Grapevine Triathlon

Thanks to a friend and colleague, I was made aware the Grapevine Triathlon, a local sprint distance triathlon, that takes place just outside of Dallas. The event was held on June 5th and wouldn't you know it... I did it.

The race was a 300 yard pool swim, 20 kilometer bike, and 6 kilometer run. The distances are a little odd, and I've never done a triathlon in a pool, but hey, a race is a race!

The athletes started the swim one at a time, in 20 second intervals. Unfortunately, I severely overestimated my swim time and was lined up in the back of the starting queue with slower swimmers. I passed the guy ahead of me before I'd swam the first length. I think I passed 6 or 7 people in just 300 yards.

Once I got on the bike, I hammered away at the rolling hills of the bike course, hitting over 30 miles per hour at times and averaging 19.4 mph for the 20k. I must have passed another half dozen by the time I rolled into T2.

Then the Texas heat (and mediocre training regimen) began to take it's toll... It must have been well into the mid-80s and humid! Knowing I'd not trained as fully as I should have for this race, I eased into the run and settled into what felt like a modest pace. After the first quarter mile I got my legs back but chose to be conservative given the heat.

As the finish line approached I realized I could have (and should have) pushed a little harder through the run. Turns out I was only running a 9:18 pace. No wonder I felt so good out there.

Alas, I was in excellent form for the after party... a wine, beer, and BBQ fueled post-race party on the grounds of the Cross Timbers Winery. Great stuff!

All told, it was a great little race, well managed, good support, and a great after-party. I finished in 1:22:21 which was good enough for 29th place (out of ~150) and just shy of an age group podium placement.

Next year it's mine!

"Time is the longest distance between two places." -Tennessee Williams