TexasMan X-50

This past Sunday I did my first triathlon of the season: The TexasMan X-50. It included a 1 mile lake swim, a 40 mile bike, and 9 mile run. I added it to the schedule primarily because the distance, timing (6 weeks out from Victoria 70.3), and set up (wetstuit-legal open water swim, 2 loop bike course with rolling hills, run at least partly on paved trails through the forest) made it an ideal practice race. But, though it was "only" a B-race for me, it was also my longest event to date, as it was about 30 minutes longer than my first marathon.

Going in, my goals reflected its status as a training race:

- Get some wetsuit and open water swim practice

- Test-drive my nutrition/hydration strategy, specifically making sure I take in enough on the bike leg

- Take it easy on the bike, and enter T2 with enough gas in the tank and fresh legs so I'd feel strong on the run

In short, a successful day would be one after which I felt confident I was ready for Victoria 70.3. And by that measure it was a successful day indeed.

The day before I did my standard pre-tri routine: transition practice, organizing my drinks and nutrition, laying out all my gear, packing my bag. I woke up race morning, had my coffee/coconut oil/milk/vanilla extract blend (bulletproof coffee without the butter and half the coconut oil, basically) and English muffin with almond butter, both things that I usually consume before a big workout and always sits well. Then it was time for the almost hour-long drive north to the race site in the early morning dark. Got my transition area set up, TriSlide and wetsuit on, and headed down to the beach for the start.

My wave was the 3rd to start so we had the benefit of watching the 1st group (the young men doing the X-50 distance) turn too early and have to swim back onto course, thus saving the later groups from the same mistake. Soon it was time for my wave to enter the water and when the horn went on, we ran in and settled into our swim.

It was my first time to swim in my wetsuit and it took a little getting used to at first. It's sleeveless so it didn't affect my stroke but the tight feeling in my chest combined with the cold water made it hard to draw in a deep breath for a few minutes. I didn't panic, but did breaststroke it for awhile till I settled into a groove.

Overall the swim went well. I wasn't fast but was moving well enough without expending too much effort. There was one weird spot though after the final turn as we were headed back to shore where it felt like no matter how hard I swam I was stuck in place. Everyone seemed to be gliding past me and I didn't feel like I was moving at all. Slowly though, the next buoys grew closer, and then the shore. 41 minutes afterI started, I was out, feeling satisfied and ready for the bike.

My T1 could have been a little faster but not bad. Soon I was at the mount line ready to begin the bike leg. I checked in on my speed every few minutes but did the bike more by perceived effort than anything. The course had lots of rolling hills so I took advantage of every chance to coast and always shited into the small gear on the ups. The more I ride this bike the more impressed I am by it. I've had it 3 years but still feel like I'm getting to know it due to my pregnancy hiatus and then limited riding in subsequent years due to my focus on marathons. But shifting is smooth as silk, and the new saddle I got recently left me far less sore post-race than I'd have expected. That bike deserves more time from tme than it's gotten, and will get just that in the remaining weeks before Victoria.

I packed a Ziploc with Shot Bloks and Perpetuem tabs and water bottles of Skratch electrolyte solution. My goal was to take in a shot blok or tab every 15 minutes or so, go through 16oz of fluid an hour, and take a salt tab every hour. It's on the higher end of the recommended calories for my size but I find that I tend to get light-headed and weak if I let my blood sugars get low. This strategy seemed to work well. I never felt hungry thirsty, full or bloated. I got off the bike after about 2:40 on it, with legs that felt strong and a stomach that felt good.

T2 was a little long, but mainly because it was my only bathroom stop of the day. I headed out on the run feeling good-so good, in fact, that I had to slow it down a little so I didn't peak too early. As the day went on and I hit some stretches that weren't shaded the heat and cloudless sky slowed me down enough on their own, but to the pace I had anticipated holding, about a 10 minute mile.

Other than the heat the run went fine. I should have taken in my last calories about 15 minutes earlier than I did but recognized the hunger sign quickly enough that it wasn't a big deal. I had largely taken the last few weeks off from running due to some recurrent pain in my inner shins (posterior). I assumed it was probably just pain due to running on a treadmill, which tends to bother my lower legs more than pavement, but in the back of my mind I had the nagging worry of, what if it's stress fractures? I figured I'd take a few weeks off to let any inflammation go down and then see how the race went. If all went well, I'd know it was just treadmill pain. If it was a stress fracture, as I knew from experience, that would be all too clear within a mile or two. My shins felt fine. In fact, the only pain I felt on the run was a hot spot on the ball of one foot which turned out to be a blister. Mental note to apply bodyglide to my feet again before putting on socks, but will also take sandals down to the swim so I don't hurt my feet on a rough gravel surface like this event had in spots.

After about an hour and a half of running I crossed the finish line with an overall time around 5:08. Not a competitive time by any means, but I felt good. I had another 20.3 in me, if that had been the big day. I accomplished the goals I set out to and the day gave me a nice boost of confidence as I head into the home stretch of my training. It also reminds me what I already knew: I need to maintain in the swim and run, fine-tune transitions, and try to gain a little better bike fitness so I can finish faster with the same or less perceived effort.

In the days since I've been much less sore than I'd have expected. Neck, wrist, quads, achilles all a little stiff and sore but I was moving around pretty well. I probably could have exercised Monday morning but after such an early start and full day I took a well-earned opportunity to sleep in a bit. Tuesday I intended to take it easy with a casual rollerblading outing but Daniel was already awake and downstairs and wanted to go with me, so my planned relaxing skate ended up involving pushing some 60ish pounds of boy and stroller. It was fun to get that time together, and I can see where it could be a good leg workout when I want a change of pace.

Looking ahead, Memorial Day brings my next training race, the CapTexTri. I'm "only" doing the international distance there but will be additional practice. Then, June 14, the day will come. I will get to earn my first Half Ironman finisher medal.

TexasMan was certainly a great practice event but was a good race in its own right, and one I'd enjoy doing again in the future if it works with my schedule. 1 down, 2 to go for the season! I tend to think of myself more as a runner who sometimes swims and bikes than a triathlete, but triathlon is working well for me. It's a nice change of pace from strictly running and I can tell the cross-training is making me stronger. Marathon runner/Half Ironman Finisher? I'll take that.