It was a very challenging 15 days, exercise-wise. Or maybe exercise-unwise is more suitable. I signed up for a gauntlet of activities and looking at the schedule I began to worry that I bit off more than I could chew. The events included:
March 30 - Capital 10K
April 5th - Pedal Power Wildflower 36 mile bike ride
April 10th - Abiding Love Golf Tournament
April 13th - Texas State Sprint Triathlon
It all started with the Capital 10K, the largest 10K in Texas, on March 30th. I signed up early and it looked like I would be running alone until the last when my daughter Rachel, and my friends Tom Fritz and Michael Sorensen asked to run with me. Oh, and there were 16,500 other friends running with us as well. The rain that began falling at the start of the race failed to dampen our spirits as the 4 of us dodged slower runners in route to an 8-minute first mile. Michael was chomping at the bit and soon took off in his high school cross-country runner exhuberance. Rachel and Tom and I plodded on around the Capital and through the course and over the hills.
At around 2 miles Rachel fell a bit behind and at 3 miles Tom stopped at a porta-potty. I ran through the turn at the Mopac and was soon caught by my nephew, Bradley Eilers. We discussed how we were both getting tired and ran together for about a mile until Bradley started to leave me behind.
Little did I know that Tom and Rachel met back up at that 3 mile marker and ran together the rest of the way, so that was good.
Once I turned onto Cesar Chavez at 4 1/2 miles, I really began to tire. I was running too fast a pace for me (). I knew my last mile was going to be slow and it was. For the record, I ran 2 minutes faster than two years ago so I felt good about that. Here's our results:
Me (51:52 63rd in age group)
Rachel (53:32 49th in age group)
Tom Fritz (53:24 46th in age group)
Michael (43:26 21st in age group)
Bradley (49:22 105th in age group)
My calves were very sore for 3 days afterwards. All my training was 4-5 miles on the Hike & Bike Trail. I had a Bike Ride to get ready for!!
The Pedal Power Wildflower Ride is a well organized that starts out at the LBJ National Park near Stonewall. We (Bill Hatcher, J.D. Bostick and myself) left Austin at around 7:15am on Saturday and I was surprised at how many bike-carrying cars were headed out in the same direction. It was around 45 degrees when we and about 400 other riders started out on our journey so I opted for a long sleeve jersey with my yellow bike jersey pulled over it. Many of the other riders were headed out on the 60-mile ride but that would have been truly unwise for my circumstances.
The ride is hilly but not too tough through beautiful hill country roads, over several cattle guards and low water crossings. There was one difficult climb, it followed a cattle guard, a low water crossing and a sharp 90 degree turn so you hit the hill with no speed at all. I made it to the top where a rest stop awaited you with snacks and drinks. I stuffed the long sleeve shirt into my short sleeve bike shirt as it had become a beautiful day!
I averaged about 14.5 mph for the ride and at the end we enjoyed a spaghetti dinner. This was a very well-organized ride and I look forward to repeating it in the future.
The following Thursday, was the Abiding Love "Chip in for Children" Golf Tournament at Grey Rock (Circle C). This is my annual adventure at the links. My team consisted of members of Mixed Blessings, our Church's Praise Band - Philip Drake, Craig Hohertz, and Brent Karley. Bless his heart, Craig could only putt because of recent heart surgery but that didn't keep us from finishing 2nd to last! It was a gorgeous afternoon after a rainy morning and we had a blast. I mean, what other team would wave their arms trying to distract their teammate as he stood over a 4-foot bogie putt!
Saturday, April 12th, was more fun in the sun as Joan and I enjoyed watching Rachel and her University of Texas Melee teammates demolish 4 opponents in an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament.
Sunday was a rude awakening when the alarm went off at 5am. I had everything ready for the Texas State Sprint Triathlon but the race began at 7:30am in San Marcos. Unfortunately, I had an upset stomach and didn't sleep well but physically I was fine. I picked up my friend Jan Haas and we headed down to Aquarena Springs. The temperature was around 42 degrees and the walk from the parking lot to the bike staging area is about a half mile. By the time I got there, my back was killing me. I set everything up and tried to stretch out and began to feel a bit better, although apprehensive about a few things like the weather, my stomach and my back. But I was determined to do this since last year I bonked 30 yards from the finish line!!
The course before me was a 500 meter swim, a 14 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run. I was looking forward to the swim. Not only would I be swimming without much interference through the clear, deep spring-fed lake but also I would be able to warm up in the 72 degree water. It is a shotgun start, where athletes go one at a time about every 3-5 seconds, men first by age, the women. Pretty soon my number 143 came up and I tip-toed to the waters edged and jumped in. I kept my stroke as steady as I could and did fine, although swimming is not my forte. After 15 minutes or so, I striggle out of the water and began the 50 yard hobble over rough, gravely road to my bike.
This is my 2rd triathlon and my transitions are slow. I was being very deliverate, making sure I drank enough fluids, and striggling with my socks and bike shoes. It took me four whole minutes to get on my bike and head down the road. It was very cool and my legs didn't seem to be working very well but I figured I would get warm eventually. After about 2 miles, Jan caught up with me. She is a very strong swimmer and good cyclists. After she passed me, she spit and I called out to her, teasing her that her spit hit me in the face.
Anyway, I stayed conservative on the bike through the hilly course but sped up after the turnaround at the seven mile mark. I never did catch Jan although I was close behind and notice her in the transition area. I did better in the 2nd transition (no socks to put on) and headed out after 2 minutes or so for the run.
The run is always my strong event. I started out slow and conservative so I could judge by health and slowly increased the pace. It was a nice run through Sewell Park. Unfortunately for Jan, she got stopped by traffic police when crossing the road. I caught with about a mile to go and sped up a lot as I neared the finish and realized I still had a lot of gas in the tank.
What a difference a year makes! I finished about 6 minutes faster than last year and wasn't too tired. In fact, I returned to see Rachel's last tournament game and swam the following Tuesday and ran on Wednesday. For the record, I finished in 1:35:39, 6th out of 7 in my age group. I was faster in every event than the 5th placed finisher but he blazed through the transitions and I was poky. Here's my breakdown:
500 meter swim: 15:39
Transition 1: 4:00
14 mile bike: 49:41 (16.9 mph)
Transition 2: 2:26
3 mile run: 23:49 (7:56 per mile)
Oh and Jan? She won her age group in 1:30:10!
So, I faced the gauntlet, ran rigth through it, and came out the other side. Next up? The Captex Sprint Triathlon on May 25th.
