Editor's Note: This weekend professional triathlete Greg Bennett walked away with $420,000 from this race in Dallas. Our teammate Peter Dewey didn't get rich but walked away with a PR and filed this report:
This was the first year for the Toyota U.S Open Triathlon in Dallas. There would be Men and Women Pros competing for serious prize money (Greg Bennett won $420,000 in this one race) and Elite Age Groupers who had qualified at other earlier events. For me this would be my season ending race and my first true Olympic ever. My goals were pretty simple: 1. Run the 10k without walking and 2. finish in 3 hours. Both should be doable if the weather would cooperate.
The Numbers
Swim 1500m
33:06 2:01/100yd AG 14/20
T1 2:57
Bike 40K1:17:07 19.3 mph AG 9/20
T2 2:32
Run 10K53:27 8:36 pace AG 12/20
Overall 2:49:07 (PR) AG 12/20
The Story
Pre-race
I woke up a little after 4am with about 7 hours sleep (I had to force myself to turn off Ironman Live at 9pm and get in bed). I was wide awake within minutes and downed the usual wheat waffles with peanut butter for breakfast. Eric came by around 4:30 and we loaded his gear into my jeep and took off for Reunion Arena arriving at 5am. Here we set up T2. Yes T2 since this would be a point-to-point race there were two transition areas separated by the 25 mile bike course. After Porta Potty stop #1, we loaded the bus for the the drive to T1. Our bikes had spent the night at T1 so we set up the rest of the transition and stood around for over an hour talking, using the Porta Potty a couple more times and eventually getting into our wetsuits. Yes a rare wetsuit legal swim in Texas, although the Pros could not use wetsuits. Temps had to be in the upper 50s. Lots of folks in sweats. Not me, I just shivered through it and figured these cooler temps would be a blessing a few hours later for the run - it couldn't possibly reach the predicted high of 85 could it? They had a nice introduction of the Pros before the swim start and mentioned about 100 times that Greg Bennett was racing for a payday of $420,000 -including the bonus for winning every race in the LifeTime Fitness series- the biggest single payday in triathlon history (I think Ironman is $110,000). He would collect that payday with a time of 1:44:41. We watched the Pros start and with my wave next to last I got to see them finish and move through T1. Transition is really part of the race for the Pros and it is exciting to watch.
Swim
Finally my wave was ready. The start was time trial - 4 at a time. I have to say I liked this start as it really cut down on the congestion. A couple hundred yards into the swim I had my first problem. My goggles were all fogged up and I couldn't see squat. I had not been able to go through my usual routine of spit and rinse in the water because we didn't have access to the lake. I tried it with drinking water. How did that work? Not so good. So I made the decision to get some lake water in my goggles. It worked. Vision restored except I still had too much water in my goggles which bothered my eyes. 50 more yards and I was stopped again trying to get those last few drops out of the goggles. It worked. No more goggle problems. There was a bit of chop but nothing like a month ago in the Texas Man swim. I was comfortable and had a pretty good swim. Very few traffic issues. My sighting was okay but I obviously cannot swim in a straight line. 33 minutes and change later I was out of the water. Grade: B.
T1
Nothing exceptional about T1. I had to get out of my wetsuit and stuff it in my bag but it is a shorty and presents no problems.
Bike
The beginning of the bike course was in a word: brutal - as in uphill and into the wind. After about 3 miles of this I was averaging a blistering 12 mph and still passing some people. Finally the turn north and the southern tailwind for the rest of the ride. Some rolling hills (by Dallas standards) -but plenty chances to get in high gears and hammer. This was fun except for one very scary moment. A girl about 3 riders ahead of me had a bad wreck that sent her across a concrete sidewalk and into the bushes where she lay motionless. I was slowing to stop and fearing for her condition when I saw several policemen rushing to render aide. I pedalled on and offered a prayer. I made sure I was not aero and had good grip on the bars on the rest of the fast descents. I felt great on the bike but was careful to consume a lot of calories (24 oz Accelerade with CarboPro) and would not let myself go full out. It was a good bike leg. Grade: B.
T2
A bit slow here because I sat down to put on socks for the run which I had not worn on the bike. I also had a bit of trouble finding my rack but a friendly volunteer saw my distress and pointed out where I needed to be.
Run
Now came the test. In my last 3 triathlons I have had to walk portions of the run - significant portions - like half of my first Olympic and half of my first HIM. I was told not to worry this is just what Texas heat and humidity does to you (the conditions of the run around midday in Texas in the summer are at least as oppressive as the Chicago marathon was this year). In any event I had something to prove to myself. I wanted to run this 10K - no walks. If that was 10 minute miles - okay but just run it. The run for me began around 10:30 am and it was warming up quickly and the sun was out. But it was a downtown course with plenty shade and a nice breeze. By Dallas standards very benign conditions. I felt pretty good right out of transition. I figured I was under 10 minute miles. I got to mile 2 still feeling good and realized I was under 9 minute miles. I would not let myself speed up very much just yet - the goal was not to blow up. I finished the first loop and got a lift from seeing friends and my wife. I could finally tell her i was feeling good and mean it. The second loop was great as the realization set in that I was going to run this 10k and I was going to do it somewhere in the neighborhood of 54 minutes. I was very pleased with a time of 53:27 and 8:36 pace. Grade: A
Post-race
By the time I finished the Pros had had their awards ceremony, showered and gone home. I guess a Pro awards ceremony moves along pretty quickly - no Overall, no Masters, no Grandmasters, no endless Men and Women AGs, no Clydes, no Athenas. Just a Professional Mens podium and Professional Womens podium and done. There was a Professional VIP area but it didn't look like the Pros had stuck around. Still this was a great championship concept and a very well run race. Plenty of friendly and helpful volunteers.
It was also a great race to end my season on. Last year - my first triathlon season - I did 3 Sprints (the first in August at age 49). This year- 8 triathlons (5 Sprint, 2 Oly and 1 HIM), a couple podium finishes (okay, they were very small races), 4 bike rallies (including 2 100k), several 10Ks, a half marathon and one more scheduled in December and, most importantly a lot of great fun and camaraderie. And I am in the best shape I've been in in the last 25 years or so. Yep, a very good season.
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