Ironman Texas 2011
It was a sad ending to my day in Texas this past weekend. The week leading to the race was pretty uneventful. Training in Houston is not good. I'm in Tomball, about 15 miles from center Houston but still the roads aren't bike friendly and you can't really run from the house (unless you are willing to give 20 laps around the 'hood for a 40 min run. Driving to pools is also annoying: too many lights, too much traffic.
Tapering and with great company in the house, time just flew by and race morning came pretty fast. Transition was situated about a mile from the swim start, so athletes were requested to leave transition by 6am. The swim was on Lake Woodlands on a one loop course. Having not the opportunity to swim in the lake before the race, I found the course quite hard to navigate right. Although I always knew where to go, doing it thru the perfect route was not easy. Race started at 6:50 for pros and 7:00 for age groups. I had a good start, felt strong from the first stroke but although I was putting by best effort possible, it wasn't enough to keep me in the first pack of athletes that formed with about 300 meters in. I was left with Lieto and Lovato and the first girls.
Out of the water, I would eventually go solo and more to shore, loosing a bit more time with my not-so-perfect route on the way back. I really felt like I was going hard but coming out of the wet with a 4' gap to the front pack just made me realise yet again that I struggle a lot on a non-wetsuit swim.
I take my bike out of T1 without any trouble and just kept in mind it would be a very lonely 180 km ride. Its not over until I get to the marathon. Without stressing out too much I focused on nutrition and soon got caught by a flying Pedraza with who I could not go. A couple of miles later it was Major who passed me and it was when my right pedal felt like it was getting loose. I felt like it was spining wrong but kept going. I shout to the first marshall I see and ask for mechanical support. The pedal continue to feel more and more loose but I had no way of fixing it by myself. Eventually the pedal just got ripped of the crank. Finally the tech support got to me but there was nothing they could do to help me. I tried to continue with just one leg (I would try to make it heroic) but it was no way. I got stucked at mile 54 with a pedal in my hand waiting for the ride back to transition.
This was how it was after the race:
It was a very sad and very frustating sathurday for me. I spent the rest of the day supporting my friends racing and was really happy that most of them had amazing performances. I even had the chance to volunteer at transition! Seeing Eneko go down that chute with a tremendous crowd cheering for him (even though he was about to win it ahead of the home favorite Tim O'Donnel) was inspiring and really symbolizes the great fair play we have in triathlon. But how can I not refer the amazing finish by the sweetest girls Kelly Williamson in 2nd, Jacqui in 8th and Lauren in 10th (all pro), the fight of Sergio to make it home in 12th on a very solo Ironman, my host DJ Snyder posting a 30 min age group win in 9h31, the 48 young old (that day) Penny and the couple of studs Beth and James Walsh with kickass performances on the amateur.
I'm left in Houston for one more week. This was not the week I had predicted and I will have to adjust training on a city that is far from a triathlete's dream. I can't regret coming to race IM Texas. I met some kickass persons, hardcore athletes and will be very excited if the opportunity to race again in The Woodlands comes in 2012.
