Play Tri Festival

I never heard my alarm went off Sunday morning as I was wide awake an hour before I had it set. I enjoyed a cup of pre race cup of joe out on the balcony of the new place at Austin Ranch while I caught up on the World news and of course the latest in the triathlon world, only to knock my favorite coffee cup off the arm rest to shatter it on the concrete. 

I jammed out on the way to the race and had a good warmup. I was about to jump in the water to warmup when me and a 64 year ageless (it says so on her leg) lady was chatting it up on the stairs that went into the water when the race patrol told us we couldn't get in the water yet. She said she was just getting her hair wet and I said, "oh yeah, I was just getting my hair wet too." 

I got off to fast start on the swim as I was hanging with the front pack for about 15 seconds which included a college All American swimmer Adam Duey and Play Tri's Egyptian olympic swimmer Ahmed M. Zaher was in the main group. I had a horrible swim and somehow  led the second pack out of the water. The swim was short, I came out in 19:36 but the top guys came out in just over 15 minutes. My T1 was slow as my helmet strap messed up as I was trying to buckle down my helmet. I scooted on out of there before the rest of the pack had a chance to catch me. However, RBM's speedo wearing old man David Jones was in  fast pursuit. I knew he was a strong biker and my legs were still getting warmed up as he finally caught me I stuck on him as he past and not long later McKinney Velo's Pedro Trinidade has improved his cycling skills and we were all together. It was so tight between us 3 that the race officials were monitoring us pretty much the whole time. I was hoping we could close the gap that the top 3 guys had on us but we ended up making no ground. My split was 24.4 mph for the 25 mile bike or 58:55. I threw down a couple of 5:30 miles the first couple of miles hoping I could close the gap again on the top guys, only they had same thing in mind. I closed the time by a lot but it was still not enough to reel them in. I did ended up catching the All American swimmer Adam Duey in the last mile, to scramble my way to 3rd overall, but I had nothing left after that. The run was only just over 5.5 miles, my watch said I ran 5:58 per mile. It was a solid race, not what I was going for but apparently it was a bad idea to race within 7 days of each other. Congrats to Ben Morgan and the old guys who made me work for it today, Ahmed, Pedro, David, and Adam. 

A big praise to the Lord for keeping us all safe out there in the super hot weather. Thanks again to my super supportive sponsors this year!!! Bicycles Plus, Nathan Villa, Richard Miller making sure I make it to the starting line with a bike that fits. Blueseventy, Matt Embry, Shirley Greene, ONURLEFT Sports!!! It was great to see everyone out there and make some new friends. 

pre-race warmup. Todd Brinkley Photography 

No face plant dismount this time. Play Tri Photgraphy. 

Enjoying a post race massage by Dynamic Touch Massage. Loc Ly I Phone Photography. 

In a few weeks, I will be making the scenic drive to Lubbock to compete in one of my top goal races Buffalo Springs 70.3, I've set my goal high for this one.  It is also a very busy month as I strive to finish 1 of 3 classes left in grad school and other exciting oppoturnities that awaits. Thanks again for reading.