Wool Capital Triathlon, San Angelo, Texas (August 13, 2006)
Wool Capital Triathlon, San Angelo, Texas, Sunday August 13, 2006.
1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run.
This was the first trip to San Angelo for Lisa and I. Its about a 4 hour drive west of Austin. We drove out on Saturday, and stayed at the LaQuinta Inn. Picked up the race packet, and went out for a pasta dinner on Saturday night. Got a good night sleep after taking the usual ambien, and got up at 4:15 am on Sunday morning.
This was a fun race, in a nice park. Its the oldest triathlon in Texas, 19th annual, wow! Overall, a well organized, fun and safe event, as is usual for any race put on by Ironhead Race Productions, with timing being done by Run-Far. It was a fairly small race, with only about 120 entrants. The race started in three waves, four or five minutes apart. The over-40s got to go in the first wave (yeah!), followed by the younger age divisions. The swim was an out-and-back in a dammed part of the Concho river. A new experiment for me: I swam without goggles, which really helped in sighting the marker bouys. A good idea! During the swim, I started slow and then moved into first after a few minutes, and finished the swim first. I focused more on swimming straight than swimming fast. The bike route was a simple out and back. It was windy, mostly a head wind out of the south on the way out; I got to the turn around in 33 minutes, and returned in 30 minutes. I was leading on the bike until Richard Freer and Phillipe Kozub caught me about 3 miles before the end of the ride; they eventually finished 2nd and 1st, respectively. The bike route was pretty flat, but not all that fast, since a lot of it was a bumpy chip-seal surface. The 10K run was an out-and-back on a dirt and sand road, which I found out is affectionately known as the "dirt road from hell". It was dusty and dry with almost no shade, and in some places it was like running on a beach, the sand was so loose. It was hot, but I think I was pretty well prepared for the heat, due to my habit of doing my training runs at 5 pm. I ran in 3rd place the whole 10K, I didn't pass anyone and no one passed me. I crossed the finish line 3rd, but was 4th overall, after the corrections were made for the different starting times. I was the first finisher over 40 years old.
A few thoughts: Doing the swim without goggles was a good idea; I was able to see over the water quite well, and swam straight. It was interesting that I didn't see anyone else without goggles. My transitions were slow, as usual. I rode pretty hard on the bike, breathing hard enough so that it was difficult to drink. I didn't drink at all on the bike until after the turn around, when I finally had a tail wind. I think I did a pretty good job of keeping my head down, and keeping a good aero position. I started the run very easy and relaxed, running the first mile in 7:36, and drinking about 16 ounces of diet coke during the first mile. The last 3 miles of the run were my best (good!). I got to the run turn-around in about 23:10 (this was 3.2 miles), and came back in 20:26 for the last 3 miles.
Here are the results (I'm 4th overall):
Wool Capital Triathlon results
1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run.
This was the first trip to San Angelo for Lisa and I. Its about a 4 hour drive west of Austin. We drove out on Saturday, and stayed at the LaQuinta Inn. Picked up the race packet, and went out for a pasta dinner on Saturday night. Got a good night sleep after taking the usual ambien, and got up at 4:15 am on Sunday morning.
This was a fun race, in a nice park. Its the oldest triathlon in Texas, 19th annual, wow! Overall, a well organized, fun and safe event, as is usual for any race put on by Ironhead Race Productions, with timing being done by Run-Far. It was a fairly small race, with only about 120 entrants. The race started in three waves, four or five minutes apart. The over-40s got to go in the first wave (yeah!), followed by the younger age divisions. The swim was an out-and-back in a dammed part of the Concho river. A new experiment for me: I swam without goggles, which really helped in sighting the marker bouys. A good idea! During the swim, I started slow and then moved into first after a few minutes, and finished the swim first. I focused more on swimming straight than swimming fast. The bike route was a simple out and back. It was windy, mostly a head wind out of the south on the way out; I got to the turn around in 33 minutes, and returned in 30 minutes. I was leading on the bike until Richard Freer and Phillipe Kozub caught me about 3 miles before the end of the ride; they eventually finished 2nd and 1st, respectively. The bike route was pretty flat, but not all that fast, since a lot of it was a bumpy chip-seal surface. The 10K run was an out-and-back on a dirt and sand road, which I found out is affectionately known as the "dirt road from hell". It was dusty and dry with almost no shade, and in some places it was like running on a beach, the sand was so loose. It was hot, but I think I was pretty well prepared for the heat, due to my habit of doing my training runs at 5 pm. I ran in 3rd place the whole 10K, I didn't pass anyone and no one passed me. I crossed the finish line 3rd, but was 4th overall, after the corrections were made for the different starting times. I was the first finisher over 40 years old.
A few thoughts: Doing the swim without goggles was a good idea; I was able to see over the water quite well, and swam straight. It was interesting that I didn't see anyone else without goggles. My transitions were slow, as usual. I rode pretty hard on the bike, breathing hard enough so that it was difficult to drink. I didn't drink at all on the bike until after the turn around, when I finally had a tail wind. I think I did a pretty good job of keeping my head down, and keeping a good aero position. I started the run very easy and relaxed, running the first mile in 7:36, and drinking about 16 ounces of diet coke during the first mile. The last 3 miles of the run were my best (good!). I got to the run turn-around in about 23:10 (this was 3.2 miles), and came back in 20:26 for the last 3 miles.
Here are the results (I'm 4th overall):
Wool Capital Triathlon results
posted by David Hoffman at 7:55 PM
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