Combat Triathlon

Since I had to stay near home this weekend due to family concerns (and my father-in-law is healing slowly, but steadily) I chose to bypass travelling to Austin for the Capital of Texas Olympic distance triathlon and instead entered the more local Combat Triathlon in Texas City.

The Combat Triathlon started with a 300 yard seeded pool swim. I submitted a time of 6:45, not wanting to over-estimate my ability by too much, but still figuring I could go a bit faster. I ended up finishing in 6:01 (and I could have been a bit faster if not for the other swimmers in the way), passing several people along the way while trying not to push too hard to make those passes. I have certainly come a long way since last year when I did a 300 meter pool swim in 7:25. After heading through a fairly fast transition, I headed out for the 15 mile bike ride. The took us primarily along major freeway service roads and was pretty well supported by volunteers--although at the only street I saw unmonitored an uncaring driver sped up just to beat me passing by, but his action was more thoughtless than dangerous at that spot. The bike ride was fairly quick along the major roads and I averaged the fastest speed I have had in any triathlon at 19.3 mph, finishing in 46:38.



I also felt like I had a good second transition, although I did take my time a bit just before heading out on the run. The run tends to be my weakest spot in triathlons, as I have endurance but presently lack speed--although my speed has been improving slowly as I have lost weight. I had a generally good run in weather that was heating up at this point. As my heart rate was heading higher, I ended up walking about 45 seconds for every 4 to 5 minutes I ran. Still, I felt strong for the whole run and even though I felt I was maintaining my best pace towards the end, I still found the strength to sprint to the finish line at the end with a 34:39 3 mile run.



My goal for this race was to finish in the low 1:30's, which I accomplished with a 1:30:19 finishing time.