5:45am: Worst part of races. Waking up. This is Saturday!!!
2 min before start: Forgot. Nutrition. DUMB!
Start: Late to the party. Oops.
Miles 1-13: Roller coaster ride starts with around 200 cyclists in a huge pack.
Mile 14: Going downhill at 35mph. Start thinking about Cousin Eddie from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. "I don't know about this Clark. I don't think I should be flying down a hill with nothing between me and the ground but a piece of government plastic. You see this right here, if this gets dented, then my hair just ain't gonna look
right."
Luckily the plastic separating my head and the ground was made by Specialized.
Miles 15-25: More roller coaster thrills of east Texas. 30 mph down. 13 mph up.
Miles 26-31: Chatting with Mindy. A 47 year old from Austin who is also training for Ironman Texas.
Mile 32: Alone and bored. So I call Brittany. A pleasant minute conversation. Hang up and hear the guy next to me says with a huge smile, "Well, I feel out of shape. I'm huffing and puffing and you're riding up a hill talking on the phone!"
Me- "I'm nothing special. But, I am training for an Ironman."
Him while laughing- "Ok. I don't feel worthless anymore. But, get you butt in gear!"
I was going 25 mph by that time.
Mile 33: Halfway home baby!
Mile 34: Small child around the age of 6 holding out Powerade at a rest stop. Slow down and take the cup and then hear, "I did it! I did it!" Referring to the excellent cup to hand transfer.
Miles 35-47: "I'm all alone. There's nobody here beside me..."
Mile 48: Almost met the "big pointy teeth" of a large, large dog. Never thought I'd be so thankful that the Chevy Malibu was created. Ran interference.
Mile 49: Almost met the "big pointy teeth" of a medium sized dog. Another Chevy to the rescue, a Silverado.
Mile 50-54: Many false flats. (Read: why the HECK am I only going 17 mph!!!)
Mile 55: The flowers are blooming in the Rose Capital (Capitol?...eh) of the World.
Mile 56: The length of an Ironman 70.3 bike course in 2:56ish.
Mile 57-59: Close to bonking because I'm the idiot who forgot nutrition. No PBJ. No GU gel. No energy.
Mile 60: Dropped my pride for the salvation of the rest stop. The 70+ plus woman at the rest stop next to the Baptist church can make a mean PBJ! Four PBJ's, two bananas and a facility break later...READY TO RIDE!!!
Mile 61-62: Getting ready for the Beast. Mph not exactly stellar.
Mile 62.5: The false Beast. Up.
Mile 63-63.5: Tackling the Beast. Slowly. 6-8 mph. They call it the Beast for a reason. It hurts. Always great to see paramedics at the top.
Miles 64-67: Returning to the finish line. Downhill. Fast.
Post race- Kiss from Britt and time to run.
Mile 1-2 running: This is dumb. Let's stop. Legs felt
ok. 8:11 pace, but didn't want to hold up the group.
67 miles in
3:41:25
18.2 mph (rest stop took away 0.7 mph)
2 miles ran in 16:22 at an 8:11 pace
Average heart rate: 149 Max: 190
3,548 calories burn
Two SWEET farmers tans
Sleepy
Next race- Ironman Lonestar 70.3