Weekend of Racing Recap
My legs are a little sore this morning.
Saturday and Sunday were back-to-back days of racing. They weren’t long distances, but they were long enough that running hard both days took its toll on me.
Saturday was the TX Tri down at Canyon Lake. It was the chosen as the Texas State Championships by USAT/SMW, so to keep the top times fast, they invited a few of the faster guys from town to race. With that, my previous observation about ‘slow’ times went right out the window.
After doing ‘bigger’ races with 2000+ competitors, like Ironman and the big local races, doing smaller races with around 150-200 people is a nice change. I still like the spectacle and energy of the larger races, but the smaller races are more relaxed with a community vibe to them. About the race…
Sunrise before the Swim
Start of the Swim Wave
One of these days, I’ll figure out race swimming. I can do 100m repeats in the pool around 1m30s without much difficulty, but for some reason, I get in open water, and I’m stuck at 1m50s per 100, even with a wetsuit. I just can’t seem to get it any faster. This race reinforced that. 28:20 for 1500m (1:53/100m pace). I swam arrow-straight to the buoys, kept a long, strong stroke, but still ended up slow. The only issue I had during the swim was one guy that kept crossing back and forth on top of me, drove me nuts.
Swim-to-Bike Transition
Transition was quick – about minute and a half, including wetsuit removal (I really like transition on pavement – much cleaner.)
The bike course is the only reason why I wouldn’t recommend this race. It’s a tough, rough and slow slog. Only about 7 or 8 miles is smooth pavement and the rest is really bad condition with some decent hills, and on this particular Saturday, a headwind. I absolutely hate rough pavement. I will take hills, wind, even rain or snow (ok, maybe not snow) over rough pavement any day. The vibrations just kill me. Bike split was 1hr20m for 26.5 miles, barely squeaking a 20mph pace.
Getting off the bike, my teeth still rattling, I wasn’t sure how I was going to run. I was still feeling less than great when I ran past Ivonne on the first loop and wasn’t very pleasant to her. (Sorry! I’ll be better next time!) It turned out the run was the highlight of the race for me. I found a good stride after 10 minutes and finished the 5.9 miles at 6:37/mile.
On the Run Course
Total time for the day was 2hr30 minutes even – good enough for 22nd overall and 3rd in the age group.
I went for a spin with Ivonne later that evening, after she had done a couple of hours of riding already. My legs were tired, but felt good on that ride. I was hoping that eating a bunch, spinning my legs and getting nine hours of sleep would set me up for a good 10K in the morning.
The 10K was close to home, so unlike the hour and fifteen minute drive the morning before, we were at the race in about eight minutes. During a mile or so warmup, I couldn’t judge how my body was going to respond. I feel that on fresh legs and with good weather, I have the ability to get under 6min/mile at this race. The weather was perfect, so I had my goal.
I never feel great at the beginning of a running race no matter how much or how little I warm up. I just start running a pre-planned speed and know that come the second half of the race, I can pick it up and deal with more suffering to finish faster than I started. This morning, however, the 2nd-half-pick-up-the-pace magic just didn’t happen. I couldn’t get the turnover and the stride so it felt like I was running fast. I ran the first half just as I wanted to – 6:02/mile. But I just couldn’t keep it going and ran a positive split at 6:19/mile for a 38:30 overall time (6:12 pace – 57th OA/13th AG).
Ivonne, however, did absolutely awesome. Despite lifting heavy weights Friday and riding 50 miles the night before (not to mention spectating at the TX Tri Saturday morning), she pulled a 51:09. A PR by a huge margin. Of course, now expectations are higher 
Next up – Iron Star Half Iron in Conroe, TX