Dashing Through Big D

With the Combat Tri done, it was time to focus on the White Rock Lake sprint in Dallas. This race would be the one for the true flatlanders who loved to mash! We started the week of training with a paddle-run-bike training session at Sabine on Monday, went to HART on Tuesday, swam on Wednesday and then took it easy until after the drive up on Friday. When I got there, we mounted up and did a pre-ride of the course. Afterwards it was time for dinner (Chili's) and then we headed over to our Super 8 motel off of I-30 and that concluded the uneventful night.

We got up bright and early the next day to get some Starbucks before heading to the race site. I also wanted to drop off the seats at the boat drop, so I did that right afterward. Once I got back, I immediately set up TA and got registration out of the way. It was another good turnout--about 100 teams I think. It was in the heart of Dallas, so if you were from here you had no excuse. With TA set up we went for a warmup run and this sat and listened to pre-race.

Within a few minutes we were toeing the line for the start. Once everyone was over there, I could barely make out Kathy's muffled voice, but I could tell the jist of it...3, 2, 1...GO! So we were off on our first 1.5 mile run to the boats. Nothing special here--just a bunch of running on grass and some pavement, just trying to keep up with the gazelles. We got to the boats with big lead pack and transitioned well into our boats. Now came the headache of not being the fastest on the run...we tried to get our rhythm down but I quickly saw that it wasnt going to happen--we were heading straight into a couple of guys spinning in their boat! I tried to evade, but got pinned between them and another boat. That direction was obviously not working, so I then tried a hard right, but of course thats when the guys decided to spin in that direction! Frack! I finally yelled for them to get out of the way and somehow got away from that mess. What a waste of valuable time and energy!

We eventually got our stroke and were slowly picking off people along the way. As we were approaching the turnaround I could see about 10 or so boats ahead of us, so that was pretty good! On the way back we were probably going about 4+mph and still passing teams. We got out of the water, dropped off the boats and were back on the run back to TA. I wasnt as fresh this time around, so towing was probably at an easier pace. Still, I think we were doing alright and staying with the lead teams.

Next was the bike--the part I was totally drueling over! We got on our bikes pretty quickly, hitched up the tow, and mashed! Right away we passed about 3 teams. Then we hit a pack of roadies doing an easy ride...did I say this lake was packed?! This lake was packed! We were constantly dodging runners and bikers and I was thankful that I decided to buy a little bell--I used it generously! We drafted behind the roadies for a while but they were going at erratic speeds, so when it finally opened up, we passed them and mashed on. The paved trail was easy to get to top speed on and we were passing teams pretty consistently. We then entered the short singletrack section, which we still kept hooked on since it wasnt very technical. The only issue we had was the course didnt flow well and there were two three spots where it just abruptly turned back on itself. I braced for impact, but thankfully Scottie never really slammed into me even though we were still towing. After that, it was back to the pavement and the short little section back home.

We pushed really hard on the home stretch of the bike because we knew that it was the last event before the special test. We jogged into TA, dropped our bikes and helmets and proceeded to a cargo net that we had to crawl under. No issues here and just like that we were done! I really felt good about our performance and it was justified as we got 3rd place! Not bad considering the tough competition! We hung out a bit, Bobby and I got a bite to eat while Scottie finished up helping with Scott and Kathy, and then I ended up just jetting back to Htown because I couldnt get a hold of my friends in Plano. That was it. 2 down, 3 to go...and the next one should be pretty tough! Muleshoe has some sweet singletrack that I love, but may give our team fits. We'll see...