Galveston 5150

I was excited to race Galveston 5150 especially after the swim I had in TriFecta (2nd out of water in age group wave). I wanted to able to compare it to the guys in Galveston. But unfortunately, rain combined with the considerably high winds made the race officials cancel the swim. Which it really wasn't that bad, no worse than an ocean swim. WTC, harden up just a bit, ok.

This was also the first time Rylan would get to see me race too, I was pretty excited about that. We took him to Pleasure Pier before dinner to ride some fun rides and we had dinner at Bumba Gump's.

After TriFecta and suffering another painful bout of stomach cramps we are trying to go gluten-free to see if it helps. I guess I've had too many pasta dinners over the years.  I believe it is helping already, my running has gotten significantly better since. I feel significantly "lighter" but I'm not.

Since the swim was canceled, we started on the bike one at time in 5 second intervals. It was definitely a different format than I was used to and we had to start out with our shoes on. I had a very good mount as I was trying to get in a legal draft of the guy who took off before me. The bike is along the seawall coast. Flat and fast. We had a very generous tailwind on the way out sailing our carbon cost more than your car bikes 29-31 miles an hour (some people probably sailed more than that), only to be faced with a heckuva headwind on the way back.  This is the first time I've raced in Galveston where we didn't get the tailwind on the way back. The group I was competing in it was a yo-yo the entire ride going back and forth.

On the 2 loop  10k run course around Moody Gardens, I finally felt good on the run. Quick effortless turnover starting out as I ran in "control" the first couple of miles. I was passed early on by a pro Rodolfe Von Berg finishing up his last loop once he passed me I was able to keep him close as I found the motivation to stay with him, but I was caught by up-and-coming, young Daniel Vertiz, who also in the "Elite-Amateurs" and would go on to have the fastest run split of the day. It wasn't until the last two miles that I had some stomach cramps but they weren't as intense as they have been. So, we are staying on the gluten-free thing for further experimental testing.   I would ended up 20th overall and 6th out of the "Elite Amateurs".

It was really great to have the support from Calley and Rylan especially seeing them on the run course.  Rylan, actually took most of the athletic photos from this weekend. Praise God that my running is coming back around and I know where I need to work on the bike to get stronger.

After the race my Aunt Veronica met up with us, who I haven't seen since I was a young boy. I also played in the beach with Rylan we stopped to visit my grandparents on my dad's side. What a great trip!

Next,  Lifetime Dallas October 6.

Cheers!