Lubbock, TX - June 27, 2010
29:49 Swim (1:32 / 100 M)
2:48 T1
2:55:56 (19.1 MPH)
2:25 T2
2:32:03 (11:37 min/Mi)
Total 6:03:02
74th out of 116 in AG
372nd out of 615 men who raced
Only my 2nd 70.3 ever !!!
What a great race. Challenging but lots of fun.
We got to Lubbock on Friday. Got to the hotel, then went to the Expo to register. On Saturday we went to the race site, for a short swim, bike, run. Then we drove the bike course.
We got to the race site early on Sunday and were informed wetsuits were going to be legal (sweet !!!). I set up transition and went to the start.
The swim was nice. I felt good, found a nice space on the inside part of the course, got on a nice a groove and charged ahead. It turned out to be a real fast swim.
I got to T1, got my bike shoes on and off I went. The first big hill was immediately after leaving T1, so it got your legs going right away. The bike course was fun. 8 challenging hills throughout the course. Again, my goal was to not exert too much energy, so i kept a nice pace, and didn’t force it on the hills. I also made sure hydrated and ate during the ride. The last 15 or so miles were all flat and where people told me is where you can up your avg without too much work, however, we had a major head wind, which just complicated things. All in all, I was happy with my 19.1 MPH.
Got to T2, put my running shoes on, and off I went. I was feeling good. The first of the 3 hills came about 3 miles in. I had made a decision to walk all 3 hills prior to the race, and I stuck with it. That not only help with not making me exert to much energy during the hills, but also allowed me to rest some. I was going well, keeping an average of under 10:00 min/Mi even with the hills throughout the first 8-9 miles. After mile 9 I could tell I was close to running on empty.
After getting back into the park, my knee started hurting really bad. It was to the point that I could not continue running. I had to stop several times in the last couple of miles, and had to walk for a lot of those last 2 miles as well. That unfortunately upped my average quite a bit. However, I finished and loved it.
After crossing the finish line, I sat in the Medical tent for a long time. I chose not to have an IV (big mistake). After that, I tried to get some food, but they really didn’t have anything (the only bad thing about this race). I ended up not eating anything after the race (which again, was a real bad mistake). After I gathered my things and my bike, we had to walk up the hill to the car. I was so weak, I could not do so. I was getting dizzy each time I tried to walk a few steps. They ended up having to cart me to the car, and my OUL teammates put me on the back of the truck, loaded my stuff in, and off we went to get some food. I only started feeling better once I had a burger and a coke, several minutes later. Lesson learned.
I can’t wait to race Buffalo again next year !!!