Jack's generic Triathlon Race Report

First let me say praise God. he is great. I was blessed with my wife, daughters, parents, and my brother and his family of 5 being at my race. And to top it off, the weather was gorgeous. Highs were only in th euper 80s with little wind (well compared to the coast). Let me also say that if you want to participate in a top class top notch triathlon, go to a Jack and Adam's bikes event. they do a fantastic job and the party afterwards is awesome!!! Now to race report. My goal for this race was finish with a smile on my face, dont get a flat, and dont walk. My time goals were secondary to those goals with a swim goal of 15:00 and total time goal of 1:45.

I woke up at 330 since I was about an hour and a half away from race site visiting my parents. Too early to eat anything since the race started at 8:09 for me, so I just tried to hydrate anticipating scorcher heat and sun. We had neither as it was overcast all morning. I ate 1/2 a banana and a granola bar on the way and drank 16 oz of Cliffs lemonade. I was one of the first 10-12 or so at transition so I got to pick my spot. We were only assigned an area with our age group, but it was first come first serve as to where on those racks yu set up. I set up on the end of a rack closest to run exit. I was pretty far from bike exit, so maybe I should have gone there, but I was fine. I got everything set up after body marking and just hung out by myself as I was still pretty nervous about the open water and the hills on the bike course. At around 730 my family arrived so I got hugs and kisses and headed off to the swim start.

My plan was to start in the back of my wave to the outside, so when we were told to get in the water about a minute before the gun, thats where I went. When they said there was 30 seconds left, I noticed that most the athletes were doing this, leaving the inside the less cluttered area. The last 10 seconds I hopped over to the inside right before gun. At the gun I took off. I got in a rythym early and kept the pace. I was passing some and even passed a couple in th eprevious wave. Then I was passed by several in the wave behind me. I made it around the island with little trouble. The swim was in a man made lank that was set up for wake boarding around an island using cable tows. For sighting I just kept the cables directly above me and they took me right around the course right outside the buoys. When I completed the swim, I couldn't believe that my split was under 14 minutes. My goal was 15 and i wasn't real sure about that. The official split was 13:54 a whopping 1 min 6 seconds better than goal!!! I was excited.

T1 was pretty far away from swim exit so my time wasn't great, but I am not too displeased. I took my time and made sure everything was good before leaving. I started out pretty strong on th ebike, I thought, then I hit what central Texas triathletes call "gently rolling hills." They were about as gentle to me as a porcupine rug. The positive side of the ride was coming downhill right before T2. I hit 36 mph and that was a thrill. Bike was 55:14.8 avg 15mph. Quite disappointed in my ride, but I will get better and hopefully within a month, have a new bike. T2 was good and I gotout of it in 1:56.3.

One of my other goals was not to walk on the 3 mile run. I knew this meant I had to pace myself and not take off to hard like I did in Pearland. People probably thought I was crazy leaving T2 since I was yelling at myself, "You are not going to walk, not even for water, You will Dare Greatly!!!" I had to pump myself up, even though I was feeling pretty strong. I did just that. I never walked, which meant I didn't get much water down, but it felt good falling all over my face and chest. There were small hills on the run and I never really felt them. I knew I was at a slow pace, but none the less, it was a comfortable one. As I approached the finish, I saw all my family cheering me on. It was an awesome feeling! My run time was a lot better than Pearland at 32:49.7. I was ok with that as I know my running is going to get tons better as I prepare for my upcoming 1/2 marathon in November and full marathon in January.

My total time for the race didn't meet my time goal. I finished at 1:46:59, one munte and 59 seconds off goal. I finished with a huge smile on my face though and accomplished my main 3 goals. Like I said after Pearland, I am definately hooled. I have only one more triathlon this year. it is this coming Saturday, a mini sprint and kids triathlon here in Corpus Christi. It is only a 200 yard pool swim, 6.2 mile bike, and 1.25 mile run. I figure I should be fine with this one. I finished 95 out of 109 in my age group and I am definitely fine with that. I just wonder how many of those guys weighed 470 last July? lol

Now I want to brag about the people who put on this triathlon. If you ever have a chance to do a Jack and Adam's Bikes event, you have got to do it. They are a reall professional group that definaely know what they are doing. It was a op notch even. The after party was awesome. They put on several tris a year. They are out of Austin and are even one of the main organizers of Ironman Longhorn 70.3. I promise you won't be disappointed at one of their events.

Until next time, keep triing and remember to always DARE GREATLY!!!

Congratulations on a good race and a fun time!  Next one should be a piece of cake, and as you train for the running events, I agree that the runs will get better and stronger.

Great job Darrell!

Linn

 Great report and great race!  I'm very much looking forward to marathon season as I can only hope that 30-40 mpw will greatly help my runs too!!!!!

Congrats on a successful day.  I'm glad you had such a great time.

Your next event will be even easier, you should find that shorter event like a walk in the park.

Scott

Glad to hear you had a great race and it sounds like you had an awesome time.

Good job, you were dang close on your overall goal time. I'd say very successful.
Thanks for sharing your success.  Good stuff.

Way to go bro....Another solid event!