The Parks: Tri in Houston

After we flew in to Houston we drove about an hour to meet up with my race buddy Fran. We had dinner with her and then went to bed early for our triathlon the next morning. At four thirty our alarm went off and I began to question if this was a such a good idea after a week of luxury and literally NO training. I tried to tell myself the sexercise would pull me through the race but when it was that early I was starting to have my doubts. We got up and got ready and headed to the race. This was Travis's first triathlon and so the night before Fran and I tried to answer his questions and give him a real expectation. There was around 600 competitors and it was quite the sight to see when you arrive around five and everyone is pumping up their tires and getting geared up for the race. We road our bikes a short distance to the transition area where we set up our bikes and gear. Travis got his numbers written on him for the first time and the pre-race jitters started to come. The race went great though! There was a few problems in the pool for both Travis and I. Trav was placed in a slower swim bracket and was slowed down by the slower swimmers and I was ran into head on twice!

Next was the bike. Trav was already out of the transition area by the time I made it out of the pool. I did pass him twice though and was only about a mile or two behind. The coarse was beautiful and the 10 miles flew by. The run was 3 miles and I started to really feel the heat. I was able to get Travis's attention right before I crossed the finish line. We both were so glad that we did it together. Although Travis was surprised I wasn't when he told me he placed 3rd in his age group.