I had hoped this race was going to be the one to kick-start off my season right, but it was not meant to be. I arrived at Lake San Antonio on Thursday with plenty of time until the 8:00 race start on Saturday. Tri-Cal put me and some of my other buddies up on this beautiful lake house on Lake Nacimiento. It was a great way to relax before the race. Saturday came and it was time to race. After my flat tire at Ralph's, I was itching to race. The race started off with mediocre swim, and Iexited in the second pack, still in contention. I was off onto the bike and ready to go. I settled in a pack with several others and we began to ride a steady, fast pace. Around mile 40 we hit "Nasty Grade" a two mile climb averaging about 8%. I made it up fine, but bonked shortly after. The last ten miles of the bike were brutal. I lost almost 5 minutes to the pack I was riding in. The start of the run wasnt much better. My back was in knots and and could barely walk, much less run. I was quite closed to dropping out, but decided to finish the race even if I had to walk the run. After about four miles of walking and shuffling (at about a whopping 9:00 per mile pace), my back and legs came around and I was off running. I passed a few people the last 7 miles, but it was not enough to better last year's result. I finished in 4:29 and in 20th place (last year 4:24 and 19th place), but I am glad I finished. Now I am back home en la casa de Fort Worth con mi familia and am getting ready for the Columbia Triathlon on May 21st.
And one more thing, I like to give a shout out to my sister brookie, who graduated from some university, I think it was the University of Texas at Austin.....good school. Really proud of her.
Cheers,
B
