TriRock Austin Olympic Tri 2012 race report.
The worst part about doing a triathlon 2 weeks after doing an Ironman is not the pain or soreness or fatigue, it's knowing that you have to write another race report. The good news is, that means a very short race report!
Swim 1500 Meters
The swim wasn't wetsuit legal, so I got another chance to justify my purchase of a speedsuit. They also evidently changed the swim course to accommodate the fact that much of Town Lake looks like a lush lawn is growing in it, due to an overgrowth of fanwort this year. But that didn't mean much to me, since this is the first time I've done this event.
Deep water start, which I vastly, VASTLY prefer over a beach start, and Summer and I hung out together in the water waiting to start. The start was pretty much the polar opposite of Ironman Mont-Tremblant. I didn't touch a single person. There weren't that many of us, and we were spread out very wide.
Otherwise the swim was completely unremarkable. Didn't find anyone to draft off of. Didn't take in too much nasty Town Lake water. Did a lot of dodging and weaving to get around people in the waves ahead of me. And it seemed to go pretty quickly, probably just because it wasn't 2.4 miles.
T1
Got my speedsuit mostly off on the run to transition. I was racked on the end, so it was super easy to find my bike. Incredibly long run through grass, gravel and road to get to the mount line.
Bike 24.8 Miles
Despite having LOOKED at the course map before the race, it didn't stick at all, and I just assumed it was the same course as CapTexTri. That was not at all true.
Keri passed me very early in the bike.
Photo by Kristen Carey
Legs felt a little rough going up Congress the first time, but they warmed up relatively quickly. Saw Kristi ahead of me, and boggled for a moment until I realized she'd passed me on the SWIM, from the wave behind me. I guess that's acceptable for a former Lady Longhorn swimmer.
The three loops went pretty quickly. I passed people every time going up Congress. I ate a thing of Cliff Blocks and took one salt pill at the beginning and one at the end. I ate a gu just before the end. I drank one bottle of water. I scowled a bit at the ever-increasing headwind going up Congress. I thanked the guy sitting on Congress near the Capitol who wasn't obviously affiliated in any way with the race, but clapped enthusiastically the whole morning.
In my last loop, Keri passed me again on the bike.
Evidently she'd gotten a flat.
T2
Another ouchy barefoot run to rack my bike. I was grateful they had the racks numbered, so I could find lucky number 13. It'd been a while since I had to put on socks in transition ( Buffalo Springs?), but that went fine. Managed to get up the HUGE BOX STEPS that are so very cruel, especially to those of us who are stubby of leg.
As I approached the timing mat for the run, I heard a voice shrieking something unintelligible, and there was my friend Kelly Green, cheering for me. I think. I said, "What?!" and she repeated her enthusiastic yet incomprehensible shrieking, and I decided either I was covered in spiders or she was cheering for me.
Run 6.2 Miles
I THOUGHT I kinda knew the run course, but then it turned out to be 75% on grass, which I hadn't gleaned from the course map. Running on the grass really wasn't my favorite thing.
I looked at my watch at the mile 1 marker to get an idea of my pace, but I'd forgotten to split because I'd been too mesmerized by Kelly, so I decided I didn't care what my pace was.
Photo by Kristen Carey
It was hot. But I ran through all the aid stations, taking two cups of water at each, and dumping one over my head. I cheered for all the folks I knew and thanked all the folks cheering. It seemed to both take forever and to go very quickly. The former presumably because of the grass and the heat. The latter because it was 20 miles shorter than my last triathlon run.
I took a gu at mile 4. I'm not sure why. It wasn't going to do anything beneficial for those last 2 miles.
Going out on Congress the last time was miserable. Hot, sunny, wind at my back. But then a short jaunt back into the headwind I'd cursed on the bike, but now loved, and then I was done!
After
A PR!
Matt found me and told me there were babypools of ice water, and I should get in one. I did. I lasted about 1.5 minutes, and then it was just painfully cold.
Results
Swim: 28:34:00 (1:54/M) (rumor has it the swim might have been a little long)
T1: 2:53
Bike: 1:19:57 (18.6mph)
T2: 1:54
Run: 51:08:00 (8:15/mile)
Total: 2:44:29
10 minute PR over CapTexTri in 2008, ~45 minute PR over Cactus in 2006.
Not too shabby for doing an Ironman two weeks earlier and then not really doing anything for 2 weeks! 6th in my age group. Keri won our age group by a huge margin, despite getting a flat on the bike. Amazing.
Swim 1500 Meters
The swim wasn't wetsuit legal, so I got another chance to justify my purchase of a speedsuit. They also evidently changed the swim course to accommodate the fact that much of Town Lake looks like a lush lawn is growing in it, due to an overgrowth of fanwort this year. But that didn't mean much to me, since this is the first time I've done this event.
Deep water start, which I vastly, VASTLY prefer over a beach start, and Summer and I hung out together in the water waiting to start. The start was pretty much the polar opposite of Ironman Mont-Tremblant. I didn't touch a single person. There weren't that many of us, and we were spread out very wide.
Otherwise the swim was completely unremarkable. Didn't find anyone to draft off of. Didn't take in too much nasty Town Lake water. Did a lot of dodging and weaving to get around people in the waves ahead of me. And it seemed to go pretty quickly, probably just because it wasn't 2.4 miles.
T1
Got my speedsuit mostly off on the run to transition. I was racked on the end, so it was super easy to find my bike. Incredibly long run through grass, gravel and road to get to the mount line.
Bike 24.8 Miles
Despite having LOOKED at the course map before the race, it didn't stick at all, and I just assumed it was the same course as CapTexTri. That was not at all true.
Keri passed me very early in the bike.
Photo by Kristen Carey
Legs felt a little rough going up Congress the first time, but they warmed up relatively quickly. Saw Kristi ahead of me, and boggled for a moment until I realized she'd passed me on the SWIM, from the wave behind me. I guess that's acceptable for a former Lady Longhorn swimmer.
The three loops went pretty quickly. I passed people every time going up Congress. I ate a thing of Cliff Blocks and took one salt pill at the beginning and one at the end. I ate a gu just before the end. I drank one bottle of water. I scowled a bit at the ever-increasing headwind going up Congress. I thanked the guy sitting on Congress near the Capitol who wasn't obviously affiliated in any way with the race, but clapped enthusiastically the whole morning.
In my last loop, Keri passed me again on the bike.
Evidently she'd gotten a flat.
T2
Another ouchy barefoot run to rack my bike. I was grateful they had the racks numbered, so I could find lucky number 13. It'd been a while since I had to put on socks in transition ( Buffalo Springs?), but that went fine. Managed to get up the HUGE BOX STEPS that are so very cruel, especially to those of us who are stubby of leg.
As I approached the timing mat for the run, I heard a voice shrieking something unintelligible, and there was my friend Kelly Green, cheering for me. I think. I said, "What?!" and she repeated her enthusiastic yet incomprehensible shrieking, and I decided either I was covered in spiders or she was cheering for me.
Run 6.2 Miles
I THOUGHT I kinda knew the run course, but then it turned out to be 75% on grass, which I hadn't gleaned from the course map. Running on the grass really wasn't my favorite thing.
I looked at my watch at the mile 1 marker to get an idea of my pace, but I'd forgotten to split because I'd been too mesmerized by Kelly, so I decided I didn't care what my pace was.
Photo by Kristen Carey
It was hot. But I ran through all the aid stations, taking two cups of water at each, and dumping one over my head. I cheered for all the folks I knew and thanked all the folks cheering. It seemed to both take forever and to go very quickly. The former presumably because of the grass and the heat. The latter because it was 20 miles shorter than my last triathlon run.
I took a gu at mile 4. I'm not sure why. It wasn't going to do anything beneficial for those last 2 miles.
Going out on Congress the last time was miserable. Hot, sunny, wind at my back. But then a short jaunt back into the headwind I'd cursed on the bike, but now loved, and then I was done!
After
A PR!
Matt found me and told me there were babypools of ice water, and I should get in one. I did. I lasted about 1.5 minutes, and then it was just painfully cold.
Results
Swim: 28:34:00 (1:54/M) (rumor has it the swim might have been a little long)
T1: 2:53
Bike: 1:19:57 (18.6mph)
T2: 1:54
Run: 51:08:00 (8:15/mile)
Total: 2:44:29
10 minute PR over CapTexTri in 2008, ~45 minute PR over Cactus in 2006.
Not too shabby for doing an Ironman two weeks earlier and then not really doing anything for 2 weeks! 6th in my age group. Keri won our age group by a huge margin, despite getting a flat on the bike. Amazing.