mile went off, I walked for about a tenth of a mile or so and then jogged it in.  My Garmin training effect for the day was a 5 which tranlates to "Overreaching".  I probably should have backed off a little and should not have been so concerned about the times.  It is my last fast training run so I stuck with the program as much as possible.  Training starts backing off now so the hay is in the barn at this point.  Shelby got me an Enduroshark jersey so I can support them in Kerrville unless the swim is not wetsuit legal.  Otherwise, I'll be wearing my Orca speed suit.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/378121392

9.18.13 Swim and Bike Intervals

Started the day with a 2500 yard swim.  Had some stiffness again in both shoulders this workout.   I am swimming four days a week right now and it may be an overuse problem.  I'm not sure.  Considering its about one week out from the race, it should be fine.  Next week will be light since it will be a taper week.  Lots of variation in the swim and I had alot to keep up with (fins, kick board, pull buoy).  Finished a shade under an hour.  Not too bad considering all of the work in the plan.  For the bike workout after work, I did intervals again.  I met Shelby and the Enduroshark group at the CAC in Flower Mound and we left from there.  Rode out to Bridlewood and back.  The roads were good for intervals.  Some sections were chopped up from stop signs and lights but Jeff gave me shorter hard intervals and recoveries that worked fine.  I needed about an hour and a half to finish so I left the group after we returned to the CAC.  There is a nice section of road from the rec center to the warehouses.  I saw a Coyote in the median on the way home.  It was dark and the Coyotes were on the prowl.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/377851060

9.17.13 Track Run

Start of my last build week before the Kerrville race.  Jeff gave me a fairly tough workout this morning.  Two warm up miles, 5x (1200 at 7:45-8:00 pace), cool down mile.  The gate at the school in Lewisville where we are running has been locked the past few weeks so I brought a ladder today.  My wife is a good fence climber but not so much for me.  After we got over the fence, I was ready to run.  My legs felt kind of dead on Monday so I was worried about making time.  I really did well and all of my 1200s were within the time range.  Patty hung around with me today until I was finished since I was the last one left.  I feel tired tonight and have a busy day tomorrow with a swim and a 90 minute interval ride.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/377105724

9.16.13 Sort of Rest Day

I woke up this morning feeling a little battered from the bike crash and sore from the 11 mile trail run.  I wasn't sure I really wanted to swim today.  I am resting legs today before my second build week before Kerrville.  I decided to go ahead and swim.  I usually feel a little better after a swim on Monday.  It usually works some soreness out.  I was a little slow and lethargic to start but I shook that off after 15 minutes and felt ok.  Pool was really busy this morning and saw a few guys that are always there and asked them about it.  I was told it was like that all morning.  I grabbed a lane from someone named Johan.  He asked me if I was training with someone and I told him Jeff.  Of course, everyone knows Jeff and he told me to say hello to him.  2200 yards this morning in 54 minutes.  Hopefully, my legs will come around for the track workout tomorrow.

9.15.13 Open Water Swim/Long Trail Run

My plan was for 11 miles today in prep for the Kerrville half iron in a few weeks.  I have been doing the open water swims with Shelby for the past few weeks.  I like getting a feel for the open water.  It makes things much more comfortable for race day.  I was able to do a little over a mile in the water and then came on in for the run.  The Matrix, Joe, and Fred were waiting for me at the boat ramp.  After changing into my run clothes and gearing up we left at about 7:45am.  We ran out to Rockledge and back from Murell Park which is about 8.4 miles.  Rich and Fred took off for home.  Joe and I reloaded at my truck and headed out for another 2.6 miles.  My legs were off and on for the run.  The climbs on the trail were tough.  I was real comfortable on the flatter sections.  Some kids have a aid station set up on the trail and you can buy water and Gatorade from them.  They even have a credit card reader.  Amazing.  We reloaded a little there at about the 6 mile mark.  Joe and I knocked out the mileage and ended up going 11.14 miles.  It took us 2 hours and 6 minutes today.  We were really tired.  I brought some camping chairs and we just sat down and drank some fluids and talked for awhile before heading home.  It was a good day for running.  The heat really didn't come on until the very end of the run.  You can feel fall coming.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/376218756

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/376218783

9.14.13 Bike Crash

I have been riding my bike for the past 2.5 years without a major incident and that changed today.  My goal was about 75 miles.  I met the Endurshark group at Murrell Park at Lake Grapevine.  In order to get my miles, I left the house around 6:15am to get an early 20 miles in before the group ride.  My wife was running with them at 6:30 and she packed some ice and water for me to refuel with prior to the group ride.  I was able to get about 21 miles in before the ride.  Shelby planned the Jeter loop for the group.  It's about 10 miles to the loop.  Based on what each person was training for determined the number of loops.  I planned five loops.  There are some good hills on the loop and the wind was pretty stiff for the east part of the route.  We ran it counterclockwise and I'm not real familiar with riding the roads in that direction.  The first two loops were fine.  After the halfway point on the third loop, I was in my aero bars and hit a pothole.  My elbow slid out of the pad and rotated my front wheel to the right.  It gets really weird from here.  The bike came out from under me and it felt like I was floating horizontally to the ground.  The front wheel steered my bike to the right off the road towards a fence.  My feet stayed clipped in and I kind of planted in some soft dirt that kept me from flying into a fence.  A truck skidded to a stop and asked if I was ok and I sent him on.  One of the people riding with us was fairly close behind me and she stopped to see if I was ok.  I was checking my arms and legs and there wasn't a cut on me anywhere.  However, she informed me I had landed right in the middle of a fire ant mound.  In the shock of the crash, I didn't realize there were ants everywhere.  I had to clip out and then get the ants off of me.  A few other people in the group stopped and everyone helped to get the ants off of me.  They were all over from head to toe.  After most of the ants were off, I had to fix my chain and my brakes.  There were no scratches on my bike with the exception of the outside of my pedal on the side of the bike that laid down on the ground.  I must have never hit the ground until I went off the road.  Fairly fortunate.  I finished my five loops and then finished the ride back to the house.  I'll need to get my bike checked out but it looks ok.  Could have been worse.  It was the most elevation gain I have had in a ride to date per my Garmin.  My legs were toast when I got home.  Long run tomorrow.  I'm not sure how that will work out.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/375607271

9.13.13 Swim and Short Bike

I'm getting a little bit of a break for my legs today before the weekend.  The swim was long today.  Almost 2700 yards and it took about 65 minutes.  My left shoulder was a little stiff this morning and never seemed to get loose.  I need to keep an eye on that.  Jeff wanted me to do a short easy bike ride for about 40 minutes as almost a recovery exercise for the past three heavy days of work.  I'll probably do it on the trainer when I get home.  We have tickets for the high school game tonight and the traffic in Coppell will be a mess this evening.

9.12.13 Tempo Run

Very tough run this morning.  In the last 48 hours, I have run 8 miles of intervals at the track, swam 2600 yards, bike intervals for 75 minutes and then ran another 7 miles this morning.  My legs were somewhat fatigued this morning.  Jeff's plan was more endurance at slower pace the week.  My seven miles this morning were 2 warm up miles, 4 miles at 8:10-8:20, and a cool down mile.  Once again my route management was flawed.  I run through a neighborhood across the street from us to tack on the extra mile to my usual six mile route.  For some reason, I thought my six mile route was seven miles.  I made it work and added on to the end.  My fast miles were 8:25, 8:12, 8:27, and 8:24.  Three of the four were just outside the target range but fairly close.  The humidity was really up this morning and I was exhausted after this one.  My heart rate ended up in zone 5 towards the end.  I'm glad tomorrow is a little bit of a break before a tough weekend.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/374534979

9.11.13 Swim and Bike Intervals

My plan called for the usual Wednesday double, swim in the morning and bike in the evening.  I finally felt better today during my swim.  I was fairly strong throughout the swim.  I did 2600 yards in about 70 minutes.  Lots of kickboard so it was a little slower in time terms but I felt really good throughout the swim.  Decided to drive over to the Flower Mound CAC tonight to do intervals.  The road over there is fairly flat in areas and good for interval work.  There usually isn't much traffic and I was a little late getting over there.  I ended up doing 15 minutes of warm up, 5X (3 minutes hard/3 minutes moderate), 10 minute recovery, 5X (3 minutes high cadence/3 minutes normal), and 10 minutes of cool down.  It was really humid as there was rain in Flower Mound this evening.  My legs were burning but it felt good to hammer the intervals.  There was a dead armadillo on the road that smelled something fierce.  The only bad thing about the ride.

9.10.13 Track Run

I have felt bad for the past 24 hours.  I swam yesterday at the CARC and was a little fatigued.  It got worse as the day went on and I went home early from work.  I was in bed by 6pm and faded in and out watching tennis and football last night.  My wife woke up at 5am and was going to the track.  She is training for a half marathon with the Enduro Shark group and they train at a new high school in Lewisville.  The track is brand new and very easy on the legs.  I decided to go with her and see how things went.  Jeff changed my plan somewhat for the week.  Lower intensity and more distance.  I had two warm up miles, three 7:30 miles with a couple minute rest between, and two cool down miles.  My fast miles were low 7:30s and one at about 7:40.  I really wasn't at my best today but I was able to get real close to nailing the times.  I still feel really tired this morning and don't know if I'll make it through the day.  Hope this passes, whatever it is.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/373542981

9.8.13 Sunday Swim and Trail Run

Went to Lake Grapevine to open water swim this morning at 6:45 with the Enduroshark group.  Swam for about 45 minutes and then met up with the usual trail crew and ran from there.  Felt really good in the water today.  We ran from Murrell Park to Rockledge and back.  Pace was really good this morning.  That end of the trail is a much easier run than the end at Twin Coves.  We ran for 95 minutes and covered about 8.6 miles.  We got out of there right before the heat started coming on.  I felt really good today on the run.  Hopefully, I can get a few good build weeks strung together here.  It was great to run with my regular trail guys today.

9.7.13 Bike

I haven't been able to get alot miles in on the bike for the past few weeks for a variety of reasons.  Looks like my schedule will build over the next few weeks before the taper prior to the Kerrville half.  My Saturday was to be a 4 hour endurance ride.  Shelby and the Sharks were leaving from the Flower Mound rec center at 7:30.  My wife is training with them for a half marathon and they were running at 6:30.  I went ahead and left the house at 6:30 to get an hour in before I met up with them.  We rode north towards Denton and back towards Flower Mound.  Shelby rode with me for about 2.5 hours and then I headed home.  I ended up being a little short on time at 3 hours and 45 minutes and about 60.5 miles.  Good to get some solid base miles in again.

9.5.13 Recovery Run

I was out of town yesterday and was not able to ride my bike.  Today was a slow and steady five mile run at 9-10 minute miles.  I cut it a little short due to time constraints but made the times relatively easily.  I'm a little sore after the run but feel good today considering what my legs have been through.  I will be dialing up the distances this weekend.  I have two big weeks of training before the next taper for Kerrville.  I feel like I'm just hanging on right now trying to maintain my fitness.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/371587476

9.4.13 Swim

My legs are really sore and beat up after Trirock.  I went to the CARC to swim this morning.  Swimming always seems to help work out the soreness.  2400 yards this morning and I used one of the swims from last week.  Jeff is getting ready for the World Championships in Vegas this week and I'll probably get a plan from him tomorrow for the rest of the week.  I was a little tired which was to be expected but it felt good to get moving.

TriRock Austin 9.2.13

TriRock Austin is race #5 of six races in the Texas Tri Series.  I had high hopes for this race but sometimes your enthusiasm gets the best of you and hard lessons are learned.  Here we go!

Travel Day:  My wife Patty and son Lance left Dallas with me and we headed to Austin on Sunday morning.  I was able to get a reservation at the Hyatt, which was the host hotel for the race.  The expo was at the hotel but of highest importance was the transition area located a few 100 yards from the front door of the hotel.  I can't recommend this enough.  It may cost a few extra dollars but way worth it in terms of convenience. 

After we checked in, I picked up my packet and we did some shopping at the expo.  I didn't buy anything on this day.  I did buy a new tri suit at the Trishop the previous day.  It is an RS1 suit from Orca which is supposed to include the technology used in speed suits but with a breathable fabric you can use for the entire race.  I wouldn't have to get out of a speed suit with this thing.  My neighbor Justin let me borrow his aero helmet and he had a Speedfil that I hooked up on my bike so I wouldn't have to reach for water bottles.  My local bike shop let me borrow a Zipp 808 for my rear wheel.  I also bought a new straw cowboy hat for the run.  I was ready with all of these upgrades.  Bike check in was on Sunday so I aired the tires one more time and checked my bike into transition.  The transition area at Auditorium Shores is in an open grass field surrounded by gravel paths to get to the concrete roads.  The grass has stickers in it so I was careful to not let my tires touch the grass at any time and diligently checked them in transition.  The rack spots were numbered and I had the spot at the end of the row on the aisle for the bike out and run out.  This was getting better every minute.  The racks were by age so I could keep my eye on the competition as well.  It was really hot on Sunday afternoon.  It had to be 100+.  I drank alot of water and had a few bottles of my daily Skratch Labs everyday hydration formula.  We ate at Threadgill's to get something healthy into my system and then headed back to the room.  I was really tired and probably fell asleep around 8:30pm.

Pre-Race:  I slept good but woke up a few times.  Finally, at 4:30am, I decided to just get up for good.  I took a shower, put on my trisuit and headed over to transition to get it all set up.  It was only a few minutes walk and I could head back to the hotel to rest until the race started.  I forgot bottled water to mix my Accelerade with so I loaded the Speedfil with ice and then walked back to get some water.  Once transition was set up and everything was loaded it was time to head back to the room.  The race started at 7:00am and my wave was going off at 7:36am.  I saw Doug in transition and said hi to him and wished him good luck.  He is in second place and I was 1:45 behind him in the standings.  I grabbed my goggles and swim cap and headed back to the cool air conditioning in my room.  I can't tell you how great it is to relax in the room and then head down to the race.  I saw two of Shelby's athletes with Enduroshark at the elevator.  They were doing the sprint race.  Patty and Lance were just about ready when I got back to the room.  I ate a honey stinger protein bar and waffle while I was sitting there.  It is so much calmer waiting at the hotel.  Standing around at the race site is a bit unnerving at times.  I really didn't do anything special to warm up.  You couldn't get in the lake and my bike was checked in the day before.  We rolled up to the swim start area a little after 7am and waited for my wave.

Every race I write the names of everyone that helps me get ready on a wrist band for good luck. My running buddy Joe lost his dog Kaytee a few days before the race.  She would sit in the yard with us before and after our runs.  She was a great dog.  I wrote her abbreviated name on my arm in honor of her.

Swim:  The water in the lake was covered in Hydrilla.  Hydrilla is a long plant that grows to the surface almost like an underwater ivy.  Once it starts growing, it is a mess.  They changed the course to try and find a somewhat Hydrilla free area to swim.  They were not successful.  There were several people being pulled from the water in the earlier waves after a few hundred yards.  I think they were a little freaked out.  With the course change, the rectangular course would turn after only 100 meters and would turn again heading down the lake (actually more like a wide river) after another 50 meters.  I'm not sure how many were in my wave.  I would guess at least 70 and the start area was only about 30-40 feet wide.  I dropped in the water off the dock and got a spot close to the front right in the middle.  I really didn't want to be in the middle but there was no where to go and everyone was kicking like crazy treading water before the start.  They counted us down and the horn went off.  It was a mess.  Arms and legs were flying everywhere.  Bodies were so crammed together I couldn't pass anyone and the people behind me were crawling on top of me.  The Hydrilla was getting wrapped around my arms and neck as we went along.  At the first buoy, it was a traffic jam and I had to basically stop and wait my turn to round the buoy.  Same situation at the second buoy.  Good news was it would be a long straight swim for about 800 meters at this point and should open up.  Sure enough, the field began to break apart and I was able to find some clean water.  We swam under the 1rst street bridge, rolled by our hotel and went under the bat bridge (Congress) before the turnaround.  Most of the way I could feel someone touching my feet every now and then.  This is a very easy swim to sight  because the lake is basically a damned up Colorado river and is narrow.  The turnaround was close to shore on the swim exit side of the lake and the Hydrilla was really bad there.  Too bad because that would have been a nice line back to the exit.  Instead, I had to swim back to the middle of lake.  I don't think it really mattered.  There didn't seemed to be a good way to avoid the stringy plants in the water.  I pictued myself coming out of the water looking like the creature from the black lagoon.  I did find someone to draft off for awhile that was basically swimming at the same pace as me.  I still felt someone behind me the whole way as well.  One thing I did like about the course layout was the distance was on the buoys so I knew exactly how far I had traveled.  I took a quick diversion to see who was behind me.  It was Doug.  He found me early in the swim and was sticking to me like glue.  In the last 200 meters, I sprinted away from him a little bit but wasn't able to put much distance between us.  I forgot to put my cowboy hat in transition so Patty and Lance handed it to me as I headed to my rack.  They told me he was right behind me but I knew that already.  I had a great swim.  I covered the mile in 29:43 which a PR for my swim at the Olympic distance.  It didn't feel fast with Doug on my heels but he had a good swim too.  When we were in transition, he thanked me for letting him draft off of me.

Out of the water and picking up my hat on the way to my rack.

 

T1:  It was a long run from the lake to my rack spot.  Doug and I ran together for the most part to our bikes.  I had no trouble getting into my shoes and putting my helmet on.  I attached my race belt and took off.  I made it about 20-30 yards and my tire stopped spinning.  I looked down and my Speedfil had twisted off my down tube and was wedged between the tire and the tube.  This was very bad news.  I had a small bottle of Skratch on the back but all of liquids and nutrition was in that Speedfil.  In a panic, I tried to lash it back down with the velcro ties.  I ran another 10 feet and it happend again.  Nothing much I could do but yank the tube out of the Speedfil and pull it off my bike frame.  I left my bike laying there on the ground and had to run back to my rack and leave the Speedfil in transition.  I had some honey stinger chews and a few gels but that was basically it.  The heat was coming.  All I could do is try to get this over with as fast as possible and hope for the best.

Bike:  As I left transition, my son had a small white board and wrote :45 on it.  I had given away almost a minute with the transition problem.  Patty and Lance positioned themselves on the corner at Ceasar Chavez and Congress.  They would be able to get me an update three times on each loop from there.  The race route was a three loop 9 mile course so I would get updates every three miles or so.  Going down S. Congress away from the capital and the lake was a fairly steady uphill climb.  It was probably 100 feet in elevation gain and a nice leg burner.  Coming the other way back down to the lake, I was hitting 35+mph so it was really fast.  The road had some bumps in it so you really had to be holding on tight.  It was like this for most of the course so it made it really difficult to eat the chews and reach for the Skratch behind my seat.  The climb up to the capital is not very steep and much easier on the legs.  I was slowly losing ground to Doug as I expected but is was managable.  I was doing a much better job on the bike than the last race.  Heading down Ceasar Chavez was fairly fast.  The road is a mixture of smooth asphalt and a rougher chip seal.  The chip seal sucked.  When you get to the Mopac for the turn around, you loop under the Mopac and then climb straight up to Ceasar Chavez again.  There was a large group of road bikers under the bridge and they were making alot of noise.  That was cool.  Seemed like it was downhill from the Mopac back to the 1rst street bridge.  I was able to hold mid 20s without a problem.  It was a little confusing where the lanes split to finish or continue on the second and third loops.  I followed the crowd and it went ok.  After the first loop, I think Lance wrote -1:30 on the board which was acceptable loss.  The second lap I continued to lose some time but I think it was around -2:15.  The guy in fourth place passed me on the bike with about 2-3 miles left to go.  The third lap was featured by the heat and humidity coming on fast.  I was working hard and was something like 3:20 down going into transition.  I didn't feel horrible yet but was very worried about being behind on my nutrition.  I finished the bike in 1:13:03 and average 20.4mph.  Another PR for me at this distance, I have never gone 20+ at Olympic distance.  It felt fast but I didn't know it was that fast until later.  Doug averaged .8mph faster than me on the bike and it was the closest I have been to him on a bike leg this year.  I was happy at this point.

T2:  I made a nice flying one legged dismount.  Perhaps this wasn't smart.  The run from the mount line to my rack had me crossing a sharp gravel rock trail and then running through the sticker laden grass.  I probably should have just run with my shoes on.  I had a little trouble getting my running shoes on and had an extra towel to wipe my feet.  I didn't want rocks or anything in my shoes. I had a pair of socks but opted out again since I was behind.  Grabbed my cowboy hat and headed out.  Transition was good and I made up almost 30 seconds on Doug so I was right at 3:00 back coming out of T2.

Run:  I was way behind on hydration and nutrition to start the run.  My plan was to run a very steady, fast pace and stop at every aid station for water, gatorade, and pouring water all of me to stay cool.  I hoped to get out of there before it got too hot.  A half mile into the run, I knew this was going to be a problem.  The course was a strange mix of running across a grass field, onto the street, back on the grass, and back on the street again.  After one mile, Lance's board said I had closed to 2:00.  My second mile was tough.  I slowed from an 8:30 mile (which I hoped to average) to a 9:00 mile.  Mile 2 featured a hill that slowed me down some.  When I got my update at mile 2, I was within a 1:30.  It all fell apart during mile 3.  I ran the whole mile but I was dying slowly and it was frustrating.  The heat was taking a toll and my energy was fading.  At the end of mile 3, I was still about 1:30 back. 

I had to walk during mile 4 and felt depressed.  There was nothing I could do.  At this point, a decision had to be made.  I could throw caution to the wind and push this to the limit.  It could have resulted in a DNF and my elimination from the series or make sure I finished and try to minimize the damage.  I opted for the latter.  I ran when I could and walked when I needed to.  Right at the mile 4 marker I saw Doug walking and I wasn't that far back.  As encouraging as that was, I just couldn't get my body to cooperate.  The damage was done on the bike.  My last two or three miles were 11 minute miles.  I ended up averaging 10 minute miles which is aweful.  I should have moved into second place and would have been able to hold off the fourth place guy.  As it was, 1:02:03 10k run was going to put me in fourth place for the series.  When I got to the finish line, I fell down and tried to get my breath.  What turned out as a very good start, was heartbreaking at the end.

Post Race:  The medical team took me directly to the medical tent and put me in the ice pool.  After 15 minutes or so, my quads and hamstrings started to cramp.  They tried to work it out while I was in the pool but the cramps kept coming.  They had an electrolyte drink I kept drinking but I was way behind.  After another 10 minutes or so, I asked to get up and lay down on a cot.  It was really hard to get up and when I got to the cot my legs seized up badly.  They probably worked on me for a solid 25 minutes.  I have never hurt that bad from leg cramps.  It was terrible.  I finally drank enough and the cramps subsided.  I was able to get up and meet Patty and Lance.  We walked to transition and I picked up my stuff and walked back to the hotel.  We took a shower and packed the truck.  One of my fraternity brothers from Alabama lives in Austin and we were going to meet him for lunch at Chuy's before heading back to Dallas.  On the way out of the hotel, Chris McCormack (Macca) was standing by the door.  I was like wow, and said hello to him.  Really great guy.  He asked me about my race and we spoke for a few minutes.  I was in a hurry but how often do you get to speak with a Kona winner.  I asked him if he would take a picture with me and he said yes.  Just when I need something to cheer up, Macca gave me some words of encouragement.  Awesome.

 

In the end, I learned a lesson that I already knew.  Cardinal rule of endurance racing:  Do not do anything at a race that you have not trained with.  Going with the Speedfil without really knowing how to attach it properly to the bike was my downfall.  JT at the bike shop asked about the race and I told him what happened.  He, of course, told me I broke the cardinal rule which I agreed and told him to stop.  I am killing myself over it already.  It was great in alot of ways and depressing in others.  I gave away time that I didn't have to give over stupidity but PRd my swim and bike.  It would have been nice to see where things would have been if I had done this right.  I can't change it so it's time to move on.  There is one race left and it's a half iron distance.  I can still make up some time and maybe get to second or third but it will be tough.  I won't break any cardinal racing rules this time.  Patty and Lance were really supportive and that helps alot.  She drove me home.  The ride from Austin is horrible because of traffic jams.  I couldn't do this without them.  I have three weeks to get ready for Kerrville.  September 29 is it for me for the race season and then I'm taking a break.

9.1.13 Day Before TriRock

We are leaving this morning for Austin.  I went on a short 40 minute ride this morning with only a few short hard efforts.  My local bike shop, Bicycles Plus in Coppell, let me use one of their Zipp 808s for the race tomorrow.  I was looking for something a little deeper since the course is fairly flat in downtown Austin.  My neighbor Justin let me borrow his Speedfil and his aero helmet so I needed to get some of this new gear dialed in before we leave this morning.  This should be a really fast race so I'm looking forward to it.  I also went by the Trishop and bought a new tri suit with some of the speed suit swimming technology built in.  Should be fun to see how this goes.  I need 1:45 to get back to second place.  The half iron distance race is at the end of the month so it all comes to a close soon.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/368700075