Wham, Bam, thank-you……..Tri-Raider Sprint. In what turned out to be a very fast trip (22 hours) I ended up participating in the Tri-Raider Sprint in Lubbock this weekend. I normally like to get to a race the day before and have enough time for packet pick-up, a good dinner, and plenty of rest. Unfortunately, that was not the case this weekend. Lubbock is a 5 ½ hour drive from El Paso and because I didn’t leave work early enough I didn’t get checked into my hotel until a little after 11 pm. I didn’t have dinner, didn’t get to pick my packet up, and was going to be short on rest because I needed to be at the race by 5:30 am to take care of all the registration requirements. Needless to say I was not in the best of moods Saturday morning, but I was determined to shake off the bad race I had in Lubbock in May. Those of you that read this blog (thank-you all three of you) will remember that at the race in May I cramped up within the first five minutes of the swim and was not able to finish. The weather for the May race was 55 degrees and the water temperature was roughly the same. This time the weather was almost the exact opposite. Water temperature was 74 degrees and by the end of the race the outside temperature was pushing 100.
For those of you that have never done a race at Buffalo Springs in Lubbock, it is a great race location with many challenging elements. Marti Greer and the other race organizers do a great job and even for the sprint distance races you get the feeling of a big time race. I highly recommend doing a race there. I arrived at the race and had no problem receiving my race packet and putting all my stuff into transition. I was happy to see a couple of my friends and fellow racers Bobby and John and went about continuing to warm-up and get ready for the swim. One of those challenges that I mentioned earlier in regards to buffalo springs is the 500 meter swim. It is a counter clock-wise arch that goes around a small point in the lake. The water levels were very low this year and for most of the swim the water was probably only four to five feet deep. The challenging aspect is that with a mass start and over 150 people entering the water, the course does not allow for much spacing. Now I know that is part of triathlon swimming, but usually you are able to find space after the first 100 meters or so, but that was not the case Saturday. I swam the entire 500 meters in a tight group and was kicked, slapped, and pulled the entire way. I managed to have an “ok” swim (just under 7 minutes), but really need to strengthen that part of my training.
Everything in transition went fine and I was off towards the bike portion of the race. Leaving the lake and heading out for the bike portion you have to climb two steep hills. I didn’t have too much trouble, but at the top of the second hill I noticed my front wheel was wobbling really badly. I stopped and got off my bike and discovered that I must have hit a small pot hole and had jarred the wheel loose. It was no big deal and I was able to tighten it up and only lose a minute on the other riders. The wind was blowing hard and going out on the bike portion I was able to push pretty hard. The challenge was at the turn around point I was now headed back into a pretty fierce headwind. I was able to lower my head and push the pace as hard as I could. I passed several riders that looked like they just ran out of gas and continued pushing it until I reached transition. I finished the bike portion in a little over 51 minutes.
The run course is flat with a couple tiny rolling hills, but by this time the temperature was starting to climb. I headed out on the run knowing that another racer in my age group was probably 15 seconds behind me. I settled into a nice pace and received shouts of encouragement from Gretchen who was there cheering us on as she waited for the 70.3 that took place on Sunday. It really means a lot to have a fellow triathlete, who knows what you’re going through, cheering for you and giving you words of encouragement. Long story short, I held off the other age grouper and finished the run in a little over 23 minutes. I was hoping for a better run time, but I think the heat played a role in keeping the run times a little slower than normal.
I finished second in my age group and thirteenth overall. Bobby won the master’s division and finished second overall. Despite having a fall on the run, John had a great race and finished second in the Clydesdale division.
To Do List:
Increase bike miles for 70.3 in September.
Work on negative splits during run training.
Learn to swim J
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