pearlandhorn

First activity was today after resting the previous 3 days. Felt nice to get back out and run. I'm leaning towards not doing the full Houston Marathon this January and just doing the half as I've got my eye set on Galveston 70.3 in early April.

Feeling great! Only really soreness I have is my calves. I went down and talked to the guy I met at the campground last night and he was in rough shape. He's not used to the heat being from Colorado. He said the race kicked his ass and he struggled in the run as well. Most people I've seen were saying the same. The heat just got the best of a ton of people. We made it back to Houston today. There's a ton of racers that are complaining about being pulled after they finished the swim. The race director advised them that all wet suit folks would be going after the non-wet suit folks and that the T1 cutoff was 9:50 am. The more non-wet suit folks there are...the longer it takes all of them to get in the water. Race started at 7:30 and they were letting people in 3 at a time. I don't think I got into the water until 8 or so. I don't believe the first wet suit wearer made it into the water until 8:50. Dozens of people got pulled right when they got out of the water because they wouldn't make it out of T1 until after 9:50. Hell, some of them didn't even finish the swim until after 9:50. I mean, they were told multiple times to not wear a wet suit, but they did anyway. I kinda feel bad for them, but I kinda don't. Couple folks saying that they panicked 100m into the swim and had to be pulled. Bunch of people were also complaining about the chip seal on the road on the bike. It was about 20 miles. My hands went numb and my feet were hurting from all the bumping. Apparently that was new from the race last year. Super rough road that I wasn't used to at all being in the Houston area and mainly riding on county/residential roads. In retrospect, I'd like to do Galveston, mainly because it's so close to home, but I've also heard good things about it. I'm also looking at Florida and of course, Chattanooga. My wife likes to go and support and see all the cool bikes. And my son, wife and I both like taking the RV places.

I compare it to my first marathon. I was completely thrown at mile 20. It was pain I had never experienced before in my life. I thought I had enough salt (3000 mg on the bike) but it wasn’t enough. I was cramping when I pulled in. Left quad and right calf were toast. I learned a lot, enjoyed every second of it. Bunch of support on the run and the volunteers were great. I’m ready to sign up for Galveston 70.3 to be honest.

I sure as shit was 😂. it was 93 degrees when I finished the bike. Headwinds at mile 30 of the bike as well. Proud of myself for finishing - over 200 people dropped due to heat. I bonked at my 8 of the run, had to start run walking. All in all, happy to finish. If it was only about 25 degrees cooler, it would have been fantastic.

I also got the dual bottle cages behind me. My bike came with the aero reservoir only. I wanted more fluids so added the dual bottle cages in the back. I clean it every time I use it. And 100%. They were talking about drafting penalties today. With my slow swim, I imagine I’ll be passing quite a few people on the bike.

I’ve also got the reservoir up front. Plan is to premix tomorrow morning and dump electrolyte mix in aero reservoir, one more bottle of electrolyte mix, and bottle of water behind me. I’ll have plenty but if one goes flying like a bottle rocket on a bump, I’ll grab one.

Yeah, I sure will. I’ll grab fluids at every aid station and top up. 1000mg of salt every hour. Electrolytes are most important.

I just realized that I signed up for this race 10 months ago. It’s absolutely insane that it’s finally here. I’m super thankful I was able to make it through two marathons and an Olympic triathlon in that time, without getting injured. Super thankful for the kind words as well. Snagged a pic of the finish line as well. Cant wait.

Thankfully, I’m pretty regular at 5 am. I’ve got my feet propped up in the RV watching football with the dog while the kid and wife are out shopping. Thankfully I deflated my tires before I dropped my bike off. Tires are popping in the sun. Call it bad juju but I don’t buy anything before I finish a race. I’ll buy some stuff tomorrow wearing my medal.

Bike dropped off. It’s going to be a hot run! Hopefully we get some cloud cover and a breeze tomorrow.

Made it to Waco last night in time for registration Friday. Going for a swim in the brazos this morning with a group and dropping off the bike around 2. Water temp yesterday was 81 and they are advising no wetsuits when though it’s optional. My son made some friends with some kids in the RV park who are in from Colorado. The dad is racing his 10th 70.3. Chatted with him for a good 20 minutes yesterday evening.

We're picking up the RV on Thursday and spending the majority of the evening packing. I'm leaving work at noon on Friday and picking up the kid on the way home. Hopefully we'll be out of town by 2 and in Waco by 6 at a campground on Lake Waco about 15 minutes from the start line. Hang out that evening and head to registration Saturday morning. There's a group meeting at 7 AM Saturday morning for an early swim in the Brazos that I might join. I'm making a list of all the stuff I need to bring with me. I'm also taking the day off work on Monday so we can leisurely leave and head back to Houston. It'll be a nice getaway for the wife and kid as well.

Good deal. Get some rest!

Ohhhh man. I saw the splits at around mile 15 and I had a feeling you were bonking. I hear you on bringing your own gels. I’m bringing Gu and going to grab a few maurtens on the run. I’ll do Clif bars on the bike for the first two hours then switch to gels. That really sucks about the weather. How’d you get through the bonk? Fruit and coke? You earned that beer! Congrats again!

Big congrats to @Clintonaldo on completing Ironman Chattanooga! Great job dude!

17 miles into marathon at a 2:50:00. Keep going! 7 miles left!

Crushed bike portion at 5:30. Smoking that run at 7:55 pace. Keep it up.

Century done in 4:59! Go dude!

Cruising at 22.3 MPH, over 22 miles done on bike. Keep steady bud!

What time does the bike start? I’d like to see if I can stream it.

Sark found the stupid.

You got it! I did a 45 mile bike this morning. Felt nice. No run after. I’ll do an 8 or 9 mile run tomorrow then officially be in taper mode for the week. Salt intake and calorie intake was good this morning as well.

Good luck bud! Rooting for you!

Nice job dude! Regardless of what we’re doing, be very happy with yourself. That’s a great accomplishment! @Clintonaldo what’s the word? Am I checking the progress tomorrow or you bowing out?