Hardware...It's not my fault....

...that only 2 Athena's showed up to race yesterday!!!! I got 2nd!!! And a plaque!!! It's not my fault the other Athena's stayed home and ate chips, drank beer, and watched NASCAR!!! Yesterday I raced the TriAmerica long course in Clear Lake. It was a 2K swim...60K bike...15K run. And it was HOT!!! I'm talking no shade on the run! And my results aren't listed! Their results pages are really messed up. So I will tell you what I have down. I went into this race concerned because 2 days before the race they e-mailed a briefing that said a course cut-off of 5:30. I had figured 6 hours so I was a little concerned.

My swim was great! It was a double loop swim. I swam good and steady. I felt much better than CapTex but that might be because Clear Lake was smooth and I didn't have a current carrying me off to the side. I think the race course was a little short, but I do know that I did swim much faster and smoother than normal also.

TriAmerica 2000 M Swim Time: 47:52

TriAmerica 2000 M Swim Pace: 2:38

CapTex 1500 M Swim Pace: 3:10

Lonestar 965 M Swim Pace: 3:17

I had another great bike section. I feel that this is becoming my strongest area. This course was flat and fast. It was a double loop on a 30K course making it 60K for us long racers. I went out fast becasue I am going to be slow on the run no matter what so there is no use saving anything! It was hot and I drank both of my bottles of gatorade plus a bottle of water at the handoff point halfway. I don't know my overall time but I did look at my bike computer which gave me my race pace.

TriAmerica 60K Bike Pace: 16.43 MPH

CapTex 40K Bike Pace: 15.4 MPH

Lonestar 28 Mile Bike pce: 14.6 MPH

The run sucked! It was HOT and NO SHADE!!! At about 1 3/4 miles, I started feeling horrible. I was dizzy and my head was hurting. I checked my heart rate and it was 192. HOLY @%*$! I started walking. When I got to the water table at mile 2 I filled the front and back of my sports bra with ice and my hat. I walked for 5 minutes straight and started feeling better. I usually do 3/1 intervals. After my 5 minute walk, I switched to 1/1 intervals and that was working for me. I actually started picking it up between miles 4 1/2 and 8. I don't know my pace because it is not listed.

My overall race time was 5:51. I could have made it in the 5:30 with shade! DAMN!! What a great day!