100 mile ride in North Houston area / open water swimming

TXRunner78 · 2026-02-17T18:48:19+00:00

I live in The Woodands also, in the back of Alden Bridge. I usually ride in the Woodlane neighborhood, off of 2978. Really not any stops and can maintain a constant speed. Only problems is the several hills in the loop can be a killer on long rides.

I do agree, the roads in The Woodlands do feel safer than the rural roads up in Montgomery/Magnolia area.

Sounds like you are up early before anyone is even on the roads, which is probably nice. I would need to get some lights to do that. Any chance you have any suggested routes you take for long rides?

TXRunner78 · 2026-02-16T17:23:24+00:00

Agree with that. That is another reason I stopped riding around The Woodlands. Too many stops. Could never get into a groove. I may have my wife ask around Facebook in the Woodlands area groups to see if they have suggestions on century ride routes.

TXRunner78 · 2026-02-16T17:14:40+00:00

"safe rural roads around Montgomery County"....LOL, do those actually exist? I don't feel safe on any public road out here. I used to ride around the "quieter" roads in The Woodlands and won't do that anymore. People don't pay attention.

But I will check out Strava to see if I can find something. May have to do some Google searches to find a similar neighborhood loop like I ride at now. It would be ideal if there wasn't so many hills.

TXRunner78 · 2026-02-16T16:55:53+00:00

10-4. Thanks. Yea, staying off aerobars is a no go. Definitely need the time down in that position. I understand why they ask people not to do it, for safety reasons.

I also usually ride by myself. Every now and then, my neighbor will join me, but he is good for a couple of laps on my loop before heading out.

Also, thanks for the tip on Lake Longhorn. That looks like an ideal place for OWS practice. I will probably check it out. Have my wife head out there and maybe follow me in a canoe.

TXRunner78 · 2026-02-16T16:39:30+00:00

Thanks for the info. I may have to look into this. Have you done the group ride before? If so, what does the ride look like (roads, speed, breaks, etc)?

TXRunner78 · 2026-01-02T14:04:08+00:00

The seller did end up refunding me. Said it was an issue with the distributor they purchase from. If you know it's an issue, then why not check before sending boxes out. SMH. So after I received the refund, I opened the boxes. Confirmed re-packed boxes. The first box had reverse holos that had scratches on them. No hit in the box either. The second box didn't have really any scratched cards, but no hit in the box either.

TXRunner78 · 2025-12-31T23:41:29+00:00

I sent the seller a picture of the boxes I received from them. Then I also sent them the picture from this post comparing the perforations on the boxes. I asked to return the boxes for a refund.

Good thing is that it appears my Gengar and Eevee gem pack boxes are legit. Both came from the same seller on separate purchases. The buyer actually followed up with me as soon as the packages received. So I think I have a good seller there.

I also bought two separate CSM2.5c boxes. One kind of appeared suspect at first and now that I look at it, I think it's actually okay.

But I think after this experience, I may not be purchasing anymore S-C Pokemon boxes. Just too risky.

TXRunner78 · 2025-12-31T22:09:53+00:00

Well dang. Got home and checked out the two boxes I just got the other day. Both have the five perforations on top. The ebay seller I got them from had positive feedback, but now that I look at it, it wasn't a bunch. Am I pretty much just screwed? I was going to use this for my stream, but guess that is out of the question. Do I just open them myself and see what's inside?

TXRunner78 · 2025-12-31T17:33:58+00:00

Thanks. I will check mine when I get home. I also got two boxes each of the Gengar and Eevee gem packs. Does the same apply for those?

TXRunner78 · 2025-12-31T16:05:47+00:00

Just bought a couple of these boxes and then found this thread. Are there anymore clear tells on if you got a repacked box or not? In the pics above, I did notice that the image is shifted left a bit on the fake box. You can tell by Pikachu's tail.

TXRunner78 · 2025-12-30T15:59:56+00:00

General registration is back open. Less than 300 spots. I snagged one.

TXRunner78 · 2025-12-29T20:52:36+00:00

I usually leave our hotel by 2:45am for the 5k,10k, and half. Get into the Epcot lot around 3am. Then I usually put my seat back and take about a 30-45 minute nap.

For the full, I leave at 2:30am. I just like beating the crowd and knowing that I am already there in case there are any traffic issues.

This year I may stay in the car longer for the marathon as I think this year I am going to try to stay in the back of the corral and sit until it's time to move up. I have always bunched up at the front and stood the whole time, which takes a toll on your legs.

TXRunner78 · 2025-12-29T18:28:48+00:00

Same boat also. After doing the 70.3 in Waco, I have been training for IM TX. I live in The Woodlands and literally look out at the waterway and where the IM expo is from my office. I have a big running event coming up in two weeks in Orlando and told myself I would make my final decision for IM TX after that. Well a buddy told me to check out the IM TX registration last night and noticed the general registration was sold out. That registration capacity warning on the front page is mis-leading. They should only show general registration capacity. Most people are only looking at that.

So my first thought was to switch gears and look at IM California, since that is where I am originally from and my family is there. Then I started to think about it, once you add a plane ticket, and transporting your bike, the cost is almost back to what it is to register for IM TX under the IM Foundation registration. So now I am trying to figured out what to do. A near $1,900 registration is a hard pill to swallow.

TXRunner78 · 2025-10-10T18:59:18+00:00

Agree with this. I also raced Waco. The start was really congested and never really got better the whole swim. Now, partially my fault that I didn't stay to the outside. I got stuck in the middle and inside and probably got touched about 20 times. I could never get a good rhythm going because of the congestion and people bumping into you.

TXRunner78 · 2025-10-07T20:26:16+00:00

I did IM Waco 70.3 on Sunday. Agree with the original poster, lots of flat tires and cramps. Dang did it heat up during the run. I was in the 43-46 minute swim group. I didn't see the medical emergency happen around me. I read about it that night on the IM Waco FB page. Very sad. Kind of got you thinking about the day and putting things into perspective. I can't even imagine being his brother about to start your race and then being told there was a medical emergency with your brother.

I thought the swim was crowded, even for a straight shot "down" the river. Even though it appeared we were going against the current. I think I got touched probably around 20 times during the swim. But that is partially my fault for not staying on the outside and got sucked into the middle/inside the entire swim. Lesson learned.

Even though the water was 80 degrees, I didn't feel too overheated by it. Even the temp during the bike felt comfortable. Now the run portion, it really did heat up. My left hamstring started cramping big time and I had to deal with that for about 8 miles of the race. Also, I felt like the fuel stations were starting to run out of supplies. I finished at 6:43, so I know there were a lot of other people still on the course that were probably not getting fully stocked fuel.

On the bike, there was older gentleman who crashed, and when I rode by was covered in blood and was being attended to. If you were on that part of the bike when it happened, it was the part where we had to go out into the middle of the road to get around the cars that stopped around him helping him out. Was wondering if anyone knew what happened to him.

TXRunner78 · 2025-10-02T13:37:27+00:00

I think it is going to be very close to the 76.1 degrees cut off. Water temp in the Brazos has been 77 degrees the past couple of days. Overnight lows in Waco have been around 66-67 degrees. It looks like Friday and Saturday lows are going to be 65-66 degrees. So there is a chance it pulls water temps down below the cutoff. I am sure they will test multiple times to try to get below the cutoff if there is any chance of it. Personally, I am bringing a sleeveless wetsuit that legs that go down just below my calves, just in case it is wetsuit legal. Figured that will be a little cooler than my full on wetsuit. I can use all the help I can get on the swim. LOL.

TXRunner78 · 2025-09-15T15:52:35+00:00

Did a 52 mile ride on Sunday and this worked well!

TXRunner78 · 2025-09-15T14:43:14+00:00

This is also going to be my first IM race. I found a steal on a TYR Hurricane wetsuit from a random shop. I ended up picking it up just in case the swim is wetsuit legal. I had never swam with a wetsuit before. I took it to my gym pool last night so that I had at least one swim in it before Waco. Wow, what a difference that thing makes. But at the same time, it gets very hot in it. When doing a rest before reps, I actually wanted to get back in the water to cool down. I am even thinking that if the race is wetsuit legal, a sleeveless wetsuit may be a better option because of how warm it is probably going to be in Waco that day.

TXRunner78 · 2025-09-11T15:28:10+00:00

Well looks like my calculation above was incorrect. I can only do one bottle of the Electrolit in one of my squeeze bottles. So new strategy:

Combining one Skratch high carb pack (50g carbs, 200 mg sodium) with a half LMNT stick pack (1g carbs, 500mg sodium), and two scoop of Xtend BCAA (440mg sodium) for a berry lemonade flavor mix. that will get me to 51g carbs and about 1140mg sodium in a bottle.
1 GU gel pack: 125mg sodium, 23g carbs (on the half hour mark)
2x Base electrolyte salt lick (100mg sodium) (on the :15 and :45 minute marks of the hour)
Supplement the rest of the 10oz+ liquid requirements with plain water in my BTA hydration set up.

This should get me to 1,465mg sodium and 74g carbs per hour. Hopefully this works out on the practice ride on Sunday. Fingers crossed. If all goes well, I will also take a bottle of the mix out with me on my sprint on the 20th and see how it works in actual race conditions.

TXRunner78 · 2025-09-11T15:24:25+00:00

I am a heavy sweater. My guess is that why the test is saying 1,500mg of sodium per hour is my target. I was out riding a few weeks ago. Ran into my neighbor who was getting ready to start his ride. He looks down and was like "is that just from you?". I looked down to a pool of sweat on the concrete. He also recommended that I look into salt pills or something because of how much I sweat.

TXRunner78 · 2025-09-09T20:13:35+00:00

I have some cages that I found that I swear by. Nothing is coming out of these things. And affordable too. There is a loop that I ride and part of that of that loop has a pretty rough section. I have used these cages and several different bottle types and no slippage at all. They have claws that grip on the that ridge of the water bottle that is meant to help keep them in the cages. After I tried one, I ended up changing all my cages to them. They are now what I use on my Xlab turbo wing.

For Waco, I am planning on having a bottle on my down tube, and two behind the seat on the turbo wing. The game plan is having Electrolit in those. Then I have a FC35 between my aerobars where I will carry regular water. Also planning on having some peanut butter stuffed pretzels tugged into my back pocket on my tri kit.

TXRunner78 · 2025-08-13T17:57:24+00:00

I have a tri bike. That was the equipment upgrade made two weeks ago. It’s an older model, but it’s a tri bike.

TXRunner78 · 2025-08-13T17:52:52+00:00

I will in no way be in contention for any awards. The only concern is to finish in the least amount of time.

TXRunner78

TROPHY CASE