The Houston Triathlon is over and I can’t be happier about it. I have run and swam long distances when I was in high school, I successfully made it through Navy boot camp, and I have finished a sprint triathlon, but nothing I have ever done could ever compare to how hard this event was on me.. There were several times that I felt that I could not finish, but I kept pressing on. I kept thinking about how far I have come and how exciting it will be to see my son and wife at the finish line.
When I woke up on Sunday morning, I started to get really nervous about the event. I kept questioning my preparation. I kept having the question "Am I ready?, "Did I train hard enough?, "Am I going to finish?" I am sure all triathletes have those thoughts at least one time in their life, but this was my first time and I was nervous.
I arrived to the swim start and started to see everyone get ready for the race. It was cooler than normal because a cool front was coming in and the temperature had dropped about 10 degrees already and the wind was picking up. I put on my swim cap and goggles and entered the water at the start line. There were about 100 people in my wave the silence among the competitors was deafening. The horn sounded and we were off. I started at a good pace, but I soon started to notice that I did not warm up enough. I started to tire right off the bat, but I knew that it would eventually go away. Eventually it did and I got into a rhythm. 750 meters became a 1000, then 1200, and then I was finished with 1500 meters and heading to the bike transition.
The length between the swim and bike transition was really far. It was actually about 1/3 of a mile. I finally made it to my bike and heading off to bike start line. I was worn out already, but I knew that I would be able to recover a little on the 25 mile bike course before the run. Little did I know that there was a huge headwind on the north loop of the course, and my speed and energy was reducing fast. I finally made the final turn of the out and back and my speed picked up and so did not average. I was worn out, but I knew I had to continue to the run transition.
As I got ready for the run, I started to notice that I have pretty much exhausted just about everything I had on the swim and bike, so I knew that it was going to take all heart to finish the 6.2 mile run. The run is where my mental strength really had to kick in, because my body was quickly starting to break down. I started to hurt in places that I did not even know I had muscles, my back was starting to get sore, my stomach muscles were starting to have spasms, and my heart was about to pump out of my chest, but I kept going. All of us on the run course were encouraging each other to finish. “You are doing great!” “We are nearly there!” The The cowbells and cheers from the spectators were also ringing in the morning air. All I could think about was seeing my beautiful wife and Shawn at the finish line.
I made the final corner, and saw the finish. My energy started to pick up and I had found another gear. All of sudden I heard my wife cheering for me. I ran over and where Shawn was turned around looking at the crowd around him. I picked him up, and he had the biggest smile on his face. I wanted him finish the race with me, so we took off towards the finish line, FINALLY!RESULTS:
Swim: 37:34 Rank 50
Bike: 1:25:07 Rank 76 Avg Speed 18.2 mph
Run: 1:14:04 Rank 77 Ave Pace 11:57 minute mile
Total Time: 3:23:17 Rank 75
At first, I was really discouraged by my results because I really wanted to do better, but comparing them to my results from the Bridgeland Sprint Triathlon, I actually improved all of my times, so I am on the right track. I just have a long way to go before I can call myself Shawn's Ironman.
I have gained a greater respect for this sport and the athletes that compete in it. I still can’t believe that I was able to finish and my body is yelling at me today because I did, but I finished and that is all that matters. Now it is time to start my off-season training which consists of a lot of weight training and core muscle building. Next big race….IRONMAN 70.3 St. Croix on May 1, 2011.
