Calley and I made the long trip down to Austin a couple of days before the Cap Tex Triathlon and we stopped at the world famous Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, Texas for excellent coffee and delicious gluten free baked goods.
We got to Austin and got ready for our date night out on the town. We had researched this cool Ethiopian place to eat.
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Austin Date Night
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We rolled up this fancy place called Aster's Ethiopian Restaurant.
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| Tasted better than it looks |
This place had the feel of an Ethiopian restaurant if I only knew what that was like. Huge plate of food here for both of us and a friendly and cool atmosphere.
Pre-Race morning wouldn't be right without proper fueling. A big breakfast plays a key role the day before the race so we found Kerbey Lane offering the right fuel of apple cinnamon pancakes with a line flowing well out the door.
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| Pre Race day breakfast |
Calley has a pro crush and still does on Andy Potts. It was her first time to meet him and she was like a school girl, blushing, and getting flustered. I hope she was this excited about me on our first date.
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| Calley's first time to meet Andy Potts |
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Calley and all the pro's - Hunter Kemper, Sarah Haskins, and Andy Potts.
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We finally made are round to do a little race prep swim at the YMCA of Southwest Austin.
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| Love outdoor swimming in the sun. |
Quick trip and relaxation time at Starbucks we played a game of Chinese Checkers.
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| Chinese Checkers at Starbucks! |
Our pre-race dinner was nothing special but it may have been just what I needed, we were the youngest people there at Souper Salad.
With New Orleans 70.3 behind us last month I spent a good amount of time on the drawing board and decided to get back with my swim instructor Andrew Ha of Sigma Performance Swimming since moving to Tyler I haven't had a chance to make my way back DFW until recently to get in some lessons with him. After 3-4 weeks of swimming I was finally able to drop my 1500m open water time to 24:58. That's slow for the elite amateur but about 1-2 min faster than my average times of lately. This would have equated to a 29:48, 1.2 mile swim for a 70.3 triathlon and my average for the 70.3 distance is 32-34 min.
The start of the swim was pretty rough but I was ready for it with a lot of tester-one swinging arms fighting for position. This year we went the reverse way compared to how we usually swim this course due to the construction they had to move transition 300 meters from the swim. I ended up swimming beside a much improved triathlete Michael Barney from his Houston days, he came in from altitude of New Mexico. We would later do most of the race back and forth.
Onto the bike I managed not to run over anything on the bike like in New Orleans and improved my positioning. I stayed upright despite the wet conditions and had my fastest split on this course with a missed turn. This course is 4 loops with sharp turns and turn arounds I ended up riding with a pack for 4 or 5 guys and nobody could separate themselves from each other. I stayed back as much as I could then someone would cut in front of me and I would have to slow down to allow room between us. The drafting out there was definitely questionable. The first loop I was in the lead of the group I was riding in and couldn't decipher where to do the turn around. I saw the other riders turning behind me and turned back around. I was able to catch back up to them relatively easily but could never get away. By the last loop it was Michael and I who and finished about the same time.
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| Starting the bike at Cap Tex Tri |
Onto the run I knew the training I had been putting in on the bike and run I was destined for a good run finally. The past couple of years I've been struggling with stomach cramps during HIT (high intensity training) with some adjustments in nutrition I think we finally got it figured out, I hope at least. I enjoyed the variety of the new run course this year. My run wasn't super speedy but it was there and I felt pretty good if it was a half ironman distance.
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| Cap Tex Finish |
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| Cap Tex Finish |
Calley and I had a great weekend in Austin! I am forever thankful for her love and support! I'm thankful to God for a good race and helping me learn more from this. Thanks to the support to the Cobb Mobb by Cobb Cycling, Team Extremus, and Sigma Performance Swimming! I also a shout out to the Tyler, Texas Pain Train Tuesday night has helped me improve my riding a lot. We are gearing up for Kansas 70.3 next.
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| Calley and I post race - pre storms |
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