Longhorn 70.3: by Jayne Furman

KimrnWatson, Julie Cutts, Lisa Locati and I met up with Shannon Cutting forrnLonghorn 70.3 in Austin TX. This trip was planned a few months ago whenrnLocati, on a Tuesday McGhies bike ride, quietly worked her persuasivernpowers. "I’m going to Texas for a half ironman, so let me know whenrnyou’ve signed up". I answered the only way I knew how. "Leave me alone,rnno way I’m doing it". This went on for a few more weeks, Cutts andrnWatson signed up, and I caved. I really had no desire to train, butrnafter I started riding and swimming again, I was glad to be back intornthe mix.rn

The excitement built as we got closer to departure. Therntrash talking had begun. When Lisa found out Shannon, Julie AND Kimrnwere all in her age group, that Kim was running the loop strong everyrnweekend, and Cutts was on a cycling tear, she expressed herself mildly.rnF*()*()*)*()*(*((*((*(*K !!!!!!!!

We had so much luggage –rnbetween the bikes, laptops, duffel bags, etc — and for some reason,rnCutts decided to stash a Viking oven in her Samsonite. The Ford 150rnwould come in handy!
You’ll notice in the airport photos that everyone was smiling a bit more on the front end than the return trip !!

Wernstayed at the Embassy Suites at Town Lake, went to packet pickup, andrnbumped into Shannon. We were invited to dinner at her unbelievablyrnhospitable friends home located about 30 min outside of Austin on arngorgeous woodsy plot of land with a spectacular sunset view from theirrnrooftop deck. Leslie is an accomplished musician, and an awesome cook.rnShe played Big Bad Betty for us, a humorous song about an Athena sherncompeted against. We were now race ready.
The day of bike check inrnwe (ie, Jayne) wanted to drive the bike course. Shannon had driven itrnthe day prior. Monkey See, Monkey Do …. and despite warnings fromrnShannon about unmarked streets and where they were located, the 4 of usrnstill managed to get lost looking for Monkey Lane. This caused somernmajor stress to our chauffeur Julie Cutts, who had a look of fear as ifrnwe were driving into enemy territory and would never find our way outrnalive. This apparently pumped her up so much she chewed up the bikerncourse with a 2:33 bike split (10th fastest female). rn

Racernday we were extremely lucky. Temperature was ok, plus we had cloudrncover for a lot of the day, and the humidity wasn’t bad. The swim inrnDecker Lake was a little short. I didn’t shed any tears bout that !. Wernall swam without wetsuits, good advice from Shannon. Most wore them,rnbut the water was a mild 78 degrees. rn

I never did getrnthru transition during visualization, which led to me putting my socksrnand cycling shoes over soaking wet muddied feet, and then heading forrnT1 exit without my helmet— till someone in transition told me HEY,rnyou need a helmet ! DUH !
Check out the socks. You’d think this was my first triathlon. rn

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Thernbike leg was mostly rollers with one nice climb at the end. There wasrnplenty of cross and headwind too. It looked more like the Tour dernAustin for the 1st 20 miles till we all spreaout a bit. Very cozy,rnkinda annoying. rn

The course was fun though, and includedrna hill called Quadzilla at 7 % grade. About 3 miles was on dirt, thernrest on pavement, and there were very few actual "flat" sections.
Itrnwas a two loop course so we saw each other a couple of times. At onernpoint Locati yelled "hey what are you doing walking". I lookup to findrnher limping with a smile on her face. Still she finished under 6 hours,rneven walking like 4 miles. Shannon was the 2nd overall female and firstrnin her age group. Kim hada great race, and her training paid off as sherneasily PR’d. Way to go Kim ! rn

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I pulled into thernstable in 6 ½ hrs, this one was sweet under the circumstances of a 2:45rnhalf marathon shuffle. I finished feeling great, what more can you ask.rn

The fun continued for a couple more days. We wentrnfor a hike in the park, and a swim in the refreshing water of BartonrnSprings (68 degrees) We stopped for some beverages in Willow City atrnHarry’s rn

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Afterrnour ride we refueled at the Becker Vineyard, enjoying some wine in arnserene settinwith trees, and greenery. We visited a couple bike shopsrn(yes, Mellow Johnny’s), a running store, some very cool shops onrnCongress Ave (SoCo), and had dinner at Mexican restaurant located onrnLake Travis. This was a wonderful trip, and I’m so glad I had thernopportunity to experience all of it. Triathletes looking for an Octoberrn70.3 should consider Longhorn in 2009. rn

Jayne rn