Team Hard Coretex takes on the Metro Triathlon

Meet the team, VC is up first with the 1500m swim, then KW with the 40K bike, and then my turn with a 10K run. We are all of the consensus that our individual legs are the easiest - which I think means we are a great team!!  Follow along for a semi-live blog of the event.

12:20am - VC and I return to her house to realize that she has left her swim stuff at her office. She headed off to retrieve it while I went to bed.

5:25am - my alarm goes off, and results in only minor confusion. A flurry of getting ready, making breakfast and otherwise prepping after 5 hours of sleep. 

6:02am - and, we're off! We've heard from KW and she's off too!

6:27am -we've arrived, parked right next to KW, and head with the masses  to the start.

6:45am - we've been body marked. I'm not feeling confident in the organization of this event. Its smaller than the Austin one, and there seem to be less rules. I have concerns that there ARE as many rules but they haven't told us. 

7:17am - swim briefing. VC is ready to go!!

7:32am - VC is off!! Team Hard Coretex  is officially racing!! KW and I think VC is totally crazy and awesome. GO TEAM!!  KW and I are off for the bathroom and to prep for the biking...

7:44am - VC has finished her first lap, of two! 

8:01am - first transition over. KW is off on the bike, with only minor problems with the timing chip. Sadly, she wants it on her wrist, but they need it on her ankle!! VC finished in an amazing 29 minutes. We're off to an excellent start!

8:20am - I feel ill-prepared and nervous. I've made my mental list of things I need to do to get ready. First of which is figure out how to tape my leg, because I'm finally admitting to some shin pain that should be dealt with. Thank goodness for the kinesio tape I got in my San Antonio Half Marathon bag!!

8:56am - VC is changed, I've affixed my runner number, and used kinesio tape for the first time! We're now sitting on a grassy knoll watching the elite men who have already finished the biking. Two words - eye candy. Also, they are so fast. So. Fast.

9:08am - VC and I have made it back to transition, and I ask her if I have time to go to the bathroom. KW has given us a 9:30 early geusstimate of her arrival, and VC knows I'm prone to pre-race anxiety, so she rolls her eyes and says "plenty!"

9:19am - KW has entered transition and realizes we are not aware of it. She yells "TEAM HARD CORETEX!" and I instantly panic. I'm not wearing my belt, my head phones are tangled, I don't have the gps on on the phone, and I havent taken my pre-racing endurolytes. ACK! While I rushed off before fully congratulating her, this was HUGE! She was so fast, and so early, I think she even surprised herself. A great, great, great, first cycling race for KW!

**Format change** This bit must be done by mile, and not minute!

Mile 1 - I started off looking like a real tri-athlete, I was fumbling to put myself together while on the move. I was discombobulated and unprepared, and I felt like I was on the brink of colossal failure; did I even have everything I needed with me?! It really was what a real triathlete must feel like, not a relay triathlete, who has all morning to prepare for a single event. During this mile I saw the lead runner heading the other way, about to finish up. I believe it is important that I mention I was on the course BEFORE the lead runner finished. This is how amazing my teammates were.

Mile 2 - I'm feeling awful. I think team events are particularly hard on me, because too early I start being angry at myself for letting everyone down. I mean, I had 4 miles to go and I was already mad at my performance. I had finally gotten into a bit of a groove, but I was already feeling tired and over-worked. Does not bode well

Mile 2.5 - I check my watch, and do some quick mental math. Holy Moses! I'm not even to 25 minutes yet. No wonder this is feeling challenging. Redoing some calculations, I believe my first mile was sub 10-minute (and included at least one walk break), which means I was mo-oo-oving (at least in YJP terms!)

Mile 3 - I slowed down some, but have still crossed this at 31 minutes. Which makes me feel better for feeling tired, but makes me feel like I may have used too much too soon to make a good time for the end.

Mile 4 - This was for sure my best mile. Not my fastest, but the best feeling. I was ale to stop thinking about things and just run. I was running on my toes this whole mile, and felt great. Why is it that I need a THREE mile warm-up before I stop criticizing myself and start enjoying the run?! It's ridiculous.

Mile 6 - Yes, I'm not sue what happened to mile 5 either, but rest assured that there was running, walking, and cytomax! When I passed the mile 6 sign, point two miles to go, I was concerned that I was dragging it. By this point, I'd let the entire race pass me by, hadn't I?! I managed to eek out passing ONE woman. I'm guessing she had already passed me, so I really didn't make up any ground. I rounded a corner where some finishers were walking back my way. They stopped to cheer me along, and it was exactly what I needed. I ran it on in, greeted by the cheers of VC and KW on my way!

In the end, not my best 10K time, but still a run to be proud of. I grabbed a finishers medal, a bottle of water, a banana, some strawberries, a piece of pizza, and some weird electrolight drink with special vitamins in the cap, and sat on the grass to stretch. We stuck around in admiration of the badass people who won awards. There was a 17 year old boy who did the tri, also the winners had sub-hour bike times and runs of like...35 minutes. amazing.

11:47 am - Team Hard CoreTex was also amazing, winning first place in the women's relay division. This is all credited to VC and KW's crazy badass-ness, keeping giving us a substantial lead to start off with. Even though I let most of the race pass me by, I guess I drew the line at the relay members, as they mostly stayed behind me.

12:25pm - We've returned to the cars, with our medals, wine, and gear only to find out that in the excitment of the morning, VC has left the lights on. But, this is no roadblock for Team Hard CoreTex - the three of us are quickly able to jump start the car and head on home!

1:46pm - We have returned to VC's house, Winner's Wine in the fridge, and are basically useless. I will now go stare at the wall for a bit, and then shower.

a delightful day with an awesome team!! Yippee!!
Song that rocked my run: Keep On Keepin' On by Jack Ingram