Let me start off by saying that the highlite of my weekend was meeting TriSooner - he is much less intimidating than he is online. Super cute and friendly and absolutely hilarious. It was great chatting with him. I meant to ask him to see his tattoo up close and personal, but I forgot.
Saturday: I left the house around 9 and followed a friend to Austin. We arrived at the race site for registration and packet pickup at 12:30 and OMG!!! what a rigamarol! It took 2 HOURS to get registered, get the packet, put stuff in all the bags they had for the 2-transition race, drop off the bike at one trasition and the run bag at the other. What a pain.
But, from there, it all got better.
My brother lives at UT so I spent the afternoon/evening with him.
This was the 1st time I have EVER spent the night away from my family, and boy, was it quiet in the hotel room. I took a bath, I got in bed with a cup of ice cream and promptly fell asleep by 7:30. Of course, I was awake by 2, tossing and turning, worrying about the gargantuan hills we drove all over on Saturday, that I would somehow need to get my butt over that day.
pre-race- we parked at the finish line and were bussed to the swim start and T1. I ate a pb&j sandwich, 2 bananas, a cup of coffee, sipped on gatorade all morning, a small powerbar, a 2 little cliff gummis before the swim. Damn, that's a lot of food.
Swim: the swim was mostly uneventful, got slapped in the face once or twice, kept swimming, I think I may have inadvertently grabbed a guy from the previous waves in b/t his legs, really, it was an accident.
swim time: 34:53
T1: had to shove my wetsuit, goggles and cap into a plastic bag so it, along with my bike could be transported to the finish, and that took a lot of time, but I don't have transition times yet. Needless to say, it was long.
Bike: I was SOOOO scared about biking up these hills. I was getting butterflies Saturday just driving over them. I have NO practical hill training on the bike even though I REALLY think spin class helped my strength and the Houston wind definitely worked it too. There were several steep ones, but most were rollers, not very much flat at all. BUT, I got over all of them, and my fear was that I would have to get off and walk my bike, but I rode the whole way...YAY!! There was a guy who kept passing me going up the hils who was doing that leaning maneuver where he was trying to pee. I was behind him like 5 times when he did that; he must've been having issues. I just wanted to get away from him b/c I thought he would spray me. I had water in my aero bottle which I kept refilling at the hand-ups and malto (thanks Britt) in my 2 other bottles. That was perfect. I felt great the whole time!
T2: Had to shove my bike stuff into my dumped out run gear bag, so more time, but got to do what I got to do. Probly longer than necessary.
Run: We ran through the arena and out onto the hilly course. Maybe people from other places wouldn't consider that a hilly course, but that's more hills than I do in a month. I stopped at the potty once on the way out, and only stopped to stuff my mouth with chips, water and coke at aid stations. I couldn't BELIEVE I was RUNNING up the hills. I was SO proud of myself. It was a party atmosphere with music and costumes. A lot of the course was out and back and you could see athletes all along the way coming back. I LOVE courses like that. I love seeing the faces of people who feel the same passion and sense of life from being out there and pushing themselves as I do. It was a 3 loop run. I was high on the 1st loop and ready to be done, but so happy on the 3rd. We ran into the arena finish line and had our names announced. It was very cool. I wasn't specific with my nutrition on the run. I just ate and drank what they had at the aid stations and that worked for me.
Run time: 2:02:24
Overall Time: 5:57:46
(my #1 goal was NOT to walk my bike over the hills: check
#2 goal: under 7 hours:check)
I may not have pr'd the HIM, but I am SO proud of my performance because of the hills. I completely surprised myself in what I could accomplish if I want it bad enough.
SOOO, next stop: sign up for IMAZ next month...WOOHOO!
oh, and note to self, when there is more than a 2 hr drive home after a long race, stay an extra night.
Sounds like a great
Sounds like a great race.
You finished in well under 7 hours (your goal)
Congratulations!
hilarious! glad you had a
hilarious! glad you had a good time!
love the signature!
Nice Work!!!
Nice Work!!!
jtrimom wrote:Let me start
[quote=jtrimom]Let me start off by saying that the highlite of my weekend was meeting TriSooner - he is much less intimidating than he is online. Super cute and friendly and absolutely hilarious.[/quote]
Proof! (Maybe the 'super cute' thing is a low-bar to hurdle at triathlons, but thanks.)
[IMG=400X300]http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x158/endurasports/IMG_0802.jpg[/IMG]
Nice race, trimom! Beating
Nice race, trimom! Beating your goal time by an hour is sweet.
Very cool! Congratulations
Very cool!
Congratulations on your success...
Nutrition is not my strong point and something i am learning - and i looked to you more seasoned people for this stuff.. so i am glad to know i eat the same food you eat before a race
Congratulations! Way to
Congratulations! Way to conquer those hills!
Congrats! great race and
Congrats! great race and report!
[quote=jtrimom]
Swim: the swim was mostly uneventful, got slapped in the face once or twice, kept swimming, I think I may have inadvertently grabbed a guy from the previous waves in b/t his legs, really, it was an accident.
swim time: 34:53
[/quote]
Might have inadvertently grabbed a package?
Sounds like you didn't have enough 'tapering'.
Better catch up on the post race 'Taper' ;-D
Great job Sharon! Your
Great job Sharon! Your excitement comes through your RR. All those core challenges you have been dominating have paid off.
TriSooner wrote:jtrimom
[quote=TriSooner][quote=jtrimom]Let me start off by saying that the highlite of my weekend was meeting TriSooner - he is much less intimidating than he is online. Super cute and friendly and absolutely hilarious.[/quote]
Proof! (Maybe the 'super cute' thing is a low-bar to hurdle at triathlons, but thanks.)
[IMG=400X300]http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x158/endurasports/IMG_0802.jpg[/IMG]
[/quote]
This gets my vote for Trifuel picture of the year.
Way to go Trimom! Lots of
Way to go Trimom! Lots of moving parts with that race, that's for sure. Everything, including the weather was great as it turned out though. Unlike you, I did not hit my goal of sub 6 since I had major knee probs on the last half of the run forcing me to walk most of the remainder. I posted it asking for help since no way can I follow your lead to the FULL until I figure out how to fix that knee on the longer races. CONGRATS and best of luck on your 140.6!!!!!!
TriSooner, I was looking for your OU jersey....No luck. Big Race.
ddwolpert, that sucks about
ddwolpert, that sucks about your knee trouble. the hills couldn't have helped that. Best of luck figuring out what's wrong and getting better soon
Sharon, you rock! If
Sharon, you rock! If meeting Trisooner was the highlite, I think an evening alone in a hotel room with no kids was a close second. Too bad your hubby wasn't there ; )
IMAZ Here you come!!!
Great job girl way to do
Great job girl way to do it!!Yeah one day i would like to meet Ryan(trisooner)also!;~)
Congrats Trimom- I think we
Congrats Trimom- I think we are all giddy with anticipation for the back waxing/shaving and tequila shooting pics. Where are they???
nice job going under 6 with
nice job going under 6 with the hills!! why were you even worried?
congrats! and enjoy your winter season
[quote=katarddx]hilarious! glad you had a good time!
love the signature![/quote]
I keep clicking on the sig, hoping for a blog link
still nothing :)
What a great race report
What a great race report along with a great race. I am glad to hear that the race went much smoother than the sign-up!
Sounds like you had a great
Sounds like you had a great taper... mmm I mean race. Congrats!
Way to go! Austin is a great
Way to go! Austin is a great place to bike- the hills suck going up but are the most fun to go down. Houston is really flat so I glad you held up. Sounds like you had fun- good luck next month with your IM
TriSooner wrote:jtrimom
[quote=TriSooner][quote=jtrimom]Let me start off by saying that the highlite of my weekend was meeting TriSooner - he is much less intimidating than he is online. Super cute and friendly and absolutely hilarious.[/quote]
Proof! (Maybe the 'super cute' thing is a low-bar to hurdle at triathlons, but thanks.)
[IMG=400X300]http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x158/endurasports/IMG_0802.jpg[/IMG]
[/quote]
What a great pic!
So when I first started posting here, based on the talking blonde woman icon I thought Sooner was, well, a chick. Then he posted some pictures from an IM and I was all, hey? Why is that big bald dude in all the pictures? Where's the blonde chick?
Congrats, nicely done out
Congrats, nicely done out there you two!
wirebook wrote:Congrats,
[quote=wirebook]Congrats, nicely done out there you two![/quote]
Hey, Ray, I recognized you out there from your blog! I asked if you are Rainmaker, but I am sure you get that all the time.
mwconstruct1972
[quote=mwconstruct1972]Congrats Trimom- I think we are all giddy with anticipation for the back waxing/shaving and tequila shooting pics. Where are they???
[/quote]
Sooner didn't take pics of that scene...b/c pics, or it didn't happen, right? ;)
no, but seriously, he looked completely smooth when I saw him Saturday, so I didn't even offer :)
groovyjen wrote:TriSooner
[quote=groovyjen][quote=TriSooner][quote=jtrimom]Let me start off by saying that the highlite of my weekend was meeting TriSooner - he is much less intimidating than he is online. Super cute and friendly and absolutely hilarious.[/quote]
Proof! (Maybe the 'super cute' thing is a low-bar to hurdle at triathlons, but thanks.)
[IMG=400X300]http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x158/endurasports/IMG_0802.jpg[/IMG]
[/quote]
What a great pic!
So when I first started posting here, based on the talking blonde woman icon I thought Sooner was, well, a chick. Then he posted some pictures from an IM and I was all, hey? Why is that big bald dude in all the pictures? Where's the blonde chick?[/quote]
I thought the SAME thing when I started coming on trifuel. It weirded me out when I 1st saw the pics of "the big, bald dude." He is so much leaner in person!
jtrimom wrote:wirebook
[quote=jtrimom][quote=wirebook]Congrats, nicely done out there you two![/quote]
Hey, Ray, I recognized you out there from your blog! I asked if you are Rainmaker, but I am sure you get that all the time.[/quote]
Yup, I remember you. What color was your tri-top? I think have a pic or two of you (you were running uphill away from me...so not the best pics).
As an aside, I just posted a ton of pics of the race this morning. All sorts of fun stuff there...
wirebook wrote:jtrimom
[quote=wirebook][quote=jtrimom][quote=wirebook]Congrats, nicely done out there you two![/quote]
Hey, Ray, I recognized you out there from your blog! I asked if you are Rainmaker, but I am sure you get that all the time.[/quote]
Yup, I remember you. What color was your tri-top? I think have a pic or two of you (you were running uphill away from me...so not the best pics).
As an aside, I just posted a ton of pics of the race this morning. All sorts of fun stuff there...[/quote]
my tri top was dark and light blue. I was wearing a pink Ironbabe cap too. I saw your blog this morning with all the great pics. I was so surprised to see you there b/c I hadn't seen your blog the day before saying you would be there cheering on "the girl". Very cool!
Well done, Trimom - way to
Well done, Trimom - way to flatten those hills!
Nice job! and I see a TF
Nice job! and I see a TF tshirt screaming to be printed from your signuature ...
+1 on the Taper Naked T-
+1 on the Taper Naked T- shirt.
AWESOME JOB Sharon! You did
AWESOME JOB Sharon! You did a great job and should be totally proud of yourself!