Swim, Bike, Run ...

October 11, 2009
Toyota US Open Triathlon

1500 meter Swim

24.8 mile Bike

6.2 mile Run

A LOT changes in a year. Last October 11th Galyn was recovering from a separated shoulder after crashing on his bike attempting this triathlon. And me, I was SUPER pregnant 3 days away from delivering Ryan. Galyn never questioned doing this race again. He knew he wanted to finish it. Me, I thought it was a great goal race after doing the shorter distances. But as we got closer to the race date I began to question what I was thinking. It was hard to get all the training in that we needed since we were both doing it at the same time ... not to mention the boys and Galyn's work.

The thing that scared me the most was the run. I don't like running. Well, it's more of a love/hate relationship. I hate doing it ... love the results. But, as Galyn told me, "you can always walk on the run. It's the easy one to fake". (I guess you can't really fake swimming.)

Race day quickly approached. Nerves rose rapidly. I questioned my sanity and the weather got cold. In fact there was a mad dash to the bike store the day before the race to load up on cold weather gear. It had been so nice outside we weren't even wearing long sleeves... oh, but that all changed. We bought toe covers (they go over your shoes like an outside sock), jackets and gloves.

This race is a little different than other triathlons because it is a point to point race. Usually you'll have 1 transition zone where you go after the swim, change to your bike gear, then come back to, to get your run gear. This race has two transitions. The race starts at Joe Pool Lake and finishes Downtown at the American Airlines Center. So, we had to take our bikes out the day before to get them set up.

Race morning we got up to the AAC about 5 am. It was cold and drizzly. We set up T2 with our run gear and then met up with other friends doing the race to catch the bus over to the lake.

Once at the lake, we got body marked with our numbers & age and then finished setting up T1. I checked on my bike. Wiped it down and set out everything I was going to need. I had the gloves laid out and the toe covers on my shoes. (Bike shoes have a cleat on the bottom of the shoe and they clip & lock into the pedals. When I started looking at the toe covers I thought it might mess with how my shoes clip in ... (this will be relevant later)).

Now it was wetsuit time ... not really something you want to have to put on in front of others. Think of putting Spanx on. However, it was a great way to get warmed up. All that tugging, pulling, jumping ... it was quite the workout.

Trying to stay warm ... and calm.

Man, those buoys looked awfully far away .

Getting ready for the swim...

Even though the race was wetsuit legal, the water wasn't too cold. It actually was much warmer than the outside air. But the water was pretty choppy. Because it was so cloudy, overcast and drizzly, it made the buoys hard to see. In fact, I got of course at one point until the nice man in the kayak yelled "Swimmer go LEFT". At that point I looked up and realized that yes, the entire race was to my left. Once back on course I was able to get into a pretty good rhythm and passed Galyn somewhere along the way.

The transition went pretty good. The wetsuit is MUCH easier to take off than to put on. But as I was getting my bike gear on I made a split second decision, that it didn't feel quite as cold as it did earlier. So I yanked the toe covers off my shoes (plus, I thought, there would be no clip issues since the race course was all wet) and didn't put the gloves on. I did wear my jacket.

The bike

The bike was good. A nice bumpy scenic route through Sketchville (aka South Dallas). The roads were pretty wet and had some huge cracks ... Which made me wonder, when exactly was the last earthquake Dallas had? Also, the weather was still an issue. It was misting the entire time and was even up to a drizzle and sprinkle at some points. I was amazed at how many people lost their glasses on the race. It was in one of these drizzly spells that I realized, people were throwing them off. It was damn near impossible to see with your lenses completely covered in water droplets. I however was not going to throw my glasses overboard ... I really like them. And around mile 6, up this big hill is when Galyn passed me.

The first part of the bike my fingers and toes felt fine. Not an issue. It shortly after mile 12 when I had just thought, I'm glad I didn't mess with the gloves and the toe covers that my fingers and toes started to get a little chilly. Then chilled, cold, freezing and finally frozen. I didn't quite realize how cold they were feeling until I got off the bike. In T2 I changed my bike socks to a dry pair of running socks ... a much more difficult task when you can't feel your fingers or toes. But I got it done ... barely.

The Run

The run was a great course along the Katy Trail. We had to run around the AAC and then up the trail and back to finish right in front of the AAC. The first mile around my toes were completely numb, but they were starting to warm up. I guess that's one of the good things of still having 5 more miles after the 1st one. Your entire body will be nice and warm by the time it's done. Galyn had a great run (he's a good runner anyway). Mine was not as great. I did get a cramp in my right calf and on my side ... which made it difficult to keep running. So I did end up having to walk some ... disappointing.

All Done!

It was great getting to cross the finish line .... they called out your name as you were coming up and the people standing around would all cheer for you. Galyn was hoping to finish the race in 3 hours or less. He did it! Finishing with a time of 2 hrs 56min. I was hoping to finish somewhere between 3 - 3:30 hrs. I finished at 3:19!

It was a great experience knowing that I was able to finish this race ... a distance that made me nervous to even talk about before. And I finished it, not even in pain afterwards. It was Great!

We are hooked.