2014 CapTexTri Race Report
Pre-Race
I had really mixed feelings headed into this race. I was just coming off Marble Falls half a few weeks before and I honestly didn’t train overly much in the weeks between, so mentally, I felt uncertain about where I might be. However, in the workouts the week leading up to the race, I felt really strong so I thought maybe I could have a good race. I didn’t have any specific goals other than swim, bike and run splits faster than the same race the year before.
Unfortunately, the weather was looking iffy and I couldn’t help but think about CapTexTri from 2007 which was completely rained out before it was even underway. Race morning dawned with light rain and I obsessively checked social media to find out what was going to happen, sort of hoping for an hour delay so I could get a little more sleep. But the rain seemed to clear and the race was on so I headed off to the race site. I got all my stuff set up and headed over to the swim entrance to wait for an hour and twenty minutes for my wave.
Swim
The swim this year was different in that they used a time trial style start for the swim. We were still grouped by wave, but then when it was our turn, we went into the water one at a time, with a few seconds between each person. I walked onto the dock and as soon as I walked up the guy said, “Go.” I jumped into the water (“Feet first! No diving!”), got myself horizontal and began swimming. Unlike a mass start, there were no feet nearby for me to glom onto and draft. I started by catching up to the girl that went just ahead of me and tried her feet. I hung out on them for awhile before finding them too slow, so I moved on. The next girl ahead was okay speed-wise, but she kept stopped and breast stroking to site. We all know how well that worked out for me last time when I was on those kind of feet. So I moved on.
Finally I caught up to a girl from my wave that seemed pretty good and I hung onto her feet for a good long while, until we started really getting into the mess of people from the previous waves. Then things got messy and we ended up going in different directions.
The second half of the swim felt really really long without a good pair of feet to hang on to. I kept seeing the swim exit, but it just seemed far away. The swim just felt…long. Finally I was done and it was lovely to see the swim out volunteers, including Karen. It’s always great to see the swim out people but even better when you know someone among them. I got out of the water and checked my watch to find a swim time I was very happy with. It’s hard to compare swim times because buoys can float around making swim times really hard to compare for the “same” distance, but still, it can put the race into a positive direction if you see a time you like on your watch.
T1
I pulled my wetsuit down onto my hips and begin my run to transition. Because of construction at auditorium shores, transition was on the other side of the street, at Butler park so this mean that swim to bike transition included a third of a mile run. With wet bare feet. In a wetsuit. Holding swim goggles and a swim cap. Across a few sections of really slippery concrete.
Thankfully, the little run went by more quickly than I expected and I was on my bike.
Bike
The bike course is made up of four loops of 6 miles each. I headed out onto the course and made my first loop, checking my time. I was making good time and if I could continue to make 20-21 minute loops, I would have a time I was very happy with (and my fastest CapTex bike time). I know some people don’t like looped courses, but I actually quite like them. It always seems like there are a lot more spectators (since you don’t have them spread out all over a large chunk of course) and I get to see family and friends much more frequently. The downside is that it feels like there are a lot of athletes out on the course and things can get really jammed up. It’s nearly impossible not to draft and sometimes people don’t pass or keep right like they should. At CapTex it’s usually not an issue until the final couple of loops for me - when the sprint distance athletes get out on the course.
I kept hammering out the bike and it felt like I had the rest of the loops knocked out pretty quickly. I guess that’s the beauty of having just done a longer race a few weeks before. Things feel like they go by more quickly. I was making good time and part of me worried about having enough energy for the run. But, that’s sort of part of this distance. You can’t completely hammer the heck out of it like a sprint, but you don’t want to conserve too much energy and have a ton left in the tank at the end of the race. It requires a fair amount of strategy to get the right balance. I know people who really don’t like this distance because it’s pretty intense for a fairly lengthy amount of time.
T2
I finished my last loop and headed into T2, racking my bike and quickly putting on my shoes. I grabbed my race number, visor and a pack of gel and headed for the run.
Run
I felt amazingly good considering the great bike I had but I still wanted to take it a little easy for the first couple of miles before settling into a higher pace for the middle two miles and then as fast as I could go for the last two. In the beginning I just tried to keep a high turnover and stay relaxed. As I passed by cheering friends and family, many commented that I looked really great. I felt really positive and happy and knew I was having a good race.
I finished the first loop of my run feeling really good and looked at my watch to see a time of 29 minutes. If I kept up that pace, I would have a great run. And I knew that I had the energy to pick it up a bit so I was really positive I was going to have an awesome run. During the course of the bike, the sun was out at the beginning, but midway through it became partly cloudy. Then as I finished the bike, more clouds were rolling in. By the time I was halfway through the run, it was completely cloudy.
As I passed mile 4, things started getting darker and windier. I passed Andrea and she told me to keep running and beat the coming storm. The clouds were getting darker and the wind was starting to really pick up. I ran faster. I heard a girl behind me say that they were pulling people off the bike course and getting them into the run early because a storm was coming. The wind whipped faster and mile markers and signs pointing the way started blowing over. I ran faster. I heard thunder and saw some lightning and ran even faster. I heard volunteers yelling at us to run for cover, that they were closing the course. I was right around the corner from where Roger and Emmaline were so I ran faster towards them as the rain began to fall. I found them under the parking garage near the Long Center. I knew I would need to collect my things from transition so I told them that I was going to head for the finish and I would find a way to meet them later. I ran on and a little before mile 5, was diverted off the run course to a shortcut to the finish line.
As I ran for the finish, the rain began to fall in buckets. It was really cold and the rain was pelting so hard it almost hurt. I wondered for a minute if it was actually hail. It wasn’t, it was huge, heavy rain falling like crazy. My shoes, which have holes in the bottom to drain water, were heavy and completely full of water as I sprinted through torrents of water in the street. The wind whipped the rain into my face and I could hardly see. I finally crossed the finish line and ran for cover under the overhang of the Palmer Events Center.
There, huddled with hundreds of other racers, volunteers and spectators, I stood, shivering and wet, waiting for the ran to let up. I spotted Karen and her husband (he had managed to finish before the sky opened up). And there we stood. I was hungry and frustrated. I was having my best race in years and it was over prematurely. I knew that I should be grateful that I wasn’t injured or sick, but it was still hard to face not finishing when I felt so great and was having such a positive day.
So we waited. And waited. At one point I went over to the finish to find some water. And some volunteers went out and got the coolers with breakfast tacos in them. I ate half of one, but it was cold and not very good. It was nice to be near people I knew, though. At one point I called Roger from Karen’s phone to check in and we decided to scrap our post race plans (bagels) and just head home when we could. Finally, after 45 minutes, the rain let up enough for us to go get our stuff out of the mud pit formerly known as transition. Everything was wet and muddy and since everyone was leaving all at once, it was a congested mess. I finally got all my things and headed home.
I can feel good that I had a great swim and bike and that the first part of my run was so fantastic. I wasn’t going to do much else this season, but now that I really didn’t complete this race, I may take another stab at an olympic this year.
I had really mixed feelings headed into this race. I was just coming off Marble Falls half a few weeks before and I honestly didn’t train overly much in the weeks between, so mentally, I felt uncertain about where I might be. However, in the workouts the week leading up to the race, I felt really strong so I thought maybe I could have a good race. I didn’t have any specific goals other than swim, bike and run splits faster than the same race the year before.
Unfortunately, the weather was looking iffy and I couldn’t help but think about CapTexTri from 2007 which was completely rained out before it was even underway. Race morning dawned with light rain and I obsessively checked social media to find out what was going to happen, sort of hoping for an hour delay so I could get a little more sleep. But the rain seemed to clear and the race was on so I headed off to the race site. I got all my stuff set up and headed over to the swim entrance to wait for an hour and twenty minutes for my wave.
Swim
The swim this year was different in that they used a time trial style start for the swim. We were still grouped by wave, but then when it was our turn, we went into the water one at a time, with a few seconds between each person. I walked onto the dock and as soon as I walked up the guy said, “Go.” I jumped into the water (“Feet first! No diving!”), got myself horizontal and began swimming. Unlike a mass start, there were no feet nearby for me to glom onto and draft. I started by catching up to the girl that went just ahead of me and tried her feet. I hung out on them for awhile before finding them too slow, so I moved on. The next girl ahead was okay speed-wise, but she kept stopped and breast stroking to site. We all know how well that worked out for me last time when I was on those kind of feet. So I moved on.
Finally I caught up to a girl from my wave that seemed pretty good and I hung onto her feet for a good long while, until we started really getting into the mess of people from the previous waves. Then things got messy and we ended up going in different directions.
The second half of the swim felt really really long without a good pair of feet to hang on to. I kept seeing the swim exit, but it just seemed far away. The swim just felt…long. Finally I was done and it was lovely to see the swim out volunteers, including Karen. It’s always great to see the swim out people but even better when you know someone among them. I got out of the water and checked my watch to find a swim time I was very happy with. It’s hard to compare swim times because buoys can float around making swim times really hard to compare for the “same” distance, but still, it can put the race into a positive direction if you see a time you like on your watch.
T1
I pulled my wetsuit down onto my hips and begin my run to transition. Because of construction at auditorium shores, transition was on the other side of the street, at Butler park so this mean that swim to bike transition included a third of a mile run. With wet bare feet. In a wetsuit. Holding swim goggles and a swim cap. Across a few sections of really slippery concrete.
Thankfully, the little run went by more quickly than I expected and I was on my bike.
Bike
The bike course is made up of four loops of 6 miles each. I headed out onto the course and made my first loop, checking my time. I was making good time and if I could continue to make 20-21 minute loops, I would have a time I was very happy with (and my fastest CapTex bike time). I know some people don’t like looped courses, but I actually quite like them. It always seems like there are a lot more spectators (since you don’t have them spread out all over a large chunk of course) and I get to see family and friends much more frequently. The downside is that it feels like there are a lot of athletes out on the course and things can get really jammed up. It’s nearly impossible not to draft and sometimes people don’t pass or keep right like they should. At CapTex it’s usually not an issue until the final couple of loops for me - when the sprint distance athletes get out on the course.
I kept hammering out the bike and it felt like I had the rest of the loops knocked out pretty quickly. I guess that’s the beauty of having just done a longer race a few weeks before. Things feel like they go by more quickly. I was making good time and part of me worried about having enough energy for the run. But, that’s sort of part of this distance. You can’t completely hammer the heck out of it like a sprint, but you don’t want to conserve too much energy and have a ton left in the tank at the end of the race. It requires a fair amount of strategy to get the right balance. I know people who really don’t like this distance because it’s pretty intense for a fairly lengthy amount of time.
T2
I finished my last loop and headed into T2, racking my bike and quickly putting on my shoes. I grabbed my race number, visor and a pack of gel and headed for the run.
Run
I felt amazingly good considering the great bike I had but I still wanted to take it a little easy for the first couple of miles before settling into a higher pace for the middle two miles and then as fast as I could go for the last two. In the beginning I just tried to keep a high turnover and stay relaxed. As I passed by cheering friends and family, many commented that I looked really great. I felt really positive and happy and knew I was having a good race.
I finished the first loop of my run feeling really good and looked at my watch to see a time of 29 minutes. If I kept up that pace, I would have a great run. And I knew that I had the energy to pick it up a bit so I was really positive I was going to have an awesome run. During the course of the bike, the sun was out at the beginning, but midway through it became partly cloudy. Then as I finished the bike, more clouds were rolling in. By the time I was halfway through the run, it was completely cloudy.
As I passed mile 4, things started getting darker and windier. I passed Andrea and she told me to keep running and beat the coming storm. The clouds were getting darker and the wind was starting to really pick up. I ran faster. I heard a girl behind me say that they were pulling people off the bike course and getting them into the run early because a storm was coming. The wind whipped faster and mile markers and signs pointing the way started blowing over. I ran faster. I heard thunder and saw some lightning and ran even faster. I heard volunteers yelling at us to run for cover, that they were closing the course. I was right around the corner from where Roger and Emmaline were so I ran faster towards them as the rain began to fall. I found them under the parking garage near the Long Center. I knew I would need to collect my things from transition so I told them that I was going to head for the finish and I would find a way to meet them later. I ran on and a little before mile 5, was diverted off the run course to a shortcut to the finish line.
As I ran for the finish, the rain began to fall in buckets. It was really cold and the rain was pelting so hard it almost hurt. I wondered for a minute if it was actually hail. It wasn’t, it was huge, heavy rain falling like crazy. My shoes, which have holes in the bottom to drain water, were heavy and completely full of water as I sprinted through torrents of water in the street. The wind whipped the rain into my face and I could hardly see. I finally crossed the finish line and ran for cover under the overhang of the Palmer Events Center.
There, huddled with hundreds of other racers, volunteers and spectators, I stood, shivering and wet, waiting for the ran to let up. I spotted Karen and her husband (he had managed to finish before the sky opened up). And there we stood. I was hungry and frustrated. I was having my best race in years and it was over prematurely. I knew that I should be grateful that I wasn’t injured or sick, but it was still hard to face not finishing when I felt so great and was having such a positive day.
So we waited. And waited. At one point I went over to the finish to find some water. And some volunteers went out and got the coolers with breakfast tacos in them. I ate half of one, but it was cold and not very good. It was nice to be near people I knew, though. At one point I called Roger from Karen’s phone to check in and we decided to scrap our post race plans (bagels) and just head home when we could. Finally, after 45 minutes, the rain let up enough for us to go get our stuff out of the mud pit formerly known as transition. Everything was wet and muddy and since everyone was leaving all at once, it was a congested mess. I finally got all my things and headed home.
I can feel good that I had a great swim and bike and that the first part of my run was so fantastic. I wasn’t going to do much else this season, but now that I really didn’t complete this race, I may take another stab at an olympic this year.
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