CapTex Triathlon, Austin May 27, 2024

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Capital of Texas Triathlon took place in Austin (of course) May 27. I did the sprint distance, thinking it would be a nice warmup to the Multisport nationals the following week. It was my first triathlon since October last year (except winter triathlon in February) and I was looking forward to it. This is a big race with lots of participants.

Texas has been very hot recently and Austin was no exception, maybe even worse because of the city effect. At the morning of the race, I was overheating just setting up transition. How would this play out? My tactic was to respect the heat, not to push hard and to stop at all drink stations. 

The swim was of course not wet suit legal, and I think that works for me. I felt the swim went well, I kept up, or overtook, most swimmers in my wave (women over 50). The river was a little low and I got entangled in seaweed several times. 

At T1, I gave myself time to take a mug of sports drink.

Bike leg also felt good, I pushed hard without exhausting myself. I drank sports drink on the bike and took a gel at about 8 miles (out of 12). When I came to T2, there was not a single bike on the rack, and I realized I might be in the lead in my age group. A quick change into my carbon plated Asics super shoes and off I went on the 5k run.

The heat was now an issue, but I poured water over my head, put ice inside my suit and drank a mug of sports drink at every water station. I lasted the distance and even managed a little sprint over the finish line.

I won my age group with almost 14 minutes on a sprint. I was faster than everyone in the age group below me as well. So, it was a good race! 



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