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07-17-06, 08:42 AM
This was my first Olympic distance tri and only my second tri ever. Did my first sprint in June. My wife and I have been training since January.
It was a hot day and going to be getting hotter. There has been a nice heat wave in Dallas and it has been over 100 every day for about a week. I woke up at 4am and checked the weather, still 86 degrees. Hourly forecast, 9am=93 degree, feels like 100; 10am=98 degree, feels like 105. Great.
This was the same location as the sprint I did at Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie, a suburb of Dallas. I made it to the site around 5:30 and the race didn't start till 7:15 so I had plenty of time to get ready. Got my body marked and started setting up transition. My wife made me this little flag that I could clamp on to the rack to help find during transition. I highly recommend this, it works great. With over 500 competitors, it was nice to just have to look for my green flag to find my bike/rack.
After setting up my transition I headed to the lake for a warmup. First thing I noticed was damn did that mile swim look long. Next, the lake sure looks much calmer than last time I was here. That's relieving.
Race started at 7:15am. I was in the second wave with probably 125 people in it. We started a little in the water but it was still crazy. Got hit in the face and my goggles knocked a little loose in the first 50m. It went a bit better after that. Never got my rhythm real good so I was taking a lot of breaks and switching to backstroke. Finished the swim in 39:53. I wanted to beat 40 minutes, so I was happy.
Got into transition and out relatively quick considering I have shoes that I have to tie. Got on the bike and was feeling pretty tired. After a few miles I was finally warming up a bit on the bike. It was a two-loop ride on a single street. One direction down the street, the wind was at your back so it was nice, the other was against the wind. The wind was not as strong as the sprint so that was good. I never felt really great on the bike, my back was hurting a lot. I borrowed a tri bike from a friend that didn't fit real well. Oh well. Finished the 26 mile course with a 19.2mph avg in 1:21. I really wanted to hit 20mph avg, maybe next time.
Back into transition and this one was a little faster. I didn't have to dry off my feet or anything. Just yanked off my bike shoes, threw on my runnings shoes and hat, and I was off. I am not a great runner by any means. I am probably best on the bike. I was really hoping to hold a 10min/mile pace on the run. By now it was ridiculously hot though. My calves were hurting pretty bad for the first 2 miles or so before they really warmed up. There were 7 aid stations on the run stocked with water, gatorade, and pretzels. I just stuck with the water. One cup to drink, one on the head at every stop. I tried my hardest to at least run between aid stations and then walk a little at each one. This worked great for the first 3 or a little more miles. Just before the 3-mile mark we turned and went up onto a dam. It was really hot, no trees, and no breeze up there. Plus it was just long and straight. I feel so much better on runs with turns for some reason, helps forget how long it is. Anyways, ended up running about half mile then walking a little for pretty much the rest of the course. Finished the run with a crappy 12:15/mile pace in an hour and 16 minutes.
Total time for my first Oly tri was 3:20:51. I had a goal to beat 3:15, just 5 minutes shy. Maybe next time. I'm probably done with Oly's for this year. Taking some time off of training and am planning one more sprint in early fall. Maybe next year I'll try an Oly again.
I'll probably post some pictures tonight when I get home.
It was a hot day and going to be getting hotter. There has been a nice heat wave in Dallas and it has been over 100 every day for about a week. I woke up at 4am and checked the weather, still 86 degrees. Hourly forecast, 9am=93 degree, feels like 100; 10am=98 degree, feels like 105. Great.
This was the same location as the sprint I did at Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie, a suburb of Dallas. I made it to the site around 5:30 and the race didn't start till 7:15 so I had plenty of time to get ready. Got my body marked and started setting up transition. My wife made me this little flag that I could clamp on to the rack to help find during transition. I highly recommend this, it works great. With over 500 competitors, it was nice to just have to look for my green flag to find my bike/rack.
After setting up my transition I headed to the lake for a warmup. First thing I noticed was damn did that mile swim look long. Next, the lake sure looks much calmer than last time I was here. That's relieving.
Race started at 7:15am. I was in the second wave with probably 125 people in it. We started a little in the water but it was still crazy. Got hit in the face and my goggles knocked a little loose in the first 50m. It went a bit better after that. Never got my rhythm real good so I was taking a lot of breaks and switching to backstroke. Finished the swim in 39:53. I wanted to beat 40 minutes, so I was happy.
Got into transition and out relatively quick considering I have shoes that I have to tie. Got on the bike and was feeling pretty tired. After a few miles I was finally warming up a bit on the bike. It was a two-loop ride on a single street. One direction down the street, the wind was at your back so it was nice, the other was against the wind. The wind was not as strong as the sprint so that was good. I never felt really great on the bike, my back was hurting a lot. I borrowed a tri bike from a friend that didn't fit real well. Oh well. Finished the 26 mile course with a 19.2mph avg in 1:21. I really wanted to hit 20mph avg, maybe next time.
Back into transition and this one was a little faster. I didn't have to dry off my feet or anything. Just yanked off my bike shoes, threw on my runnings shoes and hat, and I was off. I am not a great runner by any means. I am probably best on the bike. I was really hoping to hold a 10min/mile pace on the run. By now it was ridiculously hot though. My calves were hurting pretty bad for the first 2 miles or so before they really warmed up. There were 7 aid stations on the run stocked with water, gatorade, and pretzels. I just stuck with the water. One cup to drink, one on the head at every stop. I tried my hardest to at least run between aid stations and then walk a little at each one. This worked great for the first 3 or a little more miles. Just before the 3-mile mark we turned and went up onto a dam. It was really hot, no trees, and no breeze up there. Plus it was just long and straight. I feel so much better on runs with turns for some reason, helps forget how long it is. Anyways, ended up running about half mile then walking a little for pretty much the rest of the course. Finished the run with a crappy 12:15/mile pace in an hour and 16 minutes.
Total time for my first Oly tri was 3:20:51. I had a goal to beat 3:15, just 5 minutes shy. Maybe next time. I'm probably done with Oly's for this year. Taking some time off of training and am planning one more sprint in early fall. Maybe next year I'll try an Oly again.
I'll probably post some pictures tonight when I get home.