Not a PB, but I ran finally ran a race in 2009

Around 400 athletes came out the Fort Worth suburb of Benbrook, Texas - home to one of the nicer YMCA facilities you’ll ever see - for the seventh annual Tri-Benbrook.

In a show of how triathlon continues to grow in popularity, a show of hands before the race demonstrated that perhaps a third or more of the participants came to run their first Tri.

The rain held back, mostly. The wind whipped at about 20-30 mph. The clouds kept the sun and heat at bay. So, it was great racing weather all said.

I ran this course faster last year. No excuses, I was in better shape a year ago.

So while I’m always pushing for a personal best, I’ll take this result as a good barometer of what I need to do to hit my goals for the remainder of the year. Said goals:

1. Complete a 70.3 Half Ironman race in under six-hours.
2. Complete an Olympic or Quarter-Iron race in under 2:50.
3. Complete a Sprint distance race in under 1:15.

All three represent incremental improvements over my previous race results. There it is. Now, it’s time to pick some races and dust off that training plan!

Jameson 5K 2008 at Southwestern

The race started at 8:00 a.m. I arrived at the registration table at about 8:03.

Deirdre and I had late night on the first day of Southwestern Homecoming enjoying buffalo chili and good conversation at the Kappa Sigma House. Having cajoled Deirdre into running this race with me, I also refused her requests to go do it without her on the morning of the race. With all the back and forth, we arrived late.

I had fun hitting the course and playing catch-up with the field. My gun time was over 30 minutes, my chip time was 25:37. My best time yet for this race, but still above the 25 minute mark.

My goal for next year is to be in bed before 2 a.m. and to run the race in under 25 minutes. I think the later might depend on the former!

Great job to Kenda Evans and all of the volunteers. They do wonderful job every year. See you all in 2009!

By the numbers: A long day at the Longhorn 70.3

Arriving in Austin and picking up our registration materials at the Sheraton downtown, one particular  number dominated our interest. "What's the water temperature at Walter E. Long park?" 

78 degrees. Just wetsuit legal. Great news!

Mike W. figures wearing a wetsuit can improve your swim time by 10 minutes.

In any case, I'd never done an open water swim without one and I did not wish to lose any potential advantage in this race. That was pretty much the sentiment of the entire field.

Flash forward past my best swim result to date, improving six minutes over my previous time, we learned mother nature conspired to give us all another advantage. Wind gusts moved the buoys which marked the course, shortening it noticeably.

There went my one bright spot for the day!

After putting in a solid pace for the first 20 miles of the bike course, my performance diminished precipitously through the final miles on the bike and into a challenging run.

While I felt mentally prepared for this race, my conditioning (or lack thereof) really proved to be my undoing. I finished, marginally beating my time from Buffalo Springs Lake, but came in far short of my personal goal for finishing the Longhorn.

Mike W. found the course tougher than expected as well. He set an ambitious goal. While he missed it, he set a personal best by a significant margin, had a great race by any standard, and had to wait around well over an hour before I crossed the finish line.

We had fun. That should be the point of it all, right? These events are always a good time. This race had an deep field of professionals and impressive age-group athletes.

While I "bonked" on the run, I could still smile and chuckle at my overconfidence.

What's next? Working on my run, both speed and endurance. Same on the bike. Fall and winter time in Texas allows for training outdoors during the months many others around the country are forced to head indoors. I like the idea of training for a marathon in order to keep a disciplined schedule to focus deeply on my running ability. The Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth in February looks like a great target race.

Short course racing looks pretty good right now too!

On the way to the Lonhorn 70.3 in Austin, TX

Mike W and I 30 miles from Austin in his rig packed full of bikes, gear, and lots of nervous energy.

At around 8am we'll be in the water, and by early afternoon, be crossing the finish line.

An estimated 2100 racers are descending on Austin this weekend. As part of the Ironman 70.3 series, this race attracts the pros and those looking to qualify for Ironman Kona and for the 70.3 championships in Florida next November.

My personal goal is less ambitious. I'm shooting for something close to hours. Mike has a great shot to pull in at 5:15 or better, which is his goal.

In any case, it will be a beautiful Central Texas weekend.

More to come...

Not reporting from the HH100

I bailed.

I'm in Austin hanging with friends.

Chris Richardson and the thousands of riders doing the HH100 are somewhere around mile 45 by now.

The change of plans was prompted by birthday party for our dear friend, Elizabeth, who has been recently diagnosed with a serious form of cancer. We're looking forward to seeing her and hearing about how she's doing. She recently started chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

So we're in the capital city where we love to be. So many good peeps here in Austin.

Hunter Kemper does America proud with a seventh place finish

It was a literally a sprint to the finish, or as close as one can get to sprinting 1:45 minutes into an endurance race! Great race to all, and congratulations Germany's Jan Frodeno for a great finish. The Americans showed and raced well, led by Hunter Kemper.

Race Results, Men's Triathlon
Video link

A Saturday ride on the Fort Worth Trinity Trail

Fellow TNT alumnus and 2007 Florida Ironman finisher, Chris Richardson, showed me his 60-mile bike route along the Fort Worth Trinity Trails on Saturday morning.

We got out early enough to ride and finish just before the heat got into the triple digits.

We covered the distance in just under fours of saddle time.

We took a few breaks to change a flat, refill our bottles of hot water with slightly less hot water from the public fountains, and stretch out a bit.

We hit a few less traveled areas of the Trinity River trail system and traveled off the trail systems for a stint through the Ridglea Hills Country Club neighborhood.

This was a great training ride. The HH100 is just three weeks away!