Lonestar Triathlon 3/29/08

This was my second year to do the Lonestar Triathlon down in Galveston, TX. Last year, I did the sprint distance, which fortunately I finished about 15 minutes before the skies opened up and a monsoon (ok....really heavy rain) hit the island....You can see in this picture how dark it was at the swim start and the clouds getting pretty ominous at the finish...

2007 Lonestar Pictures

Although a little foggy at the start, the 2008 race shaped up to be a good day to race. This year I decided to do the 1/4 Iron distance (0.6 mile swim, 28 mile bike, 6.5 mile run). My strength is on the bike (although swim and run are improving), so a longer bike course suits me.

This year Alesia and I and the boys got to stay at Moody Gardens hotel, meaning I could just roll out of bed on race morning, head downstairs and be at the race start.....well worth it! Last year, Alesia had to take a cab to the race!

Rodney and Brittney, a couple of friends from Dallas made it down to do the race as well. Rodney is an experienced endurance athlete who got me into this sport a couple of years ago, and still provides a lot of solid advice and feedback for me on training and racing.

I swam a little the day before and although the water was around 72 degrees, I was feeling overheated in my wetsuit, so I decided to race without it. I probably lost a couple of minutes advantage without it, but you gotta try different things!

Race morning was nice not to see a line of thunderstorms moving in, and the temperature was very comfortable...although, I got a little chilled waiting for the swim start. This event holds both a 1/2 Iron and 1/4 Iron distance race on the same day, with racers for the 1/2 iron starting first.

The Swim

My friends and I watched the waves of 1/2 Iron racers start, but noticed that the beach patrol was bringing in 'rescued' swimmers one after another....what's going on???? If you haven't done any racing in open water before, sometimes the experience can be overwhelming and get the best of you...wether its the chop, chilly water, getting knocked around and swum over, or just not being able to see anything. Maybe thats what was going on?

I was in one of the last waves to hit the water, we jumped off the dock and swam over to the start buoys (that's me jumping off in the picture)....a little chilly getting in, but by then, I'm just thinking about the race. The gun goes off, and we start the 'washing machine' of arms and legs heading away from shore towards the first turn buoy. As I said, conditions were foggy, so it was a little hard to see, but fortunately the turn buoys were bright orange and pretty large.

I exited the .6 mile swim after 22:47 and headed up the ramp toward the transition area to get my bike. Hopefully, not having to take off the wetsuit would regain a few seconds from my lost time.

The Bike

The bike course in this race is pan flat, but wind can be a factor since it travels along the seawall for a few miles. This year, the wind never really seemed to pick up and I was able to keep a pretty solid effort on the bike for the 28 miles.

This was my first race with a new bike (Planet-X Stealth Carbon) and it felt really good to be on a triathlon geometry that fit well. I was able to stay aero the whole way (except in this picture) and passed a lot of other racers.

After averaging about 21.4 mph, I coasted into transition grabbed my running shoes and headed out onto the run course.

The Run
About 1/4 or 1/2 mile, I realized that I had not put on my race number belt for the run. I made a split second decision to run back to transition to get the number, since I recall from at least one race the threat of disqualification if your race number was not worn on the run. Adding an extra 1/2 to 1 mile to my run was not making me happy, but I headed back to transition (getting some very curious looks from people headed the other way), got my number and started the run a second time. Looking back, this was the wrong decision, but sometimes when you're decisive, you make the wrong call but carry on anyway!

The 6.5 mile run course winds through Moody Gardens with lots of switchbacks and turn-arounds...so many that there were a few times that I wasn't sure if I was still on the right course! It also takes you by the finish line (tauntingly close), and then sends you out for another 3 miles! I crossed the line after 1:00:35....not what I wanted for a 6.5 mile course, but not bad if you consider I ran the 7.5 mile version of it!

After the finish, we hung out with friends for awhile, then back to the hotel for a quick shower and packup. The picture here is me loading my bike back onto the custom carrier I made for transporting in our minivan (no, the BMW is not mine). I like it because it allows the bike to sit sideways in the very back portion of the van, out of the way and secure.

This was a great start to the season, a great race to do again, and my first triathlon back after a cycling crash back in September of 2007. I've already got Moody Gardens booked for next year!

Final stats

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0.6 mile swim - 22:47

T1 - 3:47

28 mile bike - 1:18:40 (21.4 mph)

T2 -1:30

6.5 (or 7.5) mile run - 1:00:35 (9:19 mile)

Total time - 2:47:22 - 31st place in the 40-44 age group