Danny and I drove up to Waco on Saturday. The plan was to do some recon the day before the race and ride the bike course to kind of get an idea of what we were up against. We drive up to the Xterra HQ and noticed that it wasn't nearly as large as we though it was going to be.
We walked up to the Registration tent, grabbed our race packet, and took a walk around the HQ area. There was a small expo, but again, nothing like what were expecting. We checked out the river and tried to determine what the swim course was going to be and where was going to be the entry/exit points since there were no markers in the water nor on the bank. We noticed -what looked like to be a strong current- but later learned that the current on the surface was different from the current under water.
We also walked up to what they call "Jacob's Ladder". This was to be the beginning of the run portion. One word, "ouch".
Still excited to be there, we started gearing up for our recon ride. Only 4 miles into it, we realized that there was no way we were going to be able to ride the entire course without exerting more energy than we wanted to. So we cut it short and decided to check-in to the hotel, have lunch, nap, and have dinner. After dinner, we spent some time preparing for race day.
Surprisingly, I slept well and was ready to race. After some unexpected minor issues regarding my bib # and port-a-potty stops, we were on the bank of the Brazos River and ready to swim.
I think my nerves got to me a little in the beginning because my breathing was completely "off". It took me a couple of minutes to finally get comfortable. Before I knew it, I was in a little groove and starting passing people.
At the exit point, I was bracing for my usual dizziness and disorientation post-swim. Surprisingly, I felt strong and was encouraged because I felt my strongest points were the bike and run. I now know this was a false sense of security. 1 mile into the bike course, I realized that Danny and I had pre-ridden the wrong course!!! The course was FULL of climbs, switchbacks, more climbs, rocks, roots, and MORE climbs. It was unbelievable how many climbs there were and my lungs and heart were feeling it. There were 2 other guys who I was playing "cat and mouse " with. I think it helped in keeping me going because -as mentioned earlier- I wanted to pack it in and go home at times. Just when I thought I was going to start going downhill, we started climbing again. Mercifully, the downhill portion came and the course flattened out. The last mile or two were along the bank of the Brazos River. This really helped. The scenery was beautiful and -more importantly- helped with my recovery because I knew I was only a 1/3 of the way done with the race.
T2 could have gone a little faster but I accidentally put on Danny's race belt and took some extra time to hydrate before the run since I had ran out of water during the bike portion. Looking at the number of bikes in the transition area, I estimated that I was still in the top half (which was our goal before the race). A few more sips of Gatorade and a hammer gel and I was off.
My run is probably my strongest point in a tri so that's where I expected to start passing more people. With everything that I had experienced to that point, I had forgotten about the dreaded Jacob's Ladder. Previously, I had planned to run up it taking multiple steps. I realized quickly that that was not gonna happen and I ended up walking up the DAMN ladder. I felt better when I saw everyone else around me doing the same thing. Once the Ladder was climbed, I started to pull away from the 2 other guys I had spent most of the bike course with and I also started passing others. I ran most of the run portion, but I'm not ashamed to say that I walked some of those "insane" hills on course. Again, the last 1/2 mile of the run was along the bank of the Brazos and I finished with a time of 2 hours and 15 minutes. I was surprised to see that I had finished 5th in my age group. Goal accomplished!!!
Danny's family was kind enough to provide us with a great post-race meal in the park. They provided us with a spread that made us feel like Kings. Thank goodness because the Xterra post-race set up -again- did not meet our expectations.
Overall, I was happy with my progress in my training. The high point was my swimming. I was able to prove to myself that I could complete the 1/2 mile and am confident that I will be able to complete a 1 mile swim by the end of the racing season. The low point was probably my endurance when it comes to climbing. I always thought that I was relatively comfortable with climbs but I was not prepared to hammer out these types of climbs like I wanted to. I see many intervals in the future. The ultimate goal for the year is to complete the TX TRI at Canyon Lake toward the end of the year. Next race in preparation for the olympic triathlon is in July.
