My racing season has gotten off to a slow start, I'm 10 pounds heavy, and my diet has been poor. Much like last year, I am now into May and need to jumpstart my training and better nutrition. I missed Galveston 70.3, as my training was poor, and, it sold out early. I am determined to complete a 70.3 this year, and believe that Austin will be it on 10.30.16.
While I feel good about my ability to be ready for the bike and run, I will have to get more comfortable in the open water to be ready. I will need to practice OWS throughout the summer. To that end, in an effort to force myself into the open water, I registered for this event.
This event offers three triathlon distances and an aqua bike. The super sprint distance is 300M swim, 7 mile bike, 1.5 mile run, the sprint distance is 500M swim, 14 mile bike, 5k run, and, the Olympic distance is 1500M swim, 22 mile bike, 10k run. I opted for the sprint, as today was all about getting used to the open water.
The event takes place just behind the Marriott Las Colinas, with the swim taking place in the man made canal. The canal would allow for easy sighting, etc, as it is not too large.
I'd purchased a wetsuit a few months ago, but, had yet to wear it. Last week, I wore it in the pool for a 1200M swim, and, realized it makes a big difference. Today's event would be wetsuit legal, with a water temp of 74.
I've only completed 1 OWS swim event before - Trifecta (9.14). It was a mess. I simply could not commit to putting my face down and swimming freestyle. A mix of sidestroke, breaststroke, and backstroke took me most of the way that day, and, I finished the 500M swim in a little over 15 minutes. I wanted today to be much better.
I arrived around 6:15, and got my transition area ready. Our rack was full, making for a difficult time with prep, but, I found space.
The olympic distance went off 1st. Their swim looked long!! Pshychologically (and, likely, physically), I'll have some work to do to be ready for that kind of distance. The sprint swim looked much shorter, and, I felt good about it prior to getting in the water.
The start was time trial style, with 2 swimmers entering the water about every 10 seconds. I moved towards the back of the line, and, when I reached the timing mat, hopped in and was off. I felt pretty good early on, and was in my rhythm of breathing every 4 strokes. The wetsuit felt a little tight, but, I suspect that was just nerves. I actually passed a few swimmers before reaching the 1st buoy. I was surprised how quickly I reached the buoy! I passed it and made my right turn towards buoy number 2. I switched to breathing every 2 strokes, which interrupted my swim rhythm, but, kept me from getting short of breath. I veered slightly to the right and off course, but quickly adjusted. After passing the 2nd buoy, I began to tire a bit, and breaststroked a bit to keep on course and get air. I finally reached the steps and got out. I'd done it. 11 minutes flat for the 500M swim. 2:12 per 100M (per official results). Not bad. My Garmin showed the swim being shorter (424M), but, I suspect that is just a GPS error, as I checked other athletes' distances on Strava, and they seemed to be correct.
I headed to T1, stripped my wetsuit with no problem (1st time ever!) and geared up for the bike.
My new tri bike is in the shop, as it has a crack in the top tube. I am waiting to hear from Specialized on the resolution. My hope is: new bike. Specialized has a lifetime warranty on their frames, and, I'd only ridden the bike about 120 miles with no crashes. So...The CAAD10 was the bike for the day.
The bike course was 14 miles (Strava showed 14.5 at the conclusion), with 2 loops. We started into a bad headwind, and fought it for the 1st 2.5 miles of each loop. A tough way to get started. After the headwind died down, I was able to find some speed, getting up to over 20mph at several points, with a top speed of 29.5. Other than the headwind each lap, the bike portion felt pretty good. The result showed me 14 miles in 52:01, or, 16.1 mph, but, Strava shows me at 16.8 mph based on 14.5 miles. Still about 2-3 mph slower than I need to be. That will improve with training and once I get my tri bike back.
A slow, but, uneventful T2, and, off to the run.
We faced the same headwind at the beginning of each lap of the 2 lap run. I keep a slow, steady pace, hoping to keep my run in the "9's". I'll work that down to the 8's as the season progresses. I saw a few friends on the run, and, achieved my goal of keeping my pace in the 9's. 9:53 per Strava, but, 9:36 per the official results.
All in all, a decent day. I'm still incredibly slow compared to others, but, that will improve as the season progresses. I've already signed up for my next OWS tri (in 3 weeks), and will continue to push towards Austin 70.3.
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