To race or not to race?

Skeese Greets was a great race for me. :-)

I say that because I PR'd, and because my family was there, but there are a few things that I could have done better.

1. My swim pace was a little slower, increasing my swim time by 10 seconds overall. I guess this isn't too bad considering I hadn't been swimming in 2 weeks. It could be better.

2. I used one of those nifty aero bar water bottles, but I left the bendy straw extension at home. This made the bottle mostly worthless, so I didn't hydrate enough on the ride. Still, it was a killer ride and I was shocked by how empty transition was when I made it in. 43rd overall!

3. My run pace was slower by 10 seconds/mile. I kinda saw this coming, but I really want to get faster. I made it 1/3 of the way through the run before the leaders passed me going the other way. That felt pretty cool, despite all the people passing me.

Overall, I knocked a few minutes off my time thanks to the stellar bike leg.

So what's next? I thought I was done for the season, but Dilloman is so tempting...

Moving Pictures

I did a shoot on Sunday where we tried to get a running image. I should have know that this is tough, considering how AWESOME everyone looks in race pictures. This is the best of the batch, but we're gonna try again to see if we can nail it.

Bootleg Picture

To the untrained eye, one might assume that I am sorta short. But no, Bradford and Ben are just giants!

Fierce!

Water Water Water

Drink, drink, drink...trip to the potty...drink, drink, drink...trip to the potty...

This is the rhythm of staying hydrated.

Soon, it'll be off to swim practice for me. This picture is so fitting!

Jack's Generic Race Report

I spent days preparing , resting (aka missing practice) and eating well. The usual fluttering tummy and jangled nerves were barely noticeable. My parents even came to cheer me on!

Part 1: The Swim

I felt pretty comfortable during the swim. Though I saw a number of people from the heat behind me (all those tough 30-40 year-olds) closing in and passing, I didn't sweat it. I finished the swim in 13:09, with a pace of 2:38/M. My pace at the Couple's was 3:08, so that's a nice improvement!

T1 - 3:33, down from 4:42 at Couple's.

Part 2: The Bike

I must say, I really liked the bike course. I grew up in New Braunfels, so the backroads made me nostalgic and comfy. I had no mechanical problems or flats, though my loose water bottle cage just about vibrated the teeth out of my head. My 16.6 mph pace brought me in at 53:26. Despite an additional 3 miles added to this portion, I increased my bike pace by 2.2 mph over my Couple's pace. Yeah! I can't wait to race on my new bike...I can't imagine what a difference that will make.

T2 - 2:21, up from 1:55 at Couple's. Not sure what happened there, but I do remember catching my pedal on a rack, almost collapsing the whole thing! Whoops.

Part 3: The Run

Thanks to thoughtful hydration on the bike, my run felt pretty freakin' good. No cramps, just a twinge of pain in my hip that I stretched out last night. The run was a bit hilly, which I actually enjoyed. This is the first tri I ran without walking. My time was 35:54, an 11:58 pace. I really want to work on this, and I have already improved over my 13:08 pace at the Couple's, so I know it's possible. Once again, I think my new bike could make a huge difference.

So, Jack's is my new PR! Yay! I improved my pace in each sport, knocking about 10.5 minutes off my overall time! My final time for Jack's is 1:48:26.

Bradford and his best buddy Ben also raced. They did really well! Bradford finished in 1:19:12, down from 1:27:35 at Couple's. Woo hooo! Ben finished in 1:34:06. It was his first tri ever!

New Addtion

Here's a sneak peek...

More pictures coming soon!

Also, I just registered for Skeese Greets and Bradford is volunteering. Yay!