St. Patricks Day Tri Kicks Off the North Texas Triathlon Season

Keller, Texas was the home of the St Patrick’s Day Tri that kicked off the season for many an age-group triathlete. This year, the season actually started a little early on the Sunday before the great Irish-fest.

It is always a historically cold morning and was double whammy by being the morning of the great turn the clocks ahead tradition of the end of daylight savings time. Tired and cold, what a great morning! At 7:40am, just as the sun was coming up in the DFW area, the first swimmer hit the water. Almost 700 swimmers followed.

After a short 300 meter pool swim in the lovely Keller natatorium, it was off to T1. I cannot describe the feeling when wet feet hit freezing pavement. Picture it is 40 degrees and the cement between the natatorium exit and the parking lot where the bikes were hanging was hard and very cold. By the time I got to my bike, I could not feel my feet. I did don a long sleeve shirt over my dripping tri suit in transition or I thought I might be a popsicle by the time I hit the first mile. Thanks God for that thought!

Onto the bike I went. A brisk wind was my friend for the inaugural race on my new hot pink camo Quintanaroo Dolce bike. Yes, I said hot pink camo! Why not? I’m in touch with my inner princess ha ha. Love the new bike! It is a sports car when compared to my old Specialized road bike, but boy is it squirrely! I’m sure I will get more comfortable with its handling, but this morning I was a little unsteady. I’m sure a few people thought I had been up drinking green beer before the race. The ride was rolling hills and went uneventfully. I passed a few people and got passed by a few more. One guy turned to his friend as I passed them going up a hill and yelled, “Dude, we just got chicked!” Too funny, guess the pink bike bugged him ha ha. It was a smooth ride into T2.

Donned my hot pink Newtons (yes, they are obnoxiously pink as well) and it was off to the run. This is where I realized my legs were dead. The first mile I looked more like a jogging grandmother, but then my quads relaxed and I started to run. The adventure of triathlon is that you never know where or when the wheels are going to fall off (sometime literally). I finished in respectable style. Not my worst, but not my best effort.

The race was a good start to the new season. A little green beer and lots of laughter was had by all! A large group of first time triathlete’s were beaming and showing off their medals. Dallas Athlete’s put on a good show as usual and the triathletes of North Texas are at it again! Watch for cyclists and runners on the roads. In a month or so you will have to look for us in Lake Grapevine (still too cold for now). As for me, Run Doc is off to New Orleans to race the 70.3 in April. Get off the couch, it’s time to race!