Photo by Mario Cantu
...because they are not all good! Today was the Austin Triathlon, put on by Jack and Adams and to top it off they offered a $4999 prize purse! How cool is that...why all the 9's? Because they wanted anyone, not just professionals, to have an opportunity to win it. Those nifty guys...so smart.
Well I'll get right into this one, I hear some people (..ahem, derick..) say they do not read my blog because my race reports are too long. I woke up to a lovely 80-degree Austin day, this is typical...not alarming in any way. Took my nice 20-min walk down to transition area (we live 1 mile from the start) which I called 'warmup'. Set up my things, and headed to the swim start. I opted for a wetsuit this year, the sleeveless Zoot, desipte the toasty 78-degree water, since last year I won by about 50 seconds and did not wear one. There was money up this year, needed all I could get! We were off right at 7:00 and the swim felt great. I caught a lot of people by the turnaround, and then as we rounded the last buoy, I passed the lead woman which was nice considering there was a $500 swim prime courtesy of TYR that I was unaware of! Luckily, I snatched that up and had a very good swim today. Going strong...
Onto the bike where it was all Kelly Hammerfest Time. This weekend, however unlike Chicago, I actually felt strong! I think that the couple of long, gradual climbs today worked in my favor, as hills are a strength of mine. My mantra today was 'don't get caught, don't get caught, don't get caught'. However, Michelle LeBlanc out of The Woodlands was stalking me and finally caught her prey 2 miles into the 3 loop course. I got a nice few words of encouragement from good friend Paul Terranova, and just gritted my teeth and kept pushing...minimize the gap! I have to say, unlike many bikes; I thoroughly enjoyed this start to finish! Maybe it was taking 2 gels; it likely allowed me to feel strong and not see the energy fall off.
Off the wheels, on to feet. I transitioned smoothly and took off on our short cross-country jaunt. They changed the run to where we probably ran on grass for 1/2 mile or so. Fun. I saw Michelle out there and I think she yelled for me?! What a nice girl. Or perhaps it was someone else. I started out and wanted to catch her...now! But about 1-mile into it, I realized I was kind of tired. Go figure. This course has 5 out and backs on each loop, so a lot of chances to see the competition. She looked strong and while I felt smooth, I felt tired and a bit wobbley. First loop down and yikes, one more whole loop to go. This is where you just think '10 more minutes, 10 more minutes...' or whatever it is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I managed to run a 37:30, however it was not quite enough as she still had a little less than a minute on me at the finish. HOWEVER; I was still pleased with this race, as I had a very strong swim, VERY strong bike for me (1:04 which I think may be a PR split) and still managed a 37-min 10k. Michelle deserved this win, she did a 2:02 overall and put out a whopping 1:00-bike split. Scary fast. And she has 2 kids nonetheless...I hear that makes women faster. Maybe I should just pop one out to help out the speed? Hmm...not likely.
All in all...a really great day of racing out there. This was a huge triathlon for Austin. The whole crew at Jack and Adams did an incredible job of putting this together, and seemed to be a fun time had by all of the participants. And, I have to give a huge congrats out to SE Athlete James Cotter, who had a stellar performance, winning the mens race by 2 minutes! James is a 'newer' pro but he has big things in store, and he deserved this win today...so congrats James!
Thanks for reading, I hope you all had a safe and happy Labor Day. Ah, and the title of this post...I don't mean to say that this was a 'bad day' by any stretch, but oh boy did that run hurt. There are some races that you can finish smiling and sprinting and feeling like you are on air. Today, for me, was not one of them. That being said, it is supposed to be hard and I love the fact that I feel like I worked for every ounce of speed I had today! That is what racing is about. Savor the good and learn from the bad! (was this short enough?)
Onto the bike where it was all Kelly Hammerfest Time. This weekend, however unlike Chicago, I actually felt strong! I think that the couple of long, gradual climbs today worked in my favor, as hills are a strength of mine. My mantra today was 'don't get caught, don't get caught, don't get caught'. However, Michelle LeBlanc out of The Woodlands was stalking me and finally caught her prey 2 miles into the 3 loop course. I got a nice few words of encouragement from good friend Paul Terranova, and just gritted my teeth and kept pushing...minimize the gap! I have to say, unlike many bikes; I thoroughly enjoyed this start to finish! Maybe it was taking 2 gels; it likely allowed me to feel strong and not see the energy fall off.
Off the wheels, on to feet. I transitioned smoothly and took off on our short cross-country jaunt. They changed the run to where we probably ran on grass for 1/2 mile or so. Fun. I saw Michelle out there and I think she yelled for me?! What a nice girl. Or perhaps it was someone else. I started out and wanted to catch her...now! But about 1-mile into it, I realized I was kind of tired. Go figure. This course has 5 out and backs on each loop, so a lot of chances to see the competition. She looked strong and while I felt smooth, I felt tired and a bit wobbley. First loop down and yikes, one more whole loop to go. This is where you just think '10 more minutes, 10 more minutes...' or whatever it is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I managed to run a 37:30, however it was not quite enough as she still had a little less than a minute on me at the finish. HOWEVER; I was still pleased with this race, as I had a very strong swim, VERY strong bike for me (1:04 which I think may be a PR split) and still managed a 37-min 10k. Michelle deserved this win, she did a 2:02 overall and put out a whopping 1:00-bike split. Scary fast. And she has 2 kids nonetheless...I hear that makes women faster. Maybe I should just pop one out to help out the speed? Hmm...not likely.
All in all...a really great day of racing out there. This was a huge triathlon for Austin. The whole crew at Jack and Adams did an incredible job of putting this together, and seemed to be a fun time had by all of the participants. And, I have to give a huge congrats out to SE Athlete James Cotter, who had a stellar performance, winning the mens race by 2 minutes! James is a 'newer' pro but he has big things in store, and he deserved this win today...so congrats James!
Thanks for reading, I hope you all had a safe and happy Labor Day. Ah, and the title of this post...I don't mean to say that this was a 'bad day' by any stretch, but oh boy did that run hurt. There are some races that you can finish smiling and sprinting and feeling like you are on air. Today, for me, was not one of them. That being said, it is supposed to be hard and I love the fact that I feel like I worked for every ounce of speed I had today! That is what racing is about. Savor the good and learn from the bad! (was this short enough?)
3 comments:
Way to when the extra $500! Thats like winning 1st!!
LC
yay I read it all!
Great race! So incredible to see you leave it all on the run course after an awesome bike. You are sooo tough!
mer
Derick - congrats on reading the report!
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