This was the 30th anniversary of the Boisser City, Louisiana triathlon. It's become famous because of the goodies that you get in your packet. This year all registrants received a huge travel duffle bag worth $250, a tech t-shirt, sunglasses, tech hat, Feetures socks, and Cliff products.
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New goodies!
Diana and I left Dallas at 10:00 am on Saturday and got to packet pick-up right at 1:00. After getting our packet (which only took about 5 minutes, they were so organized) we went across the street for some lunch. Still having some time to kill before our hotel rooms were ready, we headed over to The Boardwalk. It's a shopping/restaurant area right on the water that would have been fun except it was 100 degrees outside. |
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| Red River from The Boardwalk |
After a great night sleep we headed up to the race site at Black Cypress Lake. Our swim wave didn't start until just after 8:30 and it was hot, hot, hot. Even with my long runs all summer, I'm typically done running by 8:30 - 9:00. It's just too hot. This was the only thing that had me nervous because I knew it would be 10:00 when I was running.
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| It was so humid my camera fogged up! |
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| Tech shirt and race number |
800 meter swim: There were 110 girls in our swim wave, females age 30-34 and Athena athletes. It was the most congested swim of any open water I've ever done. It was really hard to get past the slower girls. The swim was uneventful except for the fact that I'm not in prime swimming shape right now and I was way more tired than I normally am. Also, the water was crazy hot. After about 600 meters I was really overheated.
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| Pre-Race Photo |
18.2 mile bike: This is a fast, rolling hills bike course. It's WAY better than the Disco/TexasMan bike course because the roads are mostly smooth. I had my fastest bike split ever, 19.5 mph. This even included my chain falling off and me having to get off my bike to fix it. I wore my time trial helmet for only the 3rd time and I was glad I did.
5k run: my goal was 8 minute miles. At the first and second mile markers I was under 8 min pace (didn't wear my garmin, just a regular watch). This really motivated me because although I was really pushing it, I knew I could keep the pace up another mile. The aid stations were wonderful with tons of cold water and ice that I poured over my head and down my shirt trying to cool off my core body temperature. The run is in the shade, thank goodness, and it made a huge difference. They even had cold rags for us to wipe our faces with. The last mile was tough...it included a trail section (which I love, but not when I'm trying to keep my pace under 8), a hill, and some sand. Overall I averaged 8:05 min miles and I'm super proud of them!
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| Post-Race! Exhausted but happy. |
When I finished I felt completely spent. I was kind of dizzy and knew I needed to sit down quickly and focus on hydrating. I was glad to be so out of sorts at the end because I knew I really pushed myself during the race. I think I could have gone harder on the bike, but I was glad to still have that run in me.
I took Salt Stick tablets instead of Endurolytes and for the first time didn't cramp at all. With that kind of heat, I really needed the extra salt that Salt Stick contains. Other nutrition notes: ate a whole Cliff Mojo bar about 2 hours before with a whole bottle of water. Sipped on water during the 2 hours before I started. Ate a Hammer Gel and took 2 Salt Stick tablets 15 minutes before the swim. Drank a whole aero bottle with NUUN during the bike as well as half a plain water bottle. Ate a GU Rocktane with about 2 miles to go on the bike. Just water and ice on the run. It worked with no stomach issues or cramping at all.
Next up: TransRockies RUN3
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