TexasMan X-50 Triathlon - TriathlonLong Course


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Valley View, Texas
United States
Dallas Athletes Racing
75F / 24C
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 43m 58s
Overall Rank = 115/
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 1/3
Pre-race routine:

Wow what a day! And it started out as an early one - 4:00 a.m. early. I packed everything up the night before, so I could "sleep in". After rolling out of bed, all I had to do was get dressed in my awesome, speedy tri-gear and make my usual pre-race breakfast (peanut butter bagel). The race site was an hour from home so I met up with two friends to caravan up there. Funny thing about Triathletes - we buy our cars to fit our bikes. The 3 of us each had a SUV to fit our bike - none of us had the bikes on a bike rack. I have one, but it's just more comforting knowing my baby is safe and secure in the back of the car rather than on the bike rack where it is subjected to the elements outside! So we get to the race start and hit the restroom before the lines got too long.

At this point, it's still pitch black dark out and FREEZING. Somehow we dipped down to 51 degrees in May! Transition opened at 5:45 so we had just a few minutes to get our stuff together and get it all up there to set up. I actually put my wetsuit ON after getting body marked so that I could warm up! It helped, a little. So I got transition set up, and hit the restrooms one last time. We all headed down to the beach as the sun finally came up, and it got a little warmer (thank god!).

I was entered in the X-50 race (1 mile swim, 40 mile bike, 9 mile run= 50 miles). It's an odd distance, but I really liked it. Slightly less than a Half Ironman, but more than the Olympic Distance. This race also offered the Olympic distance as well as the shorter sprint distance. Nearly 800 athletes were there! My race had approximately 200 people in it. I would venture to say that the sprint had the majority of the rest of the 800, but the Olympic was still well attended as well.




Event warmup:

None - stand on the beach with my friends and take pictures lol
Swim
  • 40m 13s
  • 1760 yards
  • 02m 17s / 100 yards
Comments:

The X-50 had two waves of swim starts - 7:00 and 7:05 (which ended up being more like 7:20 and 7:25, but we got there). My wave watched the first wave take off and head straight out towards the sun. As we're waiting for the gun to go off for our wave, we see some of the first wavers standing up WALKING rather than swimming in the middle of the lake! (Apparently there is a sandbar out there!).

So finally, they let us get started. I downed my first Gu just before we got headed out. This swim was pretty uneventful for me, except for a brief moment of panic when I got a huge mouthful of water and couldn't catch my breath. I got myself calmed down and settled back in to a nice, smooth pace. There was a bit of kicking, but for the most part, I did pretty good and stayed on course. I did get a strange cramp in my left calve (more on this later).
What would you do differently?:

Need to work more on sighting so I can stay on course better!
Transition 1
  • 05m
Comments:

The transition area was probably a good .2 of a mile uphill from the lake, up a cement path. Volunteers were there to help you strip off your wetsuit quickly (boy are they good!) I begged them not to strip my pants off with the wetsuit! So I get to my bike and decided since it was cooler out, that a dry shirt would be a good thing. So I took the time to actually change into my bike jersey.
What would you do differently?:

Keep flip flops or some sort of house shoe near the swim out - I bruised my heel running the cement path up to transition. I have very wimpy feet!
Bike
  • 2h 26m 48s
  • 41.6 miles
  • 17.00 mile/hr
Comments:

The first few miles of the bike were brutal - the wind had picked up and the roads were HORRIBLE. I actually stopped briefly at mile 4 to see if my brakes were rubbing because I was going so dang slow! (They weren't). Other than the cruddy road conditions, the course was nice with the exception of the "turn around HERE!" that was sprung on us at the last second. I'm surpised there weren't accidents there. Maybe there were, but I didnt see them. The course was two loops, and the last 75% of the course back into the park was super fast! It was so nice.
What would you do differently?:

I need to remember to check my bike out before the race starts - it has a history of the brakes getting moved around (probably from me throwing it in the back of my car).
Transition 2
  • 02m 45s
Comments:

Pretty uneventful transition. Either that or I have forgotten already!
What would you do differently?:

Dunno...have to think on that one.
Run
  • 1h 29m 11s
  • 8.77 miles
  • 10m 10s  min/mile
Comments:

There were plenty of water stations and some very friendly volunteers. I did learn that Lime Cliff Shots and Cherry Power-Ade do NOT mix well.

The first mile was a little rough, but I got in a zone and was feeling great! I kept checking my Garmin and wondering what the heck I was doing - it read MUCH faster than I usually run! I did walk through every water stop with the exception of the last one (because it was only 1 mile from the finish line). The last mile I was feeling extraordinary and FLEW through the finish line! It was so awesome!


What would you do differently?:

I need to quit spending so much time chatting with the volunteers at the water stations lol
Post race
Warm down:

So my fellow Ironman training friends and I were given an "extra credit" assignment for after the race by our coach. We were lucky enough to get to run 6 more miles! Yay for us! We gathered up after resting for a few minutes and headed back out up the trail while all the other finishers sat around eating and watching the awards ceremony. At this point, none of us cared about the pace lol so we'd run/walk/run/walk/stop at the water stop/walk/run/walk/run/etc. We ran by the man announcing the finishers (there were still others coming in from the run) and he said into the microphone "STOP WORKING OUT" and "Ya'll are SICK!") Denise had a leg injury going on, so she stopped and told us to go on. I think Michael and I ran maybe another mile and were debating the whole way whether we wanted to keep going or call it a day. Just as we decided to keep going and finish it up - my calve cramped big time and stopped me dead in my tracks. A woman walking by saw it happen and she said "Sometimes we need to listen to our bodies" lol (I wanted to say "Yes Mother"). So we stopped at 3.5 miles out of the planned 6.

Unfortunately, by the time we finished our "extra credit", all the booths with food had been taken down! We went up to transition to pack up our stuff so we could find some food somewhere. As we're in transition, Denise is told by a woman that I must have placed in my age bracket, because she got 3rd and there were only 3 of us! Well, for anyone that knows me, I am not a fast swimmer, a fast cyclist OR a fast runner. I am mediocre, but I can go forever. So it's actually pretty pitiful for me to PLACE in anything lol But when you have a small race, anything is possible! So we got all our stuff packed up and headed back to where the timing tent was to see if I actually had placed. I was still in disbelief lol The woman at the timing tent finds my age group print out and says "You didn't just place - you WON!" Unbelievable. And actually pretty pitiful lol because again, I am not fast. I guess it pays to be the youngest in the age bracket, especially when there's only 3 of us lol

So she hands me this most awesome plaque (and the finisher's medal is next to it). I'm still in major disbelief lol It will probably never happen again lol but it sure was FUN!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Again, spending too much time asking the volunteers at the water stop where the beer was! (Which I didn't get any of since everyone was gone by the time we finished our extra credit!).

Event comments:

LOVED this race - they just need to get the roads fixed and also swept if at all possible. There was lots of loose gravel and sand in many places.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2011-05-17 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:40:13 | 1760 yards | 02m 17s / 100yards
Age Group: 1/3
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Suit: Team Tri-suit
Course: Rectangular - clockwise
Start type: Run Plus:
Water temp: 68F / 20C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Good Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 05:00
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
02:26:48 | 41.6 miles | 17.00 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/3
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Was supposed to be 40 miles, but was nearly two miles longer according to my Garmin and everyone elses.
Wind: Strong
Course: "T" shaped for the most part - 2 laps. VERY poor road conditions for the first 6 miles or so of each lap.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:45
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike Below average
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
01:29:11 | 08.77 miles | 10m 10s  min/mile
Age Group: 2/3
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
The run was supposed to be 9 miles, but was only 8.77 according to my Garmin and everyone elses. I was ok with that!
Course: Nice shaded, paved path through the park, and partially on the road.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5