Ironman Texas 2026

What an amazing race at Ironman Texas this past weekend!! It’s been quite the past few months building up to this race and the nerves were real pre race.  Things weren’t off to a good start on the flight down, as my flight to Houston was cancelled 10 minutes before boarding which turned into a very stressful 3 hours.  But things worked out and I made it with my bike in one piece.

I tried my best to take in some of the pre race activities, the welcome banquet had amazing food and the vibes were great in Texas!  But my nerves for this race were at an all time high!

Onto the race recap

SWIM (1:16:57): Swim was in Lake Woodlands and with the water temp of 77 it was officially a wetsuit optional race which came as a relief for me cause I didn’t want to swim in a wetsuit and overheat.  The swim was less gross than I thought it’d be and was pretty comparable to swimming in the lakes back home.  I started out the swim easy and then did my best to progress from there. At about 2000m I could feel some chaffing start on my neck and armpit then once into the canal it was actually quite surreal swimming and being surrounded by crowds of people cheering.  Throughout the whole swim I never really got on any feet and felt like I was just swimming past so many people but finished feeling great until I got out and looked at my time lol 

BIKE (4:46:55): The bike took you through parts of the woodland and then 2 laps out and back on the Hardy Toll Road and heck this was way more fun than I imagined!  I took it real easy through town, easing into the bike and getting settled down to put in the work. Plan was to build on each out and back on the toll roll and did I execute on that or what! I was feeling amazing coming off the bike after that insanely fast ride (2nd fastest amateur bike split) despite the one mishap of following the pros up the ramp to the finish at the turnaround :).  But I was able to quickly realize my mistake and probably only lost 1-2 minutes.

RUN: (3:25:46): The Run was 3 laps around the woodlands and once again there really wasn’t a dull moment, with hippy hallow giving you a power boost and the crowds along the course you never really felt alone out there.  I felt great getting off the bike and struggled to not run too fast at the beginning.  The first 25k flew by but I was starting to notice my hands being more numb and tingly and could not seem to shake it. Then once I hit 32k I was starting to really struggle to hold onto 5:00kms and then the nausea was coming and I was unable to stomach anymore jels and decided to try cola till the finish.  Was able to hold on, despite feeling like my legs might seize up at any moment, to finish under my goal time of 3:30!

FINISH (9:36:17): Crossed the finish line and felt the most nausea I’ve ever had post race! My hands and face were twitching and tingling but so thankful for the amazing volunteer that helped me and suggested I go to the med tent.  They treated me like royalty lol and after drinking some electrolytes and zofran I was feeling better. 

So IMTX was a big success!! Finished 2nd AG and 3rd OA and was able to snag my Kona spot for 2026!! I learnt so much during this race and plan to build on this on the road to Kona.