My first trip to Texas- Captex Triathlon race report

I am currently writing this blog sitting on a Delta airlines flight to Madrid. The little boy who is sitting across the aisle from me just lost a tooth, which happened to fall out of his mouth and land by my foot. He looked over at me with blood pouring out of his mouth and asked me to pick it up for him. I almost puked at the sight of the blood and politely (through gritted teeth) told him I couldn't pick his tooth up. What a way to start a 9 hour flight across the atlantic. Fortunately the other 8 hours and 30min were uneventful. Anyways about that race in Austin....

This was my first non drafting race in almost 6 years, and my first time racing my Specialized Transition TT bike. I was excited and nervous at the same time. This was a last minute addition to my race schedule so I had not spent much time on my TT bike before. I had a great fit from Sean at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine the week before the race so I was comfortable and aero on my bike.

The race started at 6.50AM which is a lot earlier than I am used to racing (the WCS race on Sunday starts at 2.36pm- sleep in!) so it was an very early wake up call so I could eat my breakfast before the fun began. These races are a lot more relaxed compared with ITU World Cups, it was quite refreshing to arrive an hour before race start, rack my bike, do a little warm up, and start. No check ins, uniform checks, specific warm up times, or lining up 20mins before race start.

I had a great swim coming out of the water 4th on Jasmine Oeinck's feet. The swim was a little unusual because we caught the men who started 4mins before us. At first I thought we were swimming ridiculously fast to catch them, but later I found out they were sent off course and had to turn around. This was annoying for both them and us women because it was really difficult to swim around the slower men, who to be honest were just getting in the way. Regardless, I exited the swim where I wanted to be. On to the bike, and well this part could of gone better. I need to spend a lot more time on my TT bike, and I will leave it there. I was really excited to get off the bike and onto the run. I had a decent run, although I was expecting to run faster but I guess the bike took more out of my legs than I thought. I finished 7th which I am happy with considering it was a strong field. Big congrats to my Specialized teammates Tenille Hoogland, who was 6th and Kristen Peterson who was 10th.

All is all it was a great weekend in Austin. I had my Specialized teammates there, an awesome home stay, and the Specialized truck, mechanics and support. They are hands down the best bike company to be sponsored by, and it not just for the awesome bikes.

Next up is Madrid World Cup Series this Sunday 2.36pm Madrid time. Stacked field so it is going to be a tough one!

My super cute new tri suit. Thanks Pearl Izumi!!!