“We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.” - Frank Tibolt
Having completed the Ironman Kansas 70.3 (and getting that monkey off my back) it was nice to be able to come home and do the sprint-distance Pflugerville Tri... or so I thought. This race is on Father's Day every year, and this was probably the windiest Father's Day I can remember. From the start of the day, the winds were blowing. I was hesitant to get my stuff out of my bag in transition after racking the bike, thinking stuff would blow across the parking lot we were in. I managed to get things laid out pretty well, weighing down anything light with something else heavier. Met a number of friends there, and then wandered down to the swim start. But as we stood around waiting for about 40 minutes, we could feel and see the wind picking up. I knew the swim wasn't going to be any fun, and I was a little concerned about the bike course and all the inexperienced participants being out there.
My swim was definitely slower than last year, with the wind and the shoulder injury from Galveston. I felt like I drank half the lake and couldn't get my stroke in concert with the waves. But I made it through the swim, and didn't fall over getting out of the water. Transition was decent, and once out on the bike, I made up a bit of time... until I turned on the back stretch that went headfirst into the wind. This was the one part of the ride where I really felt the winds. I knew coming in that this was going to be just another training day, so I hadn't even bothered with putting race wheels on the bike. I still managed to pass a few more riders, telling the women who had passed me on the swim "Good swim!" as I passed them on the bike, knowing many of them would pass me again on the run. The turn north on the tollway was awesome - tailwinds, and I managed to kick it up to a 32mph run for a few seconds. They had put cones up at the sharp right turn off the tollway which I felt was causing more trouble than help, so I moved outside of the cones to make more of a sweeping turn through the cones into the turn without slowing down as much. A little more headwind, and then it was into the last stretch down a hill and back up into transition. I cranked up the pedals for that and pushed it hard into the finish. Off the bike and in to change shoes, one of the guys I passed after the last turn went by saying "Great run down the hill!" -- felt pretty good hearing that.
I will say I felt better coming off the bike into the run this time compared to last year. I managed to run almost the entire 3-mile loop, only walking through the aid stations long enough to grab a cup of water and dump it on my head. It wasn't fast, but it was decent. Given the wind, the ugly swim, and the slower bike, the overall time was about 10 minutes slower than last year. But the positives were what I was looking for - even though it was a lot shorter, I think this swim was a good practice for IMFL; decent bike given wind situation; and I felt better throughout the run... as a side note, I did the bike and run again on Wednesday evening, and with almost no wind, the ride was 1.5mph faster (without pushing at race tempo) and the run was a whole lot better at 9:53 per-mile-average.
I was able to ride with Alli Koch from Temple to Austin, as one leg of her journey from the Canadian border to the Mexican border, supporting the American Heart Association. The largest part of the ride was all going south down 95 from Little River Academy to Coupland, and it was ALL headwind. One of my fellow football officials volunteered to drive SAG for us, so Alli's dad Dave would be able to ride on the bike as well. Most of the trip he drives the car either in front of Alli or behind her. It was a difficult 60 miles of the 72 mile ride, but riding with an 18-year-old who has the wide-angle perspective of her world was such an inspiration!
Next up is the decision about whether I am going to participate in the Olympic-distance triathlon in Waco in July, and then the Tri from The Heart in Brady August 7.
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