2013 Houston Triathlon Results

After the Bridgeland Triathlon and after a good month of training, I felt very confident going into the Houston Triathlon that I may see some great results.  I also wanted to dedicate this race to one of the bravest little girls I have ever had the chance to meet: Amaya Hope.

Amaya was born with Hypoplastic left heart syndrome and has had many surgeries in her first of year of life.  I first met her and her mother when I made a trip to Dallas where Amaya was in the PICU at Children's Hospital of Dallas awaiting for a heart transplant.  I brought the H.O.P.E. flag to the hospital so her mother could put her name on it.  I did not realize at the time that her name was going to be placed on my heart as well.  She just did not have the normal pink color that most babies have, but she was strong!

I wrote her name on my forearm so I could see it while on the bike and run.  I am so glad I did, because I know that seeing it gave me added strength to keep going and push harder.

I am happy to say that Amaya did indeed receive a heart transplant and so far the surgery has been a success.  She now has established that pink color that we see in all children and was released to go HOME the day after the triathlon! What a miracle and inspiration!

The race was changed slightly since the last time I raced it in 2011. The swim use to be a 2 loop swim, 2 loop bike, and run through the Towne Lake neighborhood.  This year the swim was redesigned to be all one loop.  This was exciting to me, because I knew that I would be able to keep focus on my rhythm.  For the first time in a very, very, long time, I felt comfortable in water.  I have had anxiety in the water for a long time since the Kemah Triathlon in 2011 when I was kicked in the head by a much slower swimmer and nearly knocked unconscious.  I have not been able to feel comfortable in the water since that day and especially when I was around other people.  I have been working on it a lot, however, I saw a huge difference at the Houston Tri.

If there was one complaint that most people have about the Houston Triathlon is that the distance between transition and the swim exit.  It is over 1/4 mile that you have to run to get to your bike.  Most say they hate it, but I have a complete opposite opinion about the issue.  First of all, this distance is the same for everyone, and second, it gives me a chance to let my heart rate go down before I have to get on to the bike.  This proved to be very beneficial.  I wish all of the transitions were that long.

The nearly 24 mile bike ride was my first test in race conditions since my master bike fit with Tad Hughes.  I knew that I would learn a lot about how I would feel about saddle pressure and upper body fatigue.  Unfortunately that has been a huge issue for me in the past, and that is was one of the main reasons that I chose to go to the Tad Hughes Custom Fit Studio to have my bike set up for "long course" racing.  The fact of the matter is that the bike portion of the race has always been the part that I disliked the most, but since it is the longest distance and time in most races, I wanted to do what I could to make it more enjoyable.  Little did I realize that comfortability would also correlate into being faster and for the first time ever in a olympic distance race I averaged over 20 mph for the bike portion for the first time ever in a race regardless of distance. I have to give all credit to Tad for this.  I know that being more comfortable helped not only my speed in the race, but the training leading up to the race.  I can't believe that I neglected this part of preparation before now.  If you don't get fit by Tad, then you are just settling for second best!  Thanks Tad for all your help.

I finally made it to the run feeling more refreshed than I ever have felt before, so I decided to take

advantage of that. It was pretty hot out there and most of the course was out in the sun without much shade, so it took a little longer than I expected to be my "run legs" going.  Finally after about 1 1/2 miles into the run, I found my groove and just in time to receive a ice cold sponge from the amazing volunteers at the race.  This is just one of many reasons why I think that OnUrMark is the one of the best race production companies out there.  They put a strong emphasis on not only making a race first class, but raising the bar of what to expect. I am so lucky to live in the same city that these races are held.  If you are planning your 2014 race, I highly recommend you go to www.onurmark.net and see if any of their events match your race schedule.  You will not regret it.

I finally made the last turn and could see the finish line.  I was worried when I had not seen Shawn and Rachel yet, so I was hoping that they made it to the race in time.  About that time, I saw Shawn running to me.  I was so excited to see them both.  I grabbed him up and gave him a big hug.  This was a huge accomplishment for me considering that the last two time that I did this race, I could barely hold up my arms, but now, I was fresh and feeling great.  I looked at Shawn and said, "You ready to finish this?" He smiled and said, "YES DADDY! Let's Do It!"  And we ran our way towards the finish line.

Results:

Swim: 36:24.0 2:26/M
T1: 5:02.2
Bike: 1:07:33.8 21.3mph
T2: 3:04.9
Run: 1:06:00.5 10:39/M

Total: 2:58:05.7

PERSONAL RECORD- THANKS AMAYA. WELCOME HOME!

This may be my last race before Ironman Florida.  It all really depends on certain things working out and timing.  We are now less than 50 days away from race day, and I hope to keep everyone up to date the steps towards becoming a 2 time Ironman and my training.  Most importantly, I hope to share some stories about some of the families along the way.  Thank you all for your support.  You may never know how much it motivates me to keep going.