Every Second Counts

This morning I participated in the Lost Pines Triathlon in Bastrop, TX. The race consisted of a 400mish pool swim (the director said it was a little longer), a HILLY 16 mile bike and a HILLY 3.65 mile run. This race was so much harder than I thought it was going to be, I feel sorry for any first time triathletes out there today. My first sprint was last summer in Waco and it was a much friendlier course than this one. The hills reminded me of the hills in the Longhorn Ironman 70.3 I did last fall. Well, I will go through the morning and describe the event as best as I can remember....

I brought my trigger point foam roller and rolled out for a good 30 minutes about an hour before the race, I think that really helped because my low back always hurts when I have been on the bike more than 30 minutes. After rolling out I started on my circuit (the same one we do at CSCF). I had about 10 minutes from the time I was done with my warm up until the time I got in the water for the swim, which was perfect.

On a side note, I originally planned on eating a piece of grilled chicken I brought, with a sweet potato and some avocado BUT I changed my mind and did a chocolate Advocare meal replacement shake, banana and some almonds instead. I have been having a meal replacement shake for breakfast lately and I like it because it is light and gives my body the nutrition it needs. I usually do not eat the banana but I knew I would need it today.

The swim was in a pool that was about 33m in distance and we went down and back enough times to complete the 400m. It was really weird and really exhausting. I definitely need to work on my swimming, I am not efficient and probably expend a lot more energy than I need to. My swim time was 9:03.

From the pool I jogged about 200m to my bike. I tried to recover on the jog and I could tell that the swim wore me out more than I thought it would. My transition was 2:30 and I actually took longer because I put my ipod on. Then as soon as I started on the bike a lady told me that I would get disqualified if I was seen with headphones so I took them off and gave them to her....wasted a little time there. I ate about a fourth of a banana before getting on the bike and I had two water bottles on my bike, one with water and one with a scoop and a half of spark mixed with a scoop and a half of rehydrate. I kind of knew what I was getting myself into on the bike course because I drove the route yesterday, but actually experiencing it on my bike was much harder than I anticipated. It was a combination of uphills and downhills, several people were getting off of their bikes and walking up some of the steepest hills. CrossFit training definitely helps with this, I am happy to say that I never got off my bike; and the hills is where I would pass people up. BUT, at the top of those hills I would sound out a groan and the entire uphill I would take very loud deep breaths in my nose and out my mouth.....ugh.....it was SO HARD. Well, the bike route was an out and back, SO, we rode the hills coming back in the opposite direction that we rode them going out. I finished my bike 16 mile bike in 58:27, the race director told everyone at the beginning this is not a bike course you would set a personal record at, I feel like that worked in my favor a little because I am not strong on the bike but I can probably handle hills better than the guys who are because of CrossFit.

My transition from the bike to run was a little faster, 1:32. I knew this run would be a test because i saw the first 2 miles of the run going out on the bike, they were the same. And one of those miles was a MEAN hill. I had an entire goo (nutrition) the last 2 miles on the bike because I knew I needed something in me to get through this run. The first mile was not bad at all, I actually felt great and was so glad to get off the bike. I think I ran about a 7:15 mile. The second mile however, was TERRIBLE. It was an entire mile up hill, imagine a never ending hill, that is what it felt like. It is on this 2nd mile that I asked God to get me through this race and allow me to finish it strong. I know He has more capabilities than I do, and if I asked He would deliver. I think I clocked about a 8:30 mile on that one. The 3rd mile started better but then got really bad...another big hill. Imagine from the 2.5 mile marker to the 3.1 mile marker another TERRIBLE never ending hill. It is at the beginning of this hill that both my quads began to cramp, not terrible at the beginning, but they were definitely telling me they have been overworked today. By the top of the hill they were almost gone, I really thought I would pull a muscle or tear them both, I was in pain. I had the wind to sprint in the last 1/2 mile but I did not have legs that could do that, imagine this, I was wanting to finish strong but physically could not.....or at least without doing major damage to my body. I feel like God used a race volunteer to tell me "Charlie, don't sprint it in, just keep it slow and steady", because as I reached the turn at around mile 3.2 I told a lady my quads were burning and really in pain, then I asked her, "should I sprint it in?". She said, "No, just keep that pace". I did exactly as she said and cruised in at probably an 8:30-9 minute mile pace and finished the VERY BRUTAL 3.65 mile run in 28:32.

Well, it turns out I finished first place in my age group (25-29) with a time of 1:40:07.....eight seconds before the guy who finished in second place. I am not sure where I finished overall, but i think it was top 20.

A HUGE congratulations to all of the participants out there today, it was hot, hilly and definitely not your usual sprint triathlon. There were people still coming in at 3 hours, a lot of the experienced triathletes said this race was harder than an olympic distance triathlon.

Do not ever try to take things on by yourself, God will provide you with much more than you will ever do alone.
Luke 11:9-10
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened.