CapTexTri 2012 Race Report
Pre-Race Goals/Thoughts
I'm really happy with my race this year at CapTexTri. 6 years ago, my very first triathlon was CapTexTri so in a way, it was fun to do it again since I haven't done it since then. Of course, back then, I did the super sprint version and this year I was doing the Olympic distance. I remember thinking the Olympic distance seemed CRAZY to me. Ha!
At first, I wasn't really super thrilled about doing this race and had in fact, avoided it for the most part since then. It's expensive, it's hot, it's a congested course with tons of people. But I felt like I wanted something in my season before heading off to Vineman and it sort of fell at the right time so I signed up. Then a week before the race, I suddenly realized I was racing my first race of the season (and it wasn't a sprint) and I should probably think about preparing for it.
I didn't really prepare much since it's not my goal race, though I did do shortened versions of my workouts so I suppose I had a bit of a taper. Though the crazy hilly, practically tempo-pace 50 mile bike ride I did with the Austin Women's Flyers the week before wasn't exactly taperish. Ah well.
My goals were pretty simple - practice good form and good drafting on the swim, tempo the bike course at a good strong, slightly uncomfortable pace (run be damned) and suffer through the run trusting the base I had already built up through last season and maintained through the winter. (Also pray that my legs didn't turn to jelly because I haven't been running much over 6 miles for my long runs and haven't been doing much in the way of running off the bike.) Oh, and under 3 hours.
I really wanted a barometer of where my bike is and if the bike training I've been really focusing on has doing has been doing any good. (Because sometimes it's hard to tell.)
So I didn't much feel nervous or anxious or really excited going into this race, but I felt strong and ready and in a good space mentally so that was good.
Swim
With a water temperature of 81 degrees, it wasn't wetsuit legal, which was perfectly fine with me. I hate dealing with it and it doesn't help me as much as other people so it was to my advantage that it not be legal.
The swim was good. First, I got my goggles kicked off my eyes (not completely off my head or anything) for the first time ever. So I had to stop for a second at the beginning and get them readjusted. No problem, I just started drafting off the girl that had kicked them off as she passed me. She ended up being too slow though so I passed her (and found out later she was a fellow Texas Iron athlete and she drafted off me the whole swim - ha!)
I did end up picking up another couple of feet at various times along the way. Otherwise the swim was uneventful. They had these weird little white buoys all along the whole course spaced out a few feet apart. The first time I swam over the top of one, I thought someone's wiffle ball had ended up in the water. Then I got tangled in the rope of another and then I whacked another one with my hand. It seemed like a good idea but you couldn't really see them at all in the water and they were just annoying to continue to run into unless you were constantly sighting ahead of you (which is unnecessary in a river swim because you can sight off the shore).
When I got out of the water, I went to lap my watch and noticed it was paused. I thought someone had kicked it but the time said 27 minutes and change and I thought that should be about the right time for my swim. I think when the volunteers yanked me out of the water, it got stopped so actually, it was my perfect swim time!
Bike
My transition was easy and fast and I was out and on my bike. Coach Karen told me to be careful of the people who didn't know what they were doing which made me laugh a little to myself because I knew she was right.
The bike course was busy. Too many people with too little space. There's no way to not draft in this race. I just tried to minimize the drafting as much as possible and keep moving past people as I could. The course has a couple little short steep hills and a complete u-turn at the bottom of a big downhill so you can't really get any momentum off it. I was hoping for a bike around 1:25ish and at the halfway point I was at 40 minutes so I just tried to keep up the tempo and make it. I nailed it at 1:24:40. Obviously not a negative split on the bike, but that was okay. I think I hit the first loop a little too hard.
Run
Another smooth transition and I was out on the run. And my legs felt AWFUL. So I tried to channel some coaches in my brain and kept adjusting my form and trying to increase my turnover. I didn't see any mile markers and didn't know how much longer I would have to go. It was hot and sunny and I just felt DONE. I finally finished the first loop and looked at my watch. 28 minutes. Holy cow! I thought I could probably make a one hour 10k but the though of doing a whole 5k at that point sounded IMPOSSIBLE.
Yah, so the whole second loop was a sufferfest. I just kept trying to think positively but it was so hard and again with the mile markers! So the good part of a loop course is that there is a lot of opportunity for spectators and it was so good seeing Emmaline and Roger out there. And there were other people shouting my name. I saw a bunch of Texas Iron people and Maggie was out there. It was pretty awesome. All those people, plus the lady with the sign that said "RUN BITCHES!" who was shouting "You didn't pay $150 to walk, did you!? Pick it up!!!!" really made it a lot better.
Finally I saw the mile 2 sign on the second lap (I missed it, obviously, the first time around plus every other mile marker) and I looked at my watch - 48 minutes. I just needed to run the last 1.1 miles in 12 minutes and I would definitely be in under 3 hours and complete the 10k in an hour. Doable. I think. But I did even though I was feeling not awesome by then.
Finally I was on the home stretch, high-fived Emmaline on my way by and headed for the finishing chute (which was really long)! I looked at my watch and saw 1:00:15. Well, not under 1 hour, but just an hour (and definitely not a negative split - ha!)
Post Race
After I finished I started feeling really bad. I felt weak and dizzy and I had to sit down. I sat in the dirt and waited for the feeling to pass. Finally I felt a little better and wandered over to find Roger and Emmaline. But I kept feeling awful so I sat again. I decided I needed more to drink, some shade and food (and I entertained the notion of the med tent). I got some food and more to drink and we found a shaded tent to sit.
I sat for a long time trying to regain the ability to stand without feeling like I was going to pass out. While we sat, Roger told me about his adventures during the race. Evidently Emmaline not only fell and scraped up her knee and elbow, but she ate a flower (?!?!) and ended up throwing up all over the two of them multiple times. So they ended up in the med tent (I resolved not to have two of the three of us pay a visit there that day). She ended up being just fine, but it ended up being a long day for all of us.
I made my goal and came in under 3 hours. My Olympic distance PR is 2:54:15 (Austin Triathlon 2007 which is a similar but different course) and while I'm not there yet, I'm getting a lot closer and this is my fasted Olympic since 2007. In 2010 I did Austin Triathlon in 3:09:59 and last September I did Austin Triathlon again 3:07:00. So basically yesterday I was nearly 10 minutes faster than last year which I'm pretty excited about.
Really, my real test was seeing how my bike was going. In September my bike was 1:29:20 at 16.7 mph and this year I did a similar (but again, somewhat different) course in 1:24:40 at 17.6 mph. That'a a great improvement! I'm really happy with how my bike is coming along, especially in light of my race in July.
My final times:
total time - 2:57:43 31/63 in age group
1500 M swim - 27:58 1:52/M
T1 2:41
40 K bike - 1:24:40 17.6 mph
T2 2:10
10k run - 1:00:12 9:43/mi
I'm really happy with my race this year at CapTexTri. 6 years ago, my very first triathlon was CapTexTri so in a way, it was fun to do it again since I haven't done it since then. Of course, back then, I did the super sprint version and this year I was doing the Olympic distance. I remember thinking the Olympic distance seemed CRAZY to me. Ha!
At first, I wasn't really super thrilled about doing this race and had in fact, avoided it for the most part since then. It's expensive, it's hot, it's a congested course with tons of people. But I felt like I wanted something in my season before heading off to Vineman and it sort of fell at the right time so I signed up. Then a week before the race, I suddenly realized I was racing my first race of the season (and it wasn't a sprint) and I should probably think about preparing for it.
I didn't really prepare much since it's not my goal race, though I did do shortened versions of my workouts so I suppose I had a bit of a taper. Though the crazy hilly, practically tempo-pace 50 mile bike ride I did with the Austin Women's Flyers the week before wasn't exactly taperish. Ah well.
My goals were pretty simple - practice good form and good drafting on the swim, tempo the bike course at a good strong, slightly uncomfortable pace (run be damned) and suffer through the run trusting the base I had already built up through last season and maintained through the winter. (Also pray that my legs didn't turn to jelly because I haven't been running much over 6 miles for my long runs and haven't been doing much in the way of running off the bike.) Oh, and under 3 hours.
I really wanted a barometer of where my bike is and if the bike training I've been really focusing on has doing has been doing any good. (Because sometimes it's hard to tell.)
So I didn't much feel nervous or anxious or really excited going into this race, but I felt strong and ready and in a good space mentally so that was good.
Swim
With a water temperature of 81 degrees, it wasn't wetsuit legal, which was perfectly fine with me. I hate dealing with it and it doesn't help me as much as other people so it was to my advantage that it not be legal.
The swim was good. First, I got my goggles kicked off my eyes (not completely off my head or anything) for the first time ever. So I had to stop for a second at the beginning and get them readjusted. No problem, I just started drafting off the girl that had kicked them off as she passed me. She ended up being too slow though so I passed her (and found out later she was a fellow Texas Iron athlete and she drafted off me the whole swim - ha!)
I did end up picking up another couple of feet at various times along the way. Otherwise the swim was uneventful. They had these weird little white buoys all along the whole course spaced out a few feet apart. The first time I swam over the top of one, I thought someone's wiffle ball had ended up in the water. Then I got tangled in the rope of another and then I whacked another one with my hand. It seemed like a good idea but you couldn't really see them at all in the water and they were just annoying to continue to run into unless you were constantly sighting ahead of you (which is unnecessary in a river swim because you can sight off the shore).
When I got out of the water, I went to lap my watch and noticed it was paused. I thought someone had kicked it but the time said 27 minutes and change and I thought that should be about the right time for my swim. I think when the volunteers yanked me out of the water, it got stopped so actually, it was my perfect swim time!
Bike
My transition was easy and fast and I was out and on my bike. Coach Karen told me to be careful of the people who didn't know what they were doing which made me laugh a little to myself because I knew she was right.
The bike course was busy. Too many people with too little space. There's no way to not draft in this race. I just tried to minimize the drafting as much as possible and keep moving past people as I could. The course has a couple little short steep hills and a complete u-turn at the bottom of a big downhill so you can't really get any momentum off it. I was hoping for a bike around 1:25ish and at the halfway point I was at 40 minutes so I just tried to keep up the tempo and make it. I nailed it at 1:24:40. Obviously not a negative split on the bike, but that was okay. I think I hit the first loop a little too hard.
Run
Another smooth transition and I was out on the run. And my legs felt AWFUL. So I tried to channel some coaches in my brain and kept adjusting my form and trying to increase my turnover. I didn't see any mile markers and didn't know how much longer I would have to go. It was hot and sunny and I just felt DONE. I finally finished the first loop and looked at my watch. 28 minutes. Holy cow! I thought I could probably make a one hour 10k but the though of doing a whole 5k at that point sounded IMPOSSIBLE.
Yah, so the whole second loop was a sufferfest. I just kept trying to think positively but it was so hard and again with the mile markers! So the good part of a loop course is that there is a lot of opportunity for spectators and it was so good seeing Emmaline and Roger out there. And there were other people shouting my name. I saw a bunch of Texas Iron people and Maggie was out there. It was pretty awesome. All those people, plus the lady with the sign that said "RUN BITCHES!" who was shouting "You didn't pay $150 to walk, did you!? Pick it up!!!!" really made it a lot better.
Finally I saw the mile 2 sign on the second lap (I missed it, obviously, the first time around plus every other mile marker) and I looked at my watch - 48 minutes. I just needed to run the last 1.1 miles in 12 minutes and I would definitely be in under 3 hours and complete the 10k in an hour. Doable. I think. But I did even though I was feeling not awesome by then.
Finally I was on the home stretch, high-fived Emmaline on my way by and headed for the finishing chute (which was really long)! I looked at my watch and saw 1:00:15. Well, not under 1 hour, but just an hour (and definitely not a negative split - ha!)
Post Race
After I finished I started feeling really bad. I felt weak and dizzy and I had to sit down. I sat in the dirt and waited for the feeling to pass. Finally I felt a little better and wandered over to find Roger and Emmaline. But I kept feeling awful so I sat again. I decided I needed more to drink, some shade and food (and I entertained the notion of the med tent). I got some food and more to drink and we found a shaded tent to sit.
I sat for a long time trying to regain the ability to stand without feeling like I was going to pass out. While we sat, Roger told me about his adventures during the race. Evidently Emmaline not only fell and scraped up her knee and elbow, but she ate a flower (?!?!) and ended up throwing up all over the two of them multiple times. So they ended up in the med tent (I resolved not to have two of the three of us pay a visit there that day). She ended up being just fine, but it ended up being a long day for all of us.
I made my goal and came in under 3 hours. My Olympic distance PR is 2:54:15 (Austin Triathlon 2007 which is a similar but different course) and while I'm not there yet, I'm getting a lot closer and this is my fasted Olympic since 2007. In 2010 I did Austin Triathlon in 3:09:59 and last September I did Austin Triathlon again 3:07:00. So basically yesterday I was nearly 10 minutes faster than last year which I'm pretty excited about.
Really, my real test was seeing how my bike was going. In September my bike was 1:29:20 at 16.7 mph and this year I did a similar (but again, somewhat different) course in 1:24:40 at 17.6 mph. That'a a great improvement! I'm really happy with how my bike is coming along, especially in light of my race in July.
My final times:
total time - 2:57:43 31/63 in age group
1500 M swim - 27:58 1:52/M
T1 2:41
40 K bike - 1:24:40 17.6 mph
T2 2:10
10k run - 1:00:12 9:43/mi
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