PLAYTRI FESTIVAL

This past weekend Brandon and I headed up to Dallas for the Playtri 1/2 Ironman. I wanted to see how my body would respond to doing two half ironmans two weeks apart. Plus, there was a small prize purse for the pros which was an added incentive! I had no idea who was going to show up to the race, but living in Texas there are so many great triathletes I knew there would be some good competition. To my surpirse...Kim Loeffler and her twin sister Kelly showed up to race. Both great athletes (especially runners)so I knew I would have my work cut out for me.

Swim: Goal on the swim was to try and stay on Brandon's feet (we both started in the same wave). That lasted MAYBE a minute or two. What's frustrating about that is...I can beat Brandon in the pool, but once we get to open water he kills me by 1-2 minutes. Annoying. Anyways, I was 4th or 5th out of the water.

T1: Was long...well at least it felt long. I spent some time putting gloves on for the bike because it was COLD.

Bike: Wind, wind, and even more wind. There were a couple of times where I didn't even want to let go of my aerobars as I thought I would topple over. Bike plan was to stick to my nutrition (unlike California) and to be controlled the first loop (it was two loops). Stuck to my plan... and it's amazing how you can feel if you actually eat and drink. Ended up feeling pretty strong throughout the bike.

T2: Nothing exciting. Was in and out. Realized at about mile 2 of the run that I left my gloves on.

Run: Had good lead off the bike (~6 min) but knew I had two stellar runners chasing me. Felt as if I was running on stubs for about the first 3 miles because my feet were so cold. Once warmed up legs felt great and had a nice steady pace going. Finished strong with the overall win and was really pleased that I was able to hold off the other women.

Overall, it was a fun race and very well organized. It was great hanging out afterwards with everyone and catching up with Kim and Kelly. Congrats to Brandon and James for an exciting cat-mouse chase.

Also, thanks to our Dallas host Phat Tran for his superb hospitality! Phat and his sister made a wonderful post-race meal for us before our trip back home to Austin.

Looks like my next race will be Memphis in May (May 18th).