To make a long story short, we decided in typical Velociraptor (presented by Texas Foam) fashion to sign up and win our very first triathlon this month. With the official 2 month count down until Ironman Wisconsin, we felt that it was appropriate to debut our mighty triathlon skills in a training/fan appreciation race in our home town. High lites included hoards of fanatical masses which lined the course waving Velociraptor flags made of foam (Texas Foam) as well as the sea of young screaming children begging for autographs as we stood high atop the podium. Here is how it all went down....
Due to atypical un-pro like behavior, we arrived at the race 3 hours early because Katie was paranoid that we would miss our start. The long day started at 5:00am. After 6 visits to dispose of some #3 in the port-0-lets we started checking out the competition as well as check our equipment. We raced in the mixed couples category meaning that the team had to consist of both a homoerectus male and female. After a 600m swim, 12 miles bike, and 3 mile run each team members total time was added together for an official finishing time.
Aside from having the longest transition times in the top 100 finishers, the swim was our achilles heel. Taylor (the minnow) strategically drafted Katie (the shark) during the swim. Asides from being swam on top of by hairless triathletes in a feeding frenzy, Katie took good lines in the water until the last 200m. At that point Taylor looked up and noticed that the couple was in no mans land! They had to make up time quick and out of frustration Taylor abandoned the drafting technique and was shortly dropped.
Exiting the water and running to the transition area was the hardest thing Taylor has ever done. He was breathing so hard that he nearly barfed up all the lake water he swallowed. Entering the transition area, we knew that we lost major ground in the overall GC. There were numberous people already on the bike course. Lucky for us, we both happen to be TT specialists. Over the 12 mile course we passed at least 1000 people and the only person who passed Katie was her partner, the illustrious Taylor.
Last, we had to run. Once again, horrible transition times. Taylor actually sat down in the transition zone to sip on some tea while Katie forgot to mount her race number and put the left shoe on the right foot and the right shoe on the left. Katie realized at mile 1.5 that her error could have led to disqualification, however she simply sped up to finish the run at a 7:50 pace! Taylor smoked it as well posting an impressive 7:05 pace. This was the ultimate treat and surprise of the day because not only was it the couples first time to ever run after riding a bike, but both were sure that while running they were holding a 10:00 pace.
All in all Taylor finished 22nd and Katie 60th place out of over 1200 triathletes. The combined times earned the couple a 1st place podium spot over the lesser talented and more experienced 300 teams competing in the category.
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