Bridgeland Triathon

The race was exactly a 1/8th Ironman.
482meter swim
14 mile ride
3.28 mile run

My time: 1:27:06

The Swim:
Was in a neighborhood man made lake- I wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing. I was in the very last wave so I knew all the critters would be long gone before I started. But I knew it was shallow and therefore everything lurking below wasn't that far below. There were people who actually stopped and walked during the race. The water was up to their necks and I thought they were just treading water because it looked weird. Its been awhile since I had done the lake thing so all my training went back out the window. I mostly did breast stroke but did put my head under water. I did some freestyle but not much. I can tell you that the water was pretty clean because I got 3 big mouth fulls and it didn't taste that bad. Unlike Texas Ski Ranch where I nearly gagged to death.

The Bike:
I think this race should have been called Road Kill Race. There was dead animals smeared all over the road. It was quite disgusting. There were 2 big snakes, 1 opossum, 1 large dog and 2 animals that I could not determined because they were so grotesque. The 14 miles went by quickly, 45 minutes to be exact. My average pace was 18.4 mph. The wind was a factor but not near as bad as riding on 1431. And of course no hills. My knees had been killing me on my bike so I had adjusted my seat before this race. I raised it 1.25 inches and moved it back and tilted it up. The good news is that I didn't get the shooting pain in my knee but my lower back hurt sooo bad. Also, during the bike ride an ambulance went to the race site to get someone... not sure what happened there. I still don't have clips or bike shoes and all that fancy stuff....I know my time would improve if I wasn't handicapped by my pedals and shoes... hint hint to my husband.

The Run:
No one passed me on the run. One girl tried and since she was in my age group I could not allow such things. So I ran with her for about 1.5 miles - I am pretty sure this annoyed her. At a water station she stopped and I was like "see ya"! Turns out she stayed pretty close behind me the whole time. Had I known this I would have gone faster. And it turns out my pace went up t0 8:29. The last race it was 7:56. So, I needed to be going faster anyways. I really need to get a garmin so I know how fast I am going at races. The run wasn't bad at all. There were men in their 40s dropping like flies on the run. I passed a bunch. Remember I started in the last wave - so I knew I was catching up with people. In fact all the men started before all the women.

The Result:
There were 600 people in the race. I placed 182 overall. Those boys always whoop my butt. However, there were 26 girls in my age group and I got 2nd! FINALLY I placed!!!! I got a frog trophy. Jason says I am not allowed to display it anywhere in our house. That girl I ran with got 3rd.

Still to come:
Next week- Sweet and Twisted Triathlon out in Spicewood! I can't wait!

Thank you to my dad, BJ and Richard who came out to support me despite the early time and heat. Thank you soo much!!

Till next time,
Laura