TriWaco

On July 26th I participated in the 1st annual TriWaco. This was my 20th triathlon and my 5th of 2009. This is a race that featured both an Olympic and a Sprint distance. I signed up for the Olympic as I was needing the longer distance work. As I traveled to Waco on Saturday the 25th I was still feeling a little tired from my century ride from the weekend before but I felt like I was going to have a good race. The event location and hotel were great. We stayed at the host hotel which was the Waco Hilton. This worked out great as the transition area was right outside the hotel lobby doors. After packet pick-up which was also at the hotel I got a look at the swim course along with locating my spot in transition. Later in the evening we ate Deep Dish Pizza at a local Italian restaurant. It was really good although I wouldn't say it was good as that place in Chicago that I have eaten at a few times.

Race day was a little different than usual. I didn't need to wake up quite as early as I normally do for a race due to the fact that the race was so close. This was good because I had a difficult time falling asleep. The air conditioner in the room was noisy and it kept the room very cold. I couldn't seem to get the temperature right. When I woke up I had an upset stomach. I think it was the nerves and the food from the night before causing it. After changing and gathering my things I headed down to the transition area to get set up. As I walking through transition I located Geoff and Sarah who were also doing the race. (Geoff the Olympic and Sarah the Sprint) After chatting for a minute I went to set up my area. As I arrived to my rack I noticed that the one spot left was next to a guy who looked like he was moving in. He had so much stuff. I can not believe an Official didn't make him fix it. As I getting my bike into place he asked me if I needed him to move his stuff over. I said YES!!! Unfortunately, he didn't move anything. I think this might have been his first race. After I set up my transition area I try to eat a little and then I headed down to the swim start for the longest pre-race meeting ever.

After the meeting the race director shuffled the first wave (my wave) into the water for the start. I was still a little nervous but it goes away as soon as we get started. After the gun went off I started swimming and I felt good. As I went through the water I knew I wasn't going fast but I felt good. As I finishing up my swim I merged with a group of the Sprinters. It wasn't too bad but it did get crowded. As exited the water I was very disappointed to see my swim time was 43 minutes. This was my slowest Olympic swim yet. I have documented my swim troubles this year on every race update I have done but this very disappointing. I have spent so much time working on my swimming and I felt so good during this swim so I'm not sure what I did wrong. I really need to make time for Emmitt's class.

Once I got into transition I knew I had a lot of time to make up. As I got the bike course I still felt good. The first part of the bike I was averaging 22 or 23 mph. After a few miles however, the wind shifted and the hills kicked in. There was a point on the bike that I was probably averaging 17 mph and I was getting frustrated. As we made the turnaround I got a little tailwind and the hills were behind us and I was moving well again. I started averaging 24 to 25 mph and I was making up time. As I headed back into transition I still felt good but I knew I had a tough run ahead. My bike time was pretty good at 1:11:28 for an average of 21.2 mph. I think this might be my best bike time for an Olympic.

Now for the run. It started off pretty flat and fast and I still felt good. Early in the run I saw a 59 year old man pass me like I was standing still but I didn't care. The first couple miles of the run was relatively flat but the worst still to come. The hills at the middle of the run reminded me of the Longhorn Triathlon. I tried to run the hills fast but I couldn't. As I rounded mile 5 of the run I could hear Alex, Jessica and Norma yelling go LUKE! I think they could be heard back in Houston. As headed up the path that lead to finish line I tired but I knew I had decent race. My run time was OK with a time of 54:02.

My overall time was 2:53:59. It wasn't my fastest time but I think it is my second fastest for this distance. Geoff and Sarah both did great. They each placed second in their age group. Congrats to each of them. Overall it was a good race. Jack Weiss always puts on a good event. I would recommend this race to anyone.

The day after the race I got a head cold. I think the air conditioner in the hotel room might have caused this. I took Monday and Tuesday off as I recovered and as we traveled to Dallas and I got a short run in on Wednesday. I plan to get a long run and short ride in this weekend. Things are coming together.

Next up is the Clearlake International Triathlon in August. I'm looking forward to this event. It will be Tri #6 for the season.

Later Dudes!

Katy Flatlands

Last Sunday I did another first. I completed my first Century Ride during the Katy Flatlands. I have done a bunch of rides between 50 and 75 miles and my furthest ride last year of 83 miles but I have never made it over the 100 mile mark.

Sunday was supposed to be a little cooler and there was a 60% chance of rain. I was looking forward to a cooler ride but I had a feeling it was not going to happen. I left for the ride around 6am and it seems that was a little too late. Because of the amount of riders I didn't get on my bike until 7:30 because we couldn't get parked. At the beginning of the ride I got into it with a volunteer and a Ride Marshall. Because it was hard to get parked I and a number of other riders were not able to get started with the riders going 100 miles. The Marshall and the volunteer said we would have to wait until all of the 40 mile riders left before they would let us go. I made a stink about it and they eventually let us go before the 40 mile group.
As for the ride itself it wasn't too bad. There were only a few idiots on the ride and I didn't have any trouble with traffic. I had a decent ride time of 5:07 for 101.1 miles. The first 60 miles were much better for me. It was much cooler and I was averaging a little over 20 mph. The last 40 was tough. It was hot and the wind was picking up. Not to mention I was getting tired. The best part of the ride was having my personal S.A.G. for the ride. It was nice having Norma help me through the ride. It made doing the 100 miles much easier. I'm not sure if I will do this ride next year but I do recommend it.

Next up is the Waco Tri on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it but I am still a little tired from the ride. It will be my first Olympic of 2009.

Later

Kiwanis Kids Triathlon

Saturday was my time volunteering at a triathlon. I know what you are thinking, for someone who has done as many triathlons, bike rides and running events as i have he must have volunteered at least a few times. Well, I haven't sorry. But I decided to make up for lost time and man the bike turn around at the Kiwanis Kids Triathlon. I will say it would have been nice to be in the transition or run areas to see more of the run and finish line action but watching the bike turn around was pretty neat. The bike course was on Jones Rd and was out and back totaling a mile. The smaller kids 7-9 did one loop and the older kids 10-12 did 2 loops for 2 miles. The turnaround was funny because we had to slow kids down to make a sharp u-turn and many just couldn't. A number of kids ate it on the curb but they always jumped right up and kept going. If it would have been me that fell I'm sure that my attitude would not been so good. The bike portion went pretty fast and once we picked up all the cones off Jones Rd the race was over.

There were two kids I was pulling for during the race. First, was Joe a 10 year old first timer and the nephew of Sarah. This kid was flying on his Mongoose BMX and I think he had a blast.We have good pictures of him on the bike and one of him kissing his guns while on the swing set. He finished 3rd in his age group. And then there was Steven, Coach Liz's kid. This was not his first rodeo and he looked real strong on the bike. He actually had time to wave at me before he made his first turn around. I could tell on his second loop that he wanted to go faster but he couldn't due to the no passing rule. I'm not sure where Steven finished because I had to leave and they were still sorting through the awards. I'm sure he was close to the top of his age group.

It was a hot day but a fun one. It was neat watching all the little kids racing. They are pretty competitive and I'm sure they will beating me in a race sometime in the near future. I can't wait for next years race.

Feeling Much Better

I was off work last week and I was able to get in some good training. All told I put in 110 miles on the bike, 26 miles of running and 2100 meters in the pool. I was also able to lift weights 3 times. I originally planned to swim a bit more but it didn't fit into my plan the way I wanted it to. I'm going to dial back the distance this week to let my body recover from last week and then I will ramp it back up. I'm trying to be very careful about over training. I think that is was set me back in May and June.

I am still planning to do the Waco Triathlon at the end of the month and I will be riding the Katy Flatland on the 19th. I'm not sure what distance I will do but I would like to do the Century Ride. I'll see how I am feeling as date draws closer and make a decision at that time on the distance.