Houston Area Triathlons (and duathlons) - 2015

I'm in the process of updating this list. If you see a 2015 date, it's been updated. Many date for the tris later in the year just haven't been set yet, but they are typically the races are on or about the same weekend. The only big change so far is that the Sugar Land is much earlier.

When I first decided to get into triathlons, I found it hard to find a complete listing of Houston area triathlons. Some sites will give you all of Texas, but Texas is big. Nothing was as good as the Houston Running Calendar site is for runs. So below are races within a 40-50mi radius of downtown Houston.

As you can see there is something almost every weekend outside of the winter. Of course, if I forget something, feel free to comment.

• March 1st, 2015 - Du the Polar Bear - Bear Creek Park in West Houston - Duathlon (2mi R / 15mi B / 2mi R) - Outloud Productions
• March 28th, 2015 - No Label Triathlon - (300m PS / 14mi B / 3mi R) - Finish at the No Label Brewery - I Tri Events
• April 4th, 2015 - Tri-Color Super Sprint - (200m PS /8mi B / 2mi R) - Fulshear TX - new for 2014
• April 12th, 2015 - Kemah Triathlon - Olympic and Sprint (600m S/ 12.8miB / 5k R) - OnUrMark Productions
• April 26th, 2014 - Galveston Ironman 70.3  - Half Ironman - Be prepared for the wind - WTC
• May 2nd, 2015 - CB&I -  The Woodlands - (500m S / 15mi B / 5k R) - Woodlands Township
• May 3rd, 2015 - Memorial Hermann Sugar Land - (300m PS / 10mi B / 3mi R) - One of the long standing tris in the Houston region - Andy Stewart
• May 9th, 2015 - Springs Back - Olympic & Sprint (400m S, 15mi B, 5k R) - Fushear TX - - I Tri Events
• May 16th, 2015 - Ironman Texas - The Woodlands - WTC
• May 31st, 2015 - Tejas - Sugar Land - (600yd S, 12mi B/ 3mi R) - Outloud Productions
• July 12th, 2015 - Shadow Creek Ranch - Pearland - (500m S / 16mi B/ 3.2mi R) - Troika Promotions
• July 13, 2014 - Texas Tri Star - Montgomery (300m PS / 10mi B / 3mi R)
• July 27th, 2014 - Jeff & Brede's Intergalactic - Katy - (300m PS / 12miB / 5k R) - Houston Racing
• July 26, 2015 - Cypress -(formerly Bridgeland) Sprint (500m S / 12.8mi B/ 5k R) - OnUrMark
• August 23rd, 2014 - Clear Lake - International (1.5km S / 46k B/ 10k R) and Sprint (0.5km S / 23k B / 3.4k R) - Outloud Productions
• September 7th, 2015 - Towne Lake - Cypress - Olympic and Sprint (400m S/ 12.8mi B/ 3.1mi R) - OnUrMark Productions
• September 14th, 2014 - Onalaska Half - Half Ironman, Onalaska, TX - I Tri Events
• September 19th, 2015 - Triathlon Grand Prix - Angelton, TX - (two loops of: 250m S / 4.76 mi Bike / 1.42 mi Run)
• September 21st - Hannah's Tri (formerly Houston Oaks Tru Tri) - Cypress - (300m S / 12mi B / 5k) - This race was new for 2013 but is now postponed indefinitely- Tru Tri Sports
• September 22nd - Galveston 5150 - Olympic and Sprint (400m S/ 12.5mi B/ 3.1mi R) - Same course location as the Ironman 70.3 in April - WTC
• September 29th - Katy Firethorne - (500m S, 13.7mi B, 3mi R)
• October 4th, 2014 - Du the Bear - same as the Du the Polar Bear in Feb
• October 12th, 2014 - Oktoberfest - Olympic & Sprint (400m S, 15mi B, 5k R) - Fushear TX - I Tri Events
• October 18th, 2015 - Try Andy's Tri - Sugar Land - (300m S / 10mi B / 3mi R) - same bike and run course as the Sugar Land tri in June, but has an open water swim instead of a pool. Andy Stewart
• October 25th, 2015 - Fairfield Tri - Cypress - (300m PS / 10mi B / 5k)
• November 1st, 2015 - Oilman - Lake Conroe - Half-Ironman - Be prepared for hills - Outloud Productions

Notes

• Race information is structured as follows: Date - race - general location (if not obvious by race name), distance, comments and production company.
• Pools swims are denoted by PS.
• WTC = World Triathlon Council

First Half Marathon

On Sunday, I completed my first half marathon, the Houston Aramco Half Marathon, which was part of the Chevron Houston Marathon. So me and 25,000 other people raced that morning.

My race goals were like Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. First, don’t poop my pants. Next stay injury-free, then finish, then 2:15, then 2:10. Originally 2:00 was a stretch goal, but in recent training I realized that it was not achievable. I think I’ve actually gotten slower over the last year – less speed training, and less training volume overall. So my plan was to run at a 10 min/mile pace for about 9-10 miles and then try to speed up for the last 5k, which would put me at about 2:08. The plan began well: the first 5k was at 10:01, then 10:06, but at mile 7, my legs started getting heavy and my feet were getting sore. I just couldn’t keep up the pace. Come mile 10, I really wanted to speed up, but couldn’t. I wasn’t out of breadth but just couldn’t move my legs any faster. I’ve read this is because:  “When muscle glycogen stores fall low late in long runs, the muscles rely increasingly on breaking down their own proteins to provide an alternative fuel source.” Continued long-distance running will help train my body to conserve glycogen.

 

I got more long runs in compared to 10 for TX, where I got only two runs longer than 8 miles.  Since 10 for TX (October 11^th), I did following distances twice:  9, 11, and 13. So in 13 weeks, I got six long-ish runs in. The missed weeks were a combination of being out of town, awful weather, and being sick. One should expect that this training level would allow for a respectable performance, but not anything earth shattering. 

While I missed my goal, on the plus side, when comparing my first 10 miles to 10 for Texas, I shaved 7:52 off the time, which is pretty solid. I know I gave 100% both times.  My average HR of 178 validates that (when compared to a LTHR of 184 or a max HR of 195).

I’m interested. One thing I could do is lose some weight. I’ve put on about 10 lbs over the last 18 months. According to sources on the internet, 10 lbs  gain results in 20 seconds/mile slower pace.

Official Splits

GPS Watch (hit lap at each mile marker, withstanding #1)

2014 in Recap

This blog suffered the most in 2014. The year started pretty good. While I was still nursing Achilles tendonitis, I finished the "Du the Polar Bear" dualthon which included the 1st 2 mile split at a pace under 8 min/mile. Bouyed by this result, I attempted a 5k in March in order to break 8 min/mile. While the weather wasn't in my favor that morning and I didn't meet my goal, I did still hit a PR at 25:55 or 8:22/mile.

I trained hard for the CB&I triathlon in May and was eager to improve on the previous year's results. The weekend, I did a practice half-ironman open water swim, and I had been swimming 500m in the pool in about 9:30. And then everything fell apart. On the Wednesday before the Saturday race, I got strep throat. Only partially recovered, I still decided to race. The swim was the only highlight. I still managed to break 10 minutes at 9:54, but I was exhausted by the time I hit the bike. The bike course was shortened to 10.6 miles, but I only managed 18 mph. The run was tough - while the official time was a reasonable 26:47, I am confident that course was only 2.9 miles.

After that, returning from a short break was hampered by the fact that my swim group changed times and location, reducing how much I was able to swim. At the last minute, I decided to race Shadow Creek Ranch triathlon to do it with a friend, but I was underprepared. The swim time dropped to 12:08, the 17 mile bike was at 17.74 mph and the run was searingly hot. I decided that I wasn't getting enough fluids so I walked the aid stations in order to consume more liquids. This reduced my pace to 10:46/mile. Given that a guy died of heat stroke at Towne Lake a few weeks later, I didn't have any regrets.

In June I "won the lottery" to race the Houston Half Marathon in July, so I began trying to get some longer runs in. I started with about 6 miles and was diligently adding 1/2 mile per week until I was at 8. Then I ran with another group and ended up doing 11 miles. While I was tired, I ran two days later and hurt my calf. It was feeling better a few days later so I decided to run. I initially dismissed slight twinges of pain for it being psychosomatic - this was a huge mistake. By the time I decided to turn around, I was a few miles from home. The injury kept my out for two weeks and I missed my most important runs. I was signed up for 10 for Texas and only managed one more long run of 10 miles beforehand. I started out okay, but for the last several miles, while I wasn't out of breadth, I just could move my legs any faster. My lack of long runs result in a 10:56/mile overall pace.

In late September, we had a silly parent's volleyball tournament for my daughter's school. After playing, I woke up the next day with a sore should. I figure it was a movement I hadn't done in a while so the muscle was sore. While I still found it hard to lift my arm a week later, I knew I messed up my rotator cuff.  After not healing in 2 months, I started physical therapy. While I have been improving it is not better enough to restart swimming. This has dampened my visions of grandeur of doing the Galveston half-Ironman in April. I'm not signing up for it if I won't be ready. I did sign up for CB&I again as I imagine I will be able to muster 500m by then.

In the meantime I've been diligently training for the Half marathon in a few weeks. In the last 6 weeks, I've managed 4 long runs of at least 11 miles, getting 13 twice, though I've been very cautious about reinjury. My legs are still limiting my speed at the end, so I'd like to get one more in before the big day.

Lastly, do you know what I got for Christmas? Fat. I got fat for Christmas. The new year will begin with an effort to curb eating. While I've been exercising, I'm consuming too many calories.

2014 totals
Running: 79.8 hours, 393.4 miles (up 39% from 2013)
Biking: 49 hours, 686 miles (down 54% from 2013)
Swimming: 20 hours, 48,400 yds (down 56% from 2013)

Houston Area Triathlons (and Duathlons) -2014

When I first decided to get into triathlons, I found it hard to find a complete listing of Houston area triathlons. Some sites will give you all of Texas, but Texas is big. Nothing was as good as the Houston Running Calendar site is for runs. So below are races within a 40-50mi radius of downtown Houston.

As you can see there is something almost every weekend outside of the winter. Of course, if I forget something, feel free to comment.

• February 9th - Du the Polar Bear - Bear Creek Park in West Houston - Duathlon (2mi R / 15mi B / 2mi R) - Outloud Productions
• March 17th -  C Different Triathlon- Sugar Land - Sprint (500m S / 12.6 mi B / 5k R) & SuperSprint (150m S / 6.3mi B / 1.5mi R) - This race debuted in 2012, but haven't seen info for 2014.
• March 29th, 2014 - No Label Triathlon - (300m PS / 14mi B / 3mi R) - Finish at the No Label Brewery - I Tri Events
• April 6th, 2014 - Galveston Ironman 70.3  - Half Ironman - Be prepared for the wind - WTC
• April 19, 2014 - Tri-Color Super Sprint - (200m PS /8mi B / 2mi R) - Fulshear TX - new for 2014
• April 27th, 2014 - Kemah Triathlon - Olympic and Sprint (600m S/ 12.8miB / 5k R) - OnUrMark Productions
• May 3rd, 2014 - CB&I -  The Woodlands - (500m S / 15mi B / 5k R) - Woodlands Township
• May 4th, 2014 - Springs Back - Olympic & Sprint (400m S, 15mi B, 5k R) - Fushear TX - - I Tri Events
• May 17th, 2014 - Ironman Texas - The Woodlands - WTC
• June 1st, 2014 - Tejas - Sugar Land - (600yd S, 12mi B/ 3mi R) - Outloud Productions
• June 22nd, 2014 - Memorial Hermann Sugar Land - (300m PS / 10mi B / 3mi R) - One of the long standing tris in the Houston region - Andy Stewart
• July, 2015 - Houston - Originally scheduled for 2014 as a new event, with both Sprint and Olympic distances, this has been postponed. OnUrMark Productions
• July 13th, 2014 - Shadow Creek Ranch - Pearland - (500m S / 16mi B/ 3.2mi R) - Troika Promotions
• July 13, 2014 - Texas Tri Star - Montgomery (300m PS / 10mi B / 3mi R)
• July 26th - Jeff & Brede's Intergalactic - Katy - (300m PS / 12miB / 5k R) - Houston Racing
• August 3rd, 2014 - Bridgeland - Sprint (600m S / 12.8mi B/ 5k R) - OnUrMark
• August 23rd, 2014 - Clear Lake - International (1.5km S / 46k B/ 10k R) and Sprint (0.5km S / 23k B / 3.4k R) - Outloud Productions
• September 1st, 2014 - Towne Lake - Cypress - Olympic and Sprint (400m S/ 12.8mi B/ 3.1mi R) - OnUrMark Productions
• September 14th, 2014 - Onalaska Half - Half Ironman, Onalaska, TX - I Tri Events
• September 21st - Hannah's Tri (formerly Houston Oaks Tru Tri) - Cypress - (300m S / 12mi B / 5k) - This race was new for 2013 - Tru Tri Sports
• September 22nd - Galveston 5150 - Olympic and Sprint (400m S/ 12.5mi B/ 3.1mi R) - Same course location as the Ironman 70.3 in April - WTC
• September 29th - Katy Firethorne - (500m S, 13.7mi B, 3mi R)
• October 5th, 2014 - Du the Bear - same as the Du the Polar Bear in Feb
• October 12th, 2014 - Oktoberfest - Olympic & Sprint (400m S, 15mi B, 5k R) - Fushear TX - I Tri Events
• October 20th - Try Andy's Tri - Sugar Land - (300m S / 10mi B / 3mi R) - same bike and run course as the Sugar Land tri in June, but has an open water swim instead of a pool. Andy Stewart
• November 3rd - Oilman - Lake Conroe - Half-Ironman - Be prepared for hills - Outloud Productions

Updates

• October 27th, C Different Tri has been cancelled due to low water levels and won't be planned in future years
• October 6th, Dark Horse Duathlon was new for 2013, but doesn't look like it will repeat.

Notes

• Race information is structured as follows: Date - race - general location (if not obvious by race name), distance, comments and production company.
• Unless otherwise noted, I've listed the 2013 date, though most races happen on the same weekend year to year
• Pools swims are denoted by PS.
• WTC = World Triathlon Council

Renewed Motivation!

There was quite a bit of downtime in October, November, and December, especially when it came to swimming. I only went 6 times in those three months.

I'm training again for CB&I, and I have a new goal; for swimming, under 10 minutes. I was 10:53 last year, so this new goal has given me motivation to get to the pool.  I definitely hit a plateau last summer. As I was training for an Olympic, my swims were often longer slower endurance sets, which did little to improve short-end speed.

I've been focusing on improving my form and improving my stroke rate (which is tied to lung capacity.) Coincidently, I just started reading info about USRPT (Ultra Short Race Pace Training), curtesy of Tim Floyd. I think these faster shorter sets have been paying off (although I wasn't exactly following USRPT protocol).   Back in early December, my time for 550yd was 11:00. I've watched it drop over the last several weeks: 10:44, 10:17, 10:10, and today, 9:47!

I'm not ready to call it go to go. 9:47 in the pool doesn't account for swimming the wrong direction, sighting, and the time it takes to get out and cross the sensor. I've seen the best improvement in my back 400. Instead of dropping to a 2:00/100yd pace, I have been keeping it at about 1:50. If I could maintain my first 100yd pace of 1:35, I could be looking at 8:43. Applied to the times last year, that would put me at 7th/80 for the swim (I was 28/80 last year.) That's motivation right there.

Maybe my goal should be under 9 minutes?  I'm not going to podium, but it is motivating to be more competitive in one discipline.

2013 Annual Totals

I haven't updated this in awhile, but frankly I haven't done much.  I took some time off from running or biking in November to heal my Achilles, but it still isn't 100%. I tried to do other activity in the meantime, like weight lifting, but I enjoy the cardio more. With kinesio tape, I can run at least 3 miles without any pain, and I'm not sure if I have the free time to do the long distance stuff, so I'm not too worried about it.

2013 Totals
Swim: 43 hours, 109,000 yards
Bike: 106 hours, 1504 miles
Run: 72 hours, 360 miles
Other: 4 hours


Thomas Gerlach, a pro whose blog I follow posted his totals. I'm about 25% of the training time and about 15% of the distance (I'm slower!). Given that I have a day job and two kids, I'm pretty happy with that.

Achilles Tendonitis

As mentioned before, I starting suffering from achilles tendonitis starting in late July. I first thought it was my lower calf (soleus muscle) before doing some internet research where it was clear that most runners don't actually get a soleus injury and it tends to actually be tendonitis.

I decided to visit a sports chiropractor, Chase Banks, because I needed guidance on how much to rest, how best to recover or how much I could exercise. I found the visits to be much more informative and helpful than originally anticipated.  After doing a bunch of tests, he linked the real root cause to poor flexibility in my popliteus muscle in the leg, which is behind the knee and is used for unlocking the knees. He also thought it could actually be an injury to plantaris muscle, due to the higher location of the injury, but the treatments are essentially the same.

Overall, I think there were several causes:

• Too much volume - I amped up my training in July. I went from running 6-7 miles/week and biking 30 miles/week to running 15 miles/week and biking 55 miles/week
• Going to fast - I run with a group and our pace put me in zone 3, where my coach had dictated zone 2 workouts. I found it hard to say "hey guys, let's slow down." Of course, I didn't want o go on my own, because it is the group that gets me out of bed a 4:50.
• My shoes - I really loved my Newton Gravity, but after doing his tests, he said I was borderline too inflexible for a 3mm drop shoe.

This Runners Guide to Achilles Tendonitis is a good comprehensive article on dealing with achilles tendonitis. Chase has also recommend the eccentric heal drops, in order to increase flexibility of the tendon as it recovers. He also recommended this Return to Running Program.

I am now on two weeks complete rest, so we will see how that helps. I hate being sidelined, but if I am going to take some time off, this off-season period is probably the best time.