Sprint Tri on Sunday ...

This will be my first race in over 2.5 months and I am just itching to get out there and let 'er rip!

Here is the race map:

The race is at the Texas Ski Ranch and it is a  500 M Swim - 14 Mi Bike - 3.1 Mi Run.  Last year those distances actually intimidated me. This year I am thinking that additional training will need to be done on Sunday evening/  How things have changed!

The swim is pretty tight and the washing machine will be in full effect.  The water temp is in the mid-80s so no wetsuits.  The water is also a combination of mud and oil color - it is a disgusting lake.  If you look at the above map the little island in the center of the lake has goats on it.  Real goats.  Something you do not see everyday! Last year's swim I started in the back, this year I am going to start at the front of my AG and just hammer the first 100M to try and find some open water and maybe some feet!

The roads for a majority of the bike course were literally chip sealed two days before the race.  It was one tough ride.  Hopefully over the course of the year the traffic has hammered down some of the stones and the ride will be smoother.  The bike course is also extremely hilly.  Last year it was the first time I ever had a chance to ride on hills and despite the crappy road surface I really enjoyed it. Since I have been doing quite a bit of hill training lately I am looking forward to seeing how I do on them. My plan for the bike is to mash as hard as I can and just pretend that I don't have to run after.  

As for the run, the  course is a flat and fast out and back.  Nothing special but it will probably be pretty crowded with over 1000 triathletes this year.  It looks like the changed the run course slightly and have us circling the lake.  If I remember correctly this is a dirt trail - should be fun!

Some of you might be wondering why I haven't raced in 2.5 months and I'll let this next screen shot explain:

This is the forecast for Sunday.  The summers for us Texans is just too brutal to race in so if we do it is nothing but a Sprint Tri.  The good news is that the humidity is ONLY going to be 58% - that is going to make the air feel crisp to me! My wave starts at 8:15am so the sun should be up and blazing by that point.  Luckily it is a short race so I will just hydrate like a madman on Saturday and that should get me through to the free beer tent at the finish line.

So this race is in New Braunfels, which is about a 1/2 hour south of Austin, we have rented a little house on the Guadalupe river with some friends.  We are driving up tomorrow evening and planning on a couple of days of R&R.  On Saturday we are going to go tubing in the river.  The water temp of the river is usually around 60 degrees and the float is very slow. We usually rent an extra tube for a cooler of beer and snacks.  My goal is to not get drunk on the river.  Seriously, this is much harder to achieve than one may think.  Beer, bikinis, tubes, music, hot sun, cool river, drunk friends - these are all initiators to drunkenness.  I am going to volunteer to be the Designated Driver, my only hope.

Well, that is all I got right now.  Good luck to everyone else racing this weekend!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff