Sunday was the Houston Triathlon. I was feeling pretty confident going into the race because of the recent good showing I had up in Austin a couple weeks prior. I thought for sure after coming so close to the 3 hour mark I would have no problem kicking it up just a half a notch and finish under it this time around. Maybe that was my problem. Maybe I was a little too over confident. And because of that I made some mistakes. Some dumb mistakes that I know better. Albeit mistakes that are easily correctable, but still mistakes nonetheless. I will come back to those in a minute.
The Houston Triathlon has two unique elements to its course. The first one was that the swim course was a two loop course. That is not very unique itself but this one required you to get out of the water after the first loop, run back to the swim start, jump back in and head out for your second loop. It throws you off a little because a big element to the swim portion is getting into a rhythm, and obviously having to get out of the water halfway through effects that.
The other unique element is that the transition area was quite a distance from the swim exit. Normally we are talking maybe 50 yards or so at a normal race. This race is was easily 3-4 city blocks away. Logistically it was the best way to set it up, but of course it contributed to some added time that was going to need to be made up if I was going to break 3 hours.
In a nutshell the race started off as to be expected. I felt pretty good with my swim the whole time. The interruption in the middle was different, but nothing terrible. I made it out of the water in about what I was expecting and made the long jog to transition.
The bike was a pretty simple and flat two loop course around the area, 12.5 miles each loop. About 4 miles of each loop was directly into a headwind which was not fun, but it definitely could have been worse. I actually rocked the bike though. In fact I think this was one of the best bike rides I have ever had. I smoked through the bike course faster than I have ever ridden before and hit transition right on pace to break the 3 hour mark.
By the time I was hitting the run course it was extremely hot. Houston hit record high temperatures on Sunday, and you could tell. It took its toll on everyone. The first mile into the run I was running a little faster than I needed to, and then when I hit mile two things started going downhill and fast. My pace kept slowing, and the faster I tried to run the slower I would actually go. By mile 3 the heat and the effort I put into the bike started taking it toll and causing my legs to cramp up. Long story short, it was by far the worse run I have ever had in a race. The only consolation I have is that I wasn't the only one hurting. With the weather conditions the way they were the run course looked like a battlefield. Tons of people were cramping, walking, stretching, hobbling. You name it they were doing it. I did eventually finish although not near as fast as I was hoping.
So needless to say it was a learning experience. Like I said I made some mistakes, but I learned from them. They are easily correctable.
#1 Nutrition- The night before I did not eat my normal pasta dinner, nor eat much for breakfast that morning. I was feeling very confident, and maybe a little too overconfident and thought I could get by without. I could definitely tell heading into the run I could have used some more energy after the effort I put into the bike. Like I said easily correctable.
#2 Pacing- Pacing is key for triathlons. Go out too fast and you leave nothing in the tank for the finish. That is exactly what happened to me. I got excited on the bike and the adrenaline was flowing a little too fast. I had an awesome bike split but it cost me in the run. Even though I probably would not have made it under 3 hours by slowing down on the bike, I would have left something in my legs to finish the run better than what I did.
I would say the other factor here is weather, but I have no control over that. I can only play with the hand that is dealt to me. I just need to know that in hot conditions, mistake #1 and mistake #2 become even more crucial.
With all that being said, overall I am not too disappointed. It was a learning experience and that is exactly what I am going to do. I have just over a month before my next half Ironman triathlon. It will give me some time to work on some longer bike rides and longer runs. I can play with the nutrition and pacing a little bit to figure out a good combination that works for me and head into that race feeling confident.....hopefully not over confident though.
P.S.- I have to throw a huge shout out to two of my friends that made it out to support; JP, and Dr. Kerr!!! You guys rock!! Thanks for cheering me on, it was greatly appreciated!! Next time we will get you on the front page of the paper again!
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