Iron Star Triathlon (70.3) - 11/7/10

The 8th annual Iron Star Triathlon was held in Montgomery, TX on November 7, 2010. This race is a half-iron (70.3) distance race held in and around the La Torretta Del Lago Resort on Lake Conroe.  This was my third (ever) and final race of 2010.  After having relative success at the two previous sprint distance and olympic distance races, I was convinced by my coach and by myself that it was time for a real challenge.  A 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run seemed challenging enough...and boy, did it prove to be a challenge for me!

Since I'd only been swimming for a grand total of about 5 months prior to this race (and still wasn't very good at it), I opted to partner up with a fellow TriMAC teammate, Angelica Robles, and relay the event.  Since I was most worried about my swimming ability, I allowed my teammate to take that portion of the event while I chose to complete both the bike and run portions of the race.  In retrospect, I'm not sure what made me so confident that I could bike and run those distances.  I'd never gone that far before, not even in training.  But, I suppose once the triathlon bug bites you, its venom courses through your veins and you do all sorts of irrational things!

About the race:

The marina on race morning. Looks cold and ominous!

The transition and finish line area was set up around the La Torretta Del Lago Resort on Lake Conroe.  It is a beautiful resort that has all the amenities of a vacation destination: a marina, a man-made beach area, a golf course, spa, restaurants, pool, bar areas, and children's water park.  Plus, for the race weekend they put together a very reasonable pricing package for athletes who choose to stay there.  It makes for a great race destination to take the family along.  One day I'd like to go back to the resort in the warmer months to really enjoy it.    

Like most triathlons, parking is a bit of a challenge.  Most athletes who didn't stay at the resort had to park about a 1/2 mile away and take the long walk to transition.

Resort beach and swim start.

The swim course was in Lake Conroe with the swim start right on the man made beach next to the resort.  It was laid out as a single loop that took athletes around the marina and peninsula that the resort sits on and back around to finish at the resort boat launch.  The race began with a running beach start for each swim wave.  It was my first exposure to that style swim start and the atmosphere was awesome.  Of course, it was November and on race morning the temperature was in the low 40's.  I'm not sure if the athletes who actually had to swim thought the atmosphere was awesome because they looked pretty cold to me.  But, as I stood there in warm clothes sipping coffee, I sure thought it was awesome!  Of course, I did have a very chilly bike ride to look forward to.  I can't say much else about the swim considering that I didn't swim this race.  But, I can say that the course took the athletes through a very shallow section of the lake.  So shallow, in fact, that I saw many athletes standing up and running for ~100 yds. instead of swimming.  But, I suppose there's not much the race organizers can do about low lake levels. 

Ms. Robles putting on a clinic on getting to T1 fast!

After a strong swim by Angelica, it was my turn to tackle the 56 mile bike course.  The bike course was a single loop 56 mile tour of some of the prettiest country that East Texas has to offer.  Riding through towns like Montgomery, Richards and a long stretch through Sam Houston National Forest was really nice.  I tried to look around as much as I could and just enjoy the scenery.  But, whoever said this course is "mostly flat with a few rolling hills" is crazy!  Maybe it's because I'm a South Louisiana flat lander, but some of those hills seemed like more than rollers to me and besides exiting/entering transition I don't recall many flat sections!

Note to self:  Buy a cycling jacket that
doesn't have the aero properties of a
parachute!

Maybe it was because I hadn't expended any energy swimming, or maybe it was just the excitement of being in my first long course race but I felt awesome on the bike.  The hills, despite being very challenging, didn't bother me as badly as I expected.  I passed tons of people and was having a blast...until about mile 40.  That's when the wheels came flying off the bus.  It was then that I experienced my first proper "bonk".  In my haste to ride the bike like a Chris Lieto wanna-be, I completely underestimated the importance of nutrition and pacing.  It was strange how quickly the sensation of being out of energy came over me.  One mile I felt like Superman and the next I felt like Clark Kent.  The combination of riding the bike like I was in a 40k TT and not taking much in nutritionally was a disaster, and I had no idea that the worst was yet to come.

One of the few moments where I was
actually running.

The 3 loop run course in and around the resort was great.  While most of the race was on the roads and sidewalks of the resort, there was a section that ventured off into the golf course rough areas for a bit of a trail run feel.  There was also one short but intense hill to conquer, and since this is a 3 loop course you had the "joy" of seeing it 3 times.  The only negative (very negative) aspect of the run course was the gravel section.  Running on gravel wouldn't normally bother me, but this isn't normal gravel.  It's mostly a dirt road but with golf ball sized rocks scattered all over it, and it was a prime spot to turn an ankle.  Fortunately, I didn't, but it was not fun trying to run on that stuff with tired legs.   

It was really the run course that exposed my lack of a sound pacing and nutrition strategy.  After downing a few gels in the closing miles of the bike course and spending a few minutes in T2 I was getting some energy back.  Running felt like sweet relief to my legs and I started off running a strong pace.  In my mind I was thinking that I had to run fast to get some time back from the bike course.  Yet again, not understanding the value of a paced effort really caught up with me; and it happened on mile 2!  If the wheels had fallen off the bus during the bike course, this time the bus dropped the transmission.  It was at the top of that nasty hill I described earlier that my quadriceps muscles in both legs cramped up at the same time.  I had never experienced this kind of leg cramp before.  Holy cow, is it painful!  Not only does it hurt, but it's completely debilitating...there's not much you can do but just stand there and grit your teeth while praying for the sweet relief that only death can bring.  Ok, ok, it's not that bad, but they really are paralyzing.  So there I stood on the side of the road for at least 5 minutes trying to get my leg muscles to relax.  Several of my TriMAC teammates and friends went by me and offered encouragement.  Finally, my coach came by and offered me some Eduralytes and some advice to try to keep moving, however slow or painful it might be.  She was right, that did help.  But, for the next 11+ miles, I could only run in short bursts of 1/2 - 1 mile.  Then, I'd spend minutes stopped, stretching and wishing the race were over.  The cramps would subside, I'd start running again, and the cycle would repeat. 

Angelica, clearly disgusted with my effort, refusing to even
look in my direction. ;-)

Ultimately, I did finish the race for our relay team.  I suppose that fact alone is worth being proud of.  I had a secret goal for our co-ed relay team to be sub 5:30 in this event.  In the end, we were just barely sub 6:00...not bad I suppose considering how much of the race I spent stopped and suffering.  In the end, I had a ton of fun and learned some huge lessons on pacing and nutrition.  They say that you sometimes don't know where the line is if you never cross it.  Well, I crossed it with regard to nutrition and pacing, and I don't intend to do that again!  I also now appreciate just how much work and training really goes into being truly prepared for long course racing.  You can't fake it at that distance.  If you don't put in the work and have a plan for race day, it will show. 

Overall, the Iron Star Triathlon was very well organized and supported.  It is not a WTC event, and I couldn't be happier with that fact.  Outloud Productions does a great job with this race.  They only allow 800 total participants, but still offer a lot of value for your money.  If you're interested in doing a half iron distance race without the hassle of fighting crowded swim and bike courses and paying tons of money, you should definitely check this one out.  Be warned, though, it is a tough race with a deceptively difficult bike course; especially if you're considering making it your first half iron distance race.  

Venue: 9 out of 10

Value:  10 out of 10