I have not written on my blogsite for a while, mostly because I have not raced in a while. I decided to do The Austin Triathlon this year because it was a lot of fun last year and Jack and Adams added a prize purse to this year's event. I came to this race very rested and ready to race a personal best time. My bike fit feels back to normal and my running has been becoming more comfortable, so I knew it was time for a good race.
I traveled to Austin this year by myself and lazed around in the hotel the day before watching Hurricane Gustav updates. It felt almost wrong to be getting ready for a race at the same time that a major hurricane was set to hit New Orleans. My husband is from New Orleans, so we have a lot of family and friends from that area that we were concerned about. Thankfully, none of them had major damage done to their homes.
What a bizzare race for me. If you had told me half way through the race that I would have ended up with the win, I wouldn't have believed you. I decided to wear a long-sleeved wetsuit in (was it really?) 78 degree water, despite Kelly Handel's suggestion that we don't. :) The minute the race started, I knew I was in trouble. I was SO HOT! The entire swim, I was so focused on making sure my head did not explod from heat stroke. I had to fill my suit with water every minute just to keep my body temperature under control. For much of the swim, I kinda thought my day might be over. I was unable to push hard because I just got to hot. Karen Maldanado said I looked bright red when I came out of the water. I fumbled through transition and slowly ran my bike out onto the course.
I heard Adam say I was minutes down, and I was pretty upset. Oh well. Shouldn't have worn that wetsuit! I felt funky on the first loop of the bike probably because I was still overheated. I finally settled into a groove and was able to take the lead at the end of the second loop. I kept thinking "I've got to put mintues, not seconds, on Kelly to make sure she doesn't hunt me down on the run." My new bike and race wheels are awesome. The Zipp wheels are so aero, it makes the downhills scary fast. I also raised the front end on my bike (a little less aero?) because the steeper fit has really been taxing my glutes, lower back, and hamstrings.
The slower swim and gradually-building bike probably helped me have a faster run than normal. I had considerably lower heart rates for the swim and bike than I normally have, and started the run with fresher legs than ever. Pacing works...imagine that. I tried to hold back on the first loop of the run, so that I didn't blow up and have Kelly fly by me like last year. She was gaining on me, but luckily the finish line came before she caught me! :) I was shocked when I saw the finish clock because it was a personal best by a couple minutes: 2:02:27! I knew I had that kind of performance in me, but just hadn't been able to pull it off this year. It'd be great to put in a performance like this at the Dallas Open in October.
There was a large open field this year with some great talent on both the men's and women's side. Karen Maldonado (my good friend) was the first overall female out of the age-groupers. Go Karen! Austin always puts on great races, and I recommend this race (and CapTex) to anyone.
Two friends of mine--Jim Perkins and David Wallace-- did their first ever triathlon in Austin. They both hated the swim, but still finished strong with great run splits. Hopefully, they will sign up for more triathlons in the future.
Next up is Cinco Ranch and then the Dallas Toyoto Open.
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