While I had been aware of this race for a few years, I'd always skipped it, due mostly to my discomfort with OWS events.
Having made new TRI friends in Katherine and Nancy that grew up in Waco, the pressure was on for our group of friends to race this year. The Goodnights were kind enough to offer their home as home base for the weekend.
We had jut returned from a family vacation, where my nutrition and alcohol consumption were not good, but, overall, Was feeling pretty good. I left FW early afternoon on Saturday, and hooked up with Tanner, Alex, and Jan just south of town. We caravanned down to Waco, with a quick stop in West for Kolaches.
We made it to Waco in good time, and went directly to PPU. From there, off to the Goodnights for a little chill time and a delicious dinner. Their house was huge, allowing for each of us to have private rooms and bathrooms. A sweet setup, for sure. We had a low key evening, getting race gear ready, applying tri tats, etc. I kept the beer drinking to a minimum, but did have a couple.
I was in bed early with hopes of a good night's sleep. But, wouldn't you know it, I was awake at 1:30 and never did go back to sleep. I finally got up and had coffee in plenty of time to get everything packed up and ready. We were to the race site early, and, due to the tri tats, strolled into transition with no delay. Soon, transition areas were ready and we headed down to the waterfront area for instructions and race start.
The race was slightly delayed, but, soon we headed towards the water. It was a floating start for this one, so, w each worked our way into the water and waited for the horn to sound. The swim was advertised as a 400M course in the Brazos River.
Swim: when the horn sounded, we were off. While it was not wetsuit legal, I felt pretty good. The spring and summer swim training had helped. Prior to the race, I'd figured a swim time of about 8 minutes. Early on, I was experiencing some congestion, inlcuding swimmers from previous waves, backstrokers, sidestrokers, etc. I found my self behind a woman that was painfully slow...each time I tried to pass, she'd adjust her course too. Frustrating. I continued my painfully slow pace, but, finally neared the finish. When it was all done, my garmin showed 559 yards (511M) in 15:32. Brutal. I headed up the ramp to T1 frustrated, but, knew it was going to be a fast bike course. I was looking forward to seeing what the new bike could do.
T1: a long trip to transition led to a painfully slow T1 - 2:49.
Bike: Nancy and I had talked about desired bike splits the night before the race. She said she thought I'd be at 20 mph or better. If so, it would be my fastest bike split ever. The course is advertised as a flat, fast bike course, and, it was. after getting onto the open roads, I went aero and cranked like hell. The bike was rolling great, and I felt strong. Per Strava, I was 19.9 mph for my 1st 5 miles. I was passing lots of cyclists. at about mile 8.5, we made a hairpin turn and Jeff Tanner passed me. He was just the rabbit I needed to push the pace. Next thing I know, I was passing Jan, who started in a wave before mine. I booked a 20.7 mph pace for the 2nd 5 miles. Next thing I knew, I was approaching T2. The bike course was shorter than advertised, at 11.4 vs. 12 miles. Per Strava, Imy pace was 20.1 mph...results show 21.7. Nancy was right.
T2: I entered T2 with Jan, Will, and Jeff. I had a slow transition at 2:10, but, felt decent going into the run.
Run: Jan, Will, and I headed out together, with Will leaving us behind quickly. Jan looked strong on the run and, began to pull away from me early. It was hot on the 1st half of the 3.5 mile run, but, I mustered up a 9:19 1st mile. I walked the water stop and bridge incline at the halfway point, slowing me to a 10:18 mile 2. We headed into a shadier area, and I began to feel stronger. Mile 3: 9:09. The finish was on the suspension bridge and was really cool.
Overall Time: 1:28:22. Good for 9th out of 20 in my AG. Fun race and decent day. I'll be back.
We hung around, dean beer, and cheered the oly distance athletes for a bit before heading back to Katherine's house for the after party.
http://wacochamber.com/2017/07/triwaco-olympic-sprint-triathlon/
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