Racing to Save Lives!

The 2009 TNT Tri season came and went, the 2009 Toyota US Open race was great... and I didn't take the time to post timely updates.

After much procrastination, here goes my race report.

"If you don't like the weather in Texas, wait 5 minutes and it'll change..." It was as true as ever during the days before, and, on race day morning for this year's US Open Tri. Let's face it, I grew up in tropical weather-most of the year-balmy-Guadalajara. I'm a wimp anytime it gets cloudy, windy, rainy and outside temperature doesn't get above 60.

That's exactly what it was like when we left the Dallas Hyatt at about 5am on October 11th. We all drove to American Airlines Center, set up our T2 stuff (running shoes, socks, race belt and number); and off on the bus we went towards Joe Pool lake for finishing touches on T1 and race start. Was it 50 maybe? I don't remember, but it felt cold as we all got out of the bus for a near 2 hour wait by the lake before the start of the swim. Kudos to Sergio Jr, my son, for hanging out by me the entire time.

We both sheltered ourselver in the men's restroom, where we at least stayed dry. It was pretty convenient, given my usual and frequent pre-race visits thanks to pre-race jitters and water intake. The swim portion was the usual struggle to stay afloat, at least this time I could finally stop fearing drowning, those wetsuits are great!. However, I probably (as in all races before) got most of my hydration during the swim. Hard to tell how much lake water I gobbled up, not good. Swim split time; 36:29 (at a rate of 2:14 for every 100 meters), only good for 488th place. not good either, but similar to past races.

Some progress was made during the bike leg, although this is where trouble sort of started. We had a strong cross wind throughout the first several miles as we were riding out of Lynn Creek Park along the Joe Pool Lake dam. Legs are not supposed to be tired after the swim, mine always are thanks to poor swimming, so this was challenging. It didn't help that we were greeted by some very tough hills upon exiting the park. I don't know how many miles was that, but it lasted forever as anyone else on our team will tell you!. I was never able to get comfortable
on the bike, legs were tired, the bagels, bananas and yogurt I had for breakfast threw a curveball on my stomach too. I was somehow riding on the blind, not knowing how fast/slow or how far on the race I was, since I came to rely on the bike's computer, which had decided to stop working that same morning. Bike split: 1:17:30 (19.2 MPH) good enough for 188th place on the bike portion alone.

As I finally got to T2 inside American Airlines Center's parking lot and got on my running shoes, the first mile felt good!. So many people from TNT cheering your name, that feels awsome!. By the start of mile 2 it all started going downhill, legs were all but gone. Or at least that's how they felt; I was tempted to take the 5K turn around point at the katy trail. I just wanted to finish the race. Thoughts of walking, stopping, quitting, taking a break; they all crossed my mind as I went through to the 3.1 mile turnaround point. Breakfast was still playing with my stomach too.

However, it was refreshing to run into my friends from the Ft Worth team on the trail. Robby, Mario, Adam, Kristen, Nicole, Erin, Karelyn, Carey. You just can't stop. Nearly 6 months getting ready for this race; there is no quitting!. I had the choice, our honored heroes can't quit, they can't stop the pain of cancer at will like I could have done it on the race. The split time for the 10K leg was 46:36 (7:31 m/mile); 234th place on the run.

Overall finishing place was 229th out of 640 finishers. 19th place in my age group out of 62 with a finishing time of 2:43:30.

I was initially disappointed at my finishing time, how I felt during the race, the race conditions, the course, the weather, etc. However, it wasn't all that bad after all. 19.2MPH on the bike, given how many hills we faced was quite decent.

I was humbled by the support of everyone at TNT. Special thanks to our coaches Tim and Lawrence; Ft Worth's Tri team coordinator Ashley, Chris, Mark. and our mentors, James, Missy and Denise.

"I'll be back". Just a week after the race I found out a dear friend of mine, Eve Skaer, had been diagnosed with a form of cancer at the beginning of October. She will be my motivation in 2010 as I get ready for the US Open. The goal will be to raise more than this year's $3200 dollars, I'll shoot for $4000 this time; with your help, we'll make it.