Tejas Race not so Ready

. Over the weekend Pinkgurugal got back into the tri spirit to race in the Tejas triathlon. . . This is a special race for me for plenty of reasons. . . . 1) I like this race course. . . . 2) It was my first triathlon race EVER three year agos, so reflecting on my "progress" is a neat feeling..... . . you know.... stuff like: how nervous I was because it was my first ever open water swim, how I rode a kids trek bike back then (really!) how I watched others in the transition area to figure out what the hell i was doing...and blah blah blah.... . . 3) My buddy Christine raced with me. . . .

.

.

.

This is really special, because Christine and I started doing triathlons together three years ago...

.

.

.

She took a few years off, and I went on to continue racing over the last few years.

.

.

But for the Tejas tri, we were reunited...."and it feels so good..."

.

.

.

. . . Okay, peaches and herb moment aside (get yer mind outta that gutter), Tejas proved to be another first for me....

.

.

.

Racing after after THREE hours sleep and drinking mucho bloody mary's and vodka grapefruits. . . . .

.

.

.

.

I present you the culprit and enabler of my social drinking problem. . . .

.

.

.

Not that Rob and I partied on the eve before Tejas, but it's just so hard to turn down another drink after the first...and second...and third...especially in the comfort of your own home.

.

.

.

I think I even drunk blog commented Tarabay at 1 am. (Great to also finally meet you btw and CONGRATS on your bling!)

.

.

.

Oh and the prior post was also the product of pinkgurugal gets tipsy and gets type happy.

.

.

. Anyhoo back to me and the race.

.

.

So when the alarm went off at 5:20am, somehow, I stumbled out of bed. It would be around 6:10am that Christine, Rob and I all depart homebase. Oh and the race starts at 7am.

.

.

Still in a fog, I manage to get Christine and me into transition area SIX MINUTES before it closes.

.

.

.

WHEW!

.

.

Since our wave didn't start immediately, Christine and I had a few minutes to decompress from the morning mayhem. . . . I was too tired and too hungover to really think about the race. But other than, I'd figure I'd do it. Really, I felt no nerves, after all it was only a 600 meter swim, a 9 mile ride and a 3 mile run, right?

.

..

Well, I have to say the race went fine. For the first few minutes of the swim, I thought maybe I'd tire out, but I never did.

.

.

.

Total swim time: 14:18

and 2:23 minutes (per whatever meters avg.)

. . . Here I am hustling outta that duck crap pond!

.

.

.

.

T1 was fine, I was in and out quickly in 1:32

.

.

As for the biking, I decided just to give it my best and go as hard as I could.

.

.

Total bike time: 28:27 19mph average

.

.

.

T2 I felt a bit tired getting off the bike, but I still managed to do it in 1:27. . . As for the run, there is no question my lack of running in TWO WEEKS (hey, i was on vacation and I hate running in this heat!) hurt me. I still gave it my all though

.

.

Total run time 28:02

.

.

.

and 9:20avg

.

.

.

Total race time 1:13:49

.

.

I placed 14th out of 46 in my age group. Sure I could have trained more, slept more and drank a whole hell of a lot less, but then this race wouldn't be so memorable, right?

.

.

By this point, you're probably thinking, Wow, how'd she do that and feel fine?

.

.

Well, I'm not positive, but maybe the three midol, two tylenol and one vicoden (it's for my bad back in case you'r wondering) helped?

.

.

I will say, however, my temporary burst of energy and might all went downhill after we left the race and went to eat.

.

.

I wound up yacking my entire everything just as we were pulling away from breakfast.

.

.

And I suffered all day by sleeping it off.

.

.

.

Oh, enabling aside, thanks to sherpa Rob for being our cheerleader and photographer. It's nice to have your own personal everything on race day!

.

.

Cheers and happy training!

.