Welcome to a race report for a true mid-packer at Captex tri. I finished. Hurrah!
When I was younger, I'm pretty sure I did better at sprint tris. I can't remember - maybe I just had lower expectations. But this weekend was about family. Three of us raced. This is the second year of a fun tradition that my sister and her son - a competitive teenage triathlete and runner - enjoy doing together. My husband joined last year but was sick this year.
Here's my quick recap!
Pre-Race: If you're not elite, olympic distance, or a man or a teenager, you have to wait quite a while to start your race, since those waves start earlier. So, I just sat there with building jitters, building and building until I was silently freaking out.
My sister ate a tiny cup of peanut butter, probably calm.
Swim: And we're off! Still as tough as I remember. I shot off the dock with goggles in place, "hauling ass" for my standards. Then about 1/3 of the way through realized that I hadn't continuously swum that distance since last year's tri and my pace was not going to work.
Cut down to sidestroke and splashing around but made it out in 16:53. Town Lake, as I call it (it's now called "Ladybird Lake" but I am a classic Austinite who refers to its old name) was filled with hydrilla, an invasive non-native plant growing rampant. It's gross to swim through. It's thick, to the point that the course was shortened this year due to a hydrilla patch.
Bike: This is part is supposed to be where I shine. The cyclist! Downed a gel and ran out of the transition area with my bike, still getting over the haze of the swim. Rode out on the 6 mile track that lines up to a dazzling view of the state capitol and back over the lake. Looped it twice.
Cyclists of all skill levels and gear levels are at once on the track. The rookie, sprint and olympic riders are all out there looping it once, twice or four times. I was grinding through the Jetsons at about 18 mph.
My sister, a marathoner who does not often cycle, passed me. I learned later I was faster by only three seconds. Makes me want to start running again, because what is going on? Secret training sessions?! Finished in 40:19.
Run: Hot, humid mess. Got back in transition area, chugged some carb mix with water and jogged/slogged out onto the 5k. So hot by then, I was pouring sweat. Many were walking. I was wiping sweat with a shirt I had been wearing for modesty over my tri suit, which now seemed ridiculous and I was carrying it in my hand.
So much wiping in fact, I was earning a lovely rash aka "contact dermatitis." I didn't learn about this until looking in the mirror that afternoon. Hydrocortisone does the trick getting rid of it, btw. Stumbling through 31:45 minutes of hell on earth I ran through the finish.
My family was there, already cooled off, to greet me. Success! Another finisher's medal gathered. Another water, banana and Nature's Valley down the hatch. The glorious euphoria of chemicals that occur at the end of a race event flooding in. It's the feeling I live for despite mediocre results.
So worth it! So fun. See you there next time.
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