All drama aside, please continue politely putting up with me enjoying my wacky nondescript adventures here at http://blog.mikegalante.com.  Bear with me while I put on some final touches on the new site, and I look forward to seeing you on the other side!

Prerace

Ev and I drove down to the race around 8:30am, about an hour and a half before my start wave (and an hour and a half after the first racers started).  I got into the transition area, found my bike where I left it on Sunday, and set up all my bike and run gear.  Once I was satisfied with my setup I left the transition to find Ev and scope out the swim start.

The race was broken up by distance, sending out all Olympic distance swimmers first and then starting the Sprint distance.  My wave was last to go off, at 10am, which gave me plenty of time to moan about how nervous I was about the swim.  And moan I did until they called the black swim caps to the staging area.

Not Pictured: Shaky Knees

The Swim

The swim start involved treading water for about 2 minutes while waiting for the gun to go off (read: nightmare).  After bobbing up and down for an eternity 2 minutes we were off.  I actually stayed calm throughout the entire swim, focusing on my breathing and keeping a rhythm.  The 750 meter course started with the current, making some quick right turns, and then fighting back upstream towards the finish.  Once we turned up stream I could really feel the waves crashing on my head.  There were no “kicked in the head” incidents or other war stories to report.  Overall I was very happy with the swim, finishing with a faster-than-my-goal time and respectable placement.   I came in 37th place out of the 57 in my age group.  Not last!

Swim Time: 16:52
Swim Place: 37 / 57

Transition 1

The jog from the water to the transition area was pretty long, which skews my T1 time a little.  I had already lined everything up for the bike, including putting baby powder in my socks and leaving an extra water bottle out for rinsing my feet.  And just like the Rookie Tri, I had sock issues again!  Foot follies notwithstanding, I was out of the transition area and on my bike.  I can tell Transition 1 is going to be where I need the most practice.  There was a long way to go from the water to the bike, and then out to the bike course, but compared to the rest of the field I was still slow.

T1 Time: 5:00
T1 Place:  45 / 57

The Bike

The bike course was a 6-mile loop where the Olympic Tri did 4 laps and the Sprint did 2 laps.  This whole multi-lap setup meant there were always people to navigate around.  There could be slow, mountain biking Olympic participants on their fourth lap getting passed by high performance triathlon bikers on their first lap.  There were several 90-degree turns and three hairpin turns per lap which made for some technical biking.  It wasn’t my cup of tea, but it made it great for spectators to see their athletes pretty frequently.

I’d say my bike performance was better than I expected, averaging 19.1 mph.  My goal was sub-40 minutes, to which I was right on target.  I passed a lot of people, but again they could have been on their 3rd or 4th lap.  It did feel good passing some fancy bikes though.  I have a lot of work to do for longer distance biking, but for these Sprint distances I feel like I’m strong enough now to put up respectable times and still have something left for the run.

Bike Time: 39:40
Bike Place: 10 / 57

Transition 2

The second transition was much faster, both in actual time and also in relative placement.  I rolled my bike through the grassy transition area and found my running shoes eagerly waiting to get going.  I knew that the toughest part (the swim) and the longest part (the bike) were behind me now, and I could floor it from here on.  The tricky part was going to be dealing with the Texas heat.  As I racked my bike and swapped my shoes I dumped a bottle of water on my head and jogged out the gate.

T2 Time: 2:14
T2 Place:  22 / 57

The Run

Here’s where I got to show everyone what they were up against.  As soon as I got onto the run course I was passing people.  In fact, over the entire 3.1 miles I was passed by exactly zero people.  My mile splits were ridiculous: 6:52, 6:50, 6:52.  In 90 degree weather, after an hour of hard effort, I rocked the run course.  It was pretty flat except for one short, steep incline going over a bridge.  Most of the field that I saw (a mix of Sprint and Olympic racers) were walking at this point.  The heat was definitely a factor.

I’m grateful for my running fitness at this point, seeing how much others struggled in the late stages of the race.  It will be interesting to see how well I pace myself in longer races.  So far the few triathlon runs I’ve done have been short enough that I could go all-out and just hang on.  Regardless, after this race I know I’m on the upper edge of all athletes when it comes to the run.

Run Time: 21:13
Run Place: 5 / 57

I’m extremely happy with how everything went.  I certainly see a lot of room for improvement in the first transition, and some work to do in the second.  So far I haven’t practiced these at all, which is reassuring that I can get better.  The race data below is all still “preliminary” according to the results people, but it should be relatively indicative of how I did.  There were apparently a lot of mishaps with how the race was organized, but none really affected me.  With a prerace goal of 1:28:00, I can’t complain about my overall finish time.  As for next year, I’m currently on the “I’ll sign up for the Olympic Distance” side of the fence.

*Rank is for that individual event, not placement at that point.  So I had the 22nd fastest run, not that I was in 22nd place at that point.

All these results are taken with a grain of salt. The timing company had some major botches and have been going through all the data, line by line, making corrections. I also manually counted the total numbers and where I ranked, so it may be off by a few, especially as they update data.

I’m definitely keeping an eye out for other options, but for now these two appear to fit the bill best.  The first is the Kerrville Triathlon in Kerrville, TX.  It’s about 2 hours driving from Austin, so that’s a plus.  The registration fee is the lowest of all the 70.3 races I’ve been looking at too.  However, one negative is that the bike course is inexplicably 57.7 miles (instead of the standard 56 miles).  Now, this isn’t an official Ironman-branded event, so they can do whatever they want, but it doesn’t make sense to have the Ironman swim and run distances and then skew the bike course.  The course would technically be 72.0 instead of 70.3.  Kerrville is a little earlier in the Fall on October 2nd, but certainly within reason for me to properly train.

The second option I’m eying is the Ironman 70.3 Miami.  It’s on October 30th, one week after Ironman 70.3 Austin.  Although it would require some travel (which is a nightmare with bikes, so I hear), traveling to a race in Miami offers its benefits over other locations.  For one, I can fly Southwest, which has zero baggage fees, even for bikes.  Secondly, I could stay with the family at least one night of the weekend.  Lastly, it’s an official Ironman-branded event, which simply makes it cooler (at least for me).  There would obviously be the additional cost of flying to Florida and likely getting a hotel room near the race for a night, plus the logistical hassles that go along with travel.

One other less likely contender, also in Miami, is called Miami Man.  For me it loses points on name alone, but it is before Thanksgiving (11/13) and a 70.3 distance.  The registration fee is on par with the other two and seems to be a reasonable choice.  It loses out to the Ironman 70.3 Miami though because it basically identical without the fancy Ironman brand attached to it (travel, date, cost).  It would be like choosing between Coke and grocery-generic if they were the same price.  But it’s still on the outskirts of my radar.

Anyone have any other suggestions for a race?  I’m still reeling from my random act of dumbness and desperately looking for some closure in the form of another race.

Sigh.

I’ll be looking for another race for the fall instead.  Wish me luck (and less stupidity)!

Race conditions are not looking favorable, with starting temps in the mid-60s and highs for the day in the upper-70s or low-80s.  He may have to deal with a fair amount of humidity and wind too.  I’m sure he’ll chew up my 3:22:34 PR and spit it out, but I’m OK with that considering how much work he put in.  His goal has fluctuated between 3:05 and 3:10, but with the conditions as they are, may be tempered just a bit.

So, let’s wish him luck* on Sunday for a great race.  I’m expecting a text message from him shortly after, and I’ll keep you updated with how he does.  If you can’t wait, you can track him here.

*though if he happened to cramp up and finish a few minutes slower than 3:22, I’d be OK with that too.  Kidding!!!**

**not kidding

For the CapTexTri, the first order of business is going the day before the race to get my race packet at the Palmer Events Center.   I’m hoping there’s a decent expo where I can get a new shirt and other gear.  After that I need to leave the PEC and go to the race transition area at Auditorium Shores, affix my bike’s race number, and leave my bike behind.  My bike will spend the night with all the other bikes racked up and ready to go for the race (I’m really glad I caught this, or else I’d be in trouble come Monday morning).

When race day rolls around I’ll need to first apply my race numbers in the form of temporary tattoos.  My superfan (Ev) and I will head down to the race relatively early, though the exact time is still TBD.  The race has an Olympic Distance and Sprint Distance, and they seem to be treating them as totally separate events.  When a marathon has a half marathon counterpart, they invariably start together.  On Monday, the first Olympic swim wave starts at 6:46am, with each subsequent wave going off exactly 4 minutes later.  After all the Olympic swimmers are gone, there will be about 15 minutes of downtime until the first Sprint swim wave starts at 8:54.  Then I have to wait for all the Sprint swimmers to go because I happen to be in the last Sprint swim wave (Men 20-29)… at 9:46am, a full 3 hours after the very first swimmers started.  My transition area opens at 7:15am, so I’m expecting lots of waiting around.

One issue I’m already fearing is the late start.  In Texas, as we’re getting ready for summer, it doesn’t take long for things to heat up.  I’m a little concerned with what the temps are going to be like around 10am when I’m just getting out of the water.  Today, just three days before the race, is going to see highs around 98*, and this past Wednesday saw triple digits.  Hopefully my blinding speed creates enough wind to keep me cool.

And so, my friend reader, I bid you farewell until after the race.  Check back next week for a race report.

The first thing I noticed was how low-profile the whole operation was.  I walked up to the Jalopy truck and saw the normal (long) lunch crowd lined up at the window.  I then saw a guy with a boom mic and another with a big digital camera.  There was no studio audience, no production truck, no director yelling “CUT!”.  It was a small, flexible operation that went with the flow rather than scripting the Jalopy’s lunch service.  I found the whole operation surprisingly nondescript and, for lack of a better word*, intimate.

The crew was interviewing and filming diners about the truck, the food, the owner, and the location.  I learned that they were trying to cover as many of the sandwiches off the menu as possible, so they gently guided some patrons’ menu decisions, mine included.  Per the show’s request, and nothing else immediately jumping out at me, I ordered the Folletto, composed of pepperoncini brine, housemade pickled peppers, scallions, and parsley salad.

I’ll be honest, the Folletto didn’t sound particularly special when they mentioned it.  I was a bit apprehensive about ordering it, wondering what I’d do if I took a bite, my face 2 inches from the camera, and it wasn’t great.  Then what?  Fake it?  Could I.. Would I deceive America like that?  Turns out it was a non-issue.  The sandwich was lights-out good.  It was perfectly spicy and tangy with great chicken on fantastical bread.  One side was still toasty, the other a little soft from steam in the foil wrapper.  Amazing!

Like I told the camera, my favorite sandwich at The Jalopy is whatever I last ordered.  I answered questions like “What makes this truck different from others?” and “Tell me about this location.”  I’m looking forward to seeing the episode in its final version, though I fear that won’t be for quite some time.  The crew was on site filming in Austin in preparation for Season 2 of the show; currently it’s still airing new episodes of Season 1.  In any event, I’ll keep you posted if I hear when I strike it big!

*I’m an engineer people, cut me some slack.

get your game face on

I took Monday off, so that’s a good start to get fresh for the race.  Well, the reason I took today off is to recover from the hard weekend that passed.  Saturday involved a moderately paced 13.2 miles in the near-suffocating humidity that is Texas in always early Summer.  Can’t wait for the actually-suffocating humidity in the months to come.  Overall it felt good and boosted my overall fitness confidence that I can still bust out a half marathon without thinking about it.

For Sunday I had the bright idea of practicing some open-water swimming.  After some research I found I could swim in Decker Lake, where The Rookie Tri took place.  Only a little more than 9 miles away I opted to bike to the lake in my tri gear, hop in the water for a 20-minute swim, and then ride back.  That plan almost worked until I realized a) I still don’t like swimming; b) swimming into currents is hard.

The ride to the lake was solid.  I locked up my bike to a “No Parking” sign near the water and hopped in the water near a “No Swimming” sign.  There were several “No Wake” buoys lined up within reasonable distance so I decided to swim out to the first and then turn 90 degrees and swim down the strip of buoys, then turn around after about 10 minutes.  Well, that went swell except for fact that I turned around when it felt like 10 minutes, and not when my watch said 10 minutes.

Turned out to be a total of 9:01 when I got back to the dock.  Nine minutes, one second.  The map (above) comes out to ~0.22 miles, or 350 meters.  Ugh.  Well hopefully the race-day adrenaline will carry me through the remaining 400 meters of the swim.  Not to be discouraged, I hopped on my bike and cranked out some really fast miles on the way home, until I met a nasty hill, which did get me discouraged just a tad.  That’s ok though!  I bargained with myself on the ride home that in order to compensate for the poor swim showing, I’ll go for a run right when I get home.  Fortunately, as has been the case recently, my run (the full 5K race distance) went very well, averaging 7:33 min/mi.

Happy to end on a high note, I’m not sure what to expect in the CapTexTri.  The Sprint Distance starts around 9:00am, after the Olympians Olympic Distancers are all swum out, so hopefully the heat doesn’t become a factor.  Right now my goal looks like this:

Swim: 21:00
T1: 2:30
Bike: 40:00
T2: 1:30
Run: 23:00

That works itself out to 1:28:00 overall time.  A lot hinges on the swim and how exhausted I am coming out of the water.  It goes without saying that I’ll have a race report up sometime next week, so you can congratulate / heckle me on a race well / poorly done.

*You can send me Tiff’s Treats anytime.  Really.  Please.

Austin is a super outdoorsy city and there is a ton of support from local businesses.  The City of Austin website even has a map of all the businesses on or near bike routes that have partnered up to make May 20th extra bike-friendly.  The support is amazing and Twitter has been buzzing with all the supporters spreading the word to make sure you get out there.  So obviously I rode my bike to work today, right?  No.

Unfortunately an unexpected 8am meeting and the threat of thunderstorms all day forced strongly influenced my decision to forgo riding my bike to work.  It’s a little over 10 miles for my “short” route to get to work, so it would mean leaving at 7am just to get to the office with time to shower before the meeting without stopping for any fun times from local businesses.  The decision to drive to work did not come easily, but I think it was the right thing to do.  I’ll just have to wait until next May before enjoying some of the Bike to Work festivities.

Where you might infer that “Will Run To Eat” means I’ll run to burn calories, thus requiring refueling, what I’m talking about is literally running to eat.  On several occasions now I’ve laced up my shoes with the sole (shoe pun? maybe? no, I guess not) intention of reaching a food truck, grabbing some eats, and running back home to enjoy said eats.  It’s like the circle of life.

Of course some foods are more accommodating than others.  For example, I don’t see a successful trip to, say, fresh-baked pizza ever happening.  But a foil-wrapped sub sandwich? Yes, please!  On two separate occasions I’ve run at least 5 miles round trip to grab a Short Bus Subs sandwich.  The first time, at their semi-permanent Mueller Hanger location, I ordered at the window and then proceeded to run around the park while they prepared my food.  The next time involved running from work to the bus, ordering / paying, and then trying to figure out a good 7-ish minute loop so that I’d get back to the bus right when my sandwich was coming out of the oven.  I lucked out and trotted up to the window just as my name was being called.

All this is well and good, but you may be wondering “Umm, once you have your food, how do you transport it back to home / work?”.  To that I simply say: my hands.  This is what makes sub sandwiches perfect and, say, hot coffee a logistical impossibility.  I’m scoping out other options, such as paper bags loaded with tacos or maybe bring my own ziplock bag with me to get some BBQ brisket and ribs.

To be fair to my new hobby of biking, I’ve even ridden my bike a total off 11 miles round trip for an ice cream sandwich from Coolhaus.  I zipped down to their Riverside location, got their mind-blowing coffee-toffee ice cream on chocolate chip cookies, and then rode home, belly and taste buds fully satisfied.  The nice thing about biking is the relative low-stress on the stomach while riding, whereas running is a full-on torso / GI assault.

I’m always on the lookout for runner-accessible food.  What makes trailers so appealing is they don’t have a “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service” policy*.  Anything within 10 miles total round trip is fair game, though like I mentioned, some foods play nicer than others.  So with that, you’re on notice Jalopy Rotisserie, MMMpanadas, and Evil Wiener.  Watch yourselves, I’m coming running for you.

*I suppose that applies to most of Austin…