Great things to come

 We've made the team official with some great gear. Our first order was placed and we look forward to wearing it together at Waco 70.3! Many of us are in dire need of some new training gear, it cant't arrive soon enough.

 As a lead up to the big show in October, I raced in the Cypress Triathlon, known to locals at the Cypress Championship Triathlon. All the fast folks show up and make it a great race! Missed the podium, but finished as expected. Swam as expected, biked stronger than predicted, and ran my best for that day. Always room to improve.

Transition set up

Ironman #6 - IMTX

Six months after IMFL, I completed my 6th Ironman at IMTX! It was a training experiment to complete two endurance events, 6 months apart. I enjoyed training with lots of friends, making the hours more bearable.

It wasn't my best race preparation but I planned to have a good day. The morning started with wind and heat, normal for Texas. The swim was uneventful and steady. I started the bike strong. We had a 2-loop course that would take you directly into a headwind, just to return with a tailwind. I started taking water at the handups to pour over my head to cool down. In hindsight, I was not consuming enough water and gatorade to keep up my hydration. By mile, 80-ish I was struggling to keep the wheels up and needed to stop a couple of times to vomit. I knew that I had time in the tank to finish the race, if I could just finish the bike. On the run, I started to experience vertigo when running. It was important to me to finish the course, so I walked.....7 long hours! I'm proud to say that I finished the race, my longest time yet, but one more notch in the belt!

All the miles...

Winter in Houston brings opportunities for road races! 

The year started with the Chevron/Aramco Half Marathon supporting Team Beef. Although I didn't PR, it was a great day for a great day!  A small hiccup in the morning, the corrals were over-filled restricting us from getting in the right corral. As a result, we started at the VERY BACK of the pack and had a lot of people to weave through to get to a decent pace group. I started with friends until they split for the full marathon then pushed to the finish. The morning was a reminder to keep your spirits high and don't stress over the things that are out of your control. The best part is the ice cream from HEB after the run!

Family and friends got together to run the Hot Chocolate 5k. It was a chance to run a short race, eat lots of chocolate, and have lots of FUN!

We finished our streak at the Blue Bell Fun Run 5k. Thomas placed 3rd in his age group. I missed the podium again by one spot...some day. As usual, we enjoyed some pre-race ice cream, ran those hills, and ate lots more ice cream at the finish.