7.30.13 Track Run (Sort of)

Tuesday is usually a track workout and that is what I got from Jeff.  However, I wasn't feeling great after the trip so I made an attempt to create the workout from the house.  I measured around our block and it is .4 miles to make one loop.  My workout called for a warm up mile, 5x 800 at 3:35-3:45 with 2-3 minute recovery, and a cool down mile.  Easy enough.  I backed up one tenth from my house and ran a half mile before backing up down the street to do the next interval.  I'm sure anyone looking outside was wondering why I kept running by at 6:30am.  I doubt anyone was really paying attention.  My pace was good and I was faster than the designed time.  All of my laps were in the 3:25-3:32 range.  I didn't remember what I was supposed to do actually and just ran at about 90%.  It was hard but I was encouraged with the times.  I think my legs are finally coming back to me.  Hopefully, I will be back for the race on Sunday.  Nice improvisation today.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/350663578

7.29.13 Swim

Monday is swim day.  I picked one of my shorter 2100 yard swims for today.  I was still a little tired this morning so I didn't want a heavy swim today.  The first 10-15 minutes were a little sluggish but I felt pretty good after that and got into a pretty good groove.  Jeff sent my workouts for the next two weeks today.  He is going to be in Colorado for the burro race in Leadville this coming weekend.  My first Olympic distance race for the year is on Sunday and it is race #4 in the tri series.

7.28.13 Northshore Trail Run

I was going to ride the bike on Sunday since I had not ridden in a week.  When we got home from Mexico, my bike had a flat on the bike tire and the wheel was out of round.  I decided to run with my trail crew on Sunday morning and get my bike fixed later in the day.  The Matrix is going to do the Leadville 100 race in Colorado in a few weeks and he was doing his last long training run at close to 50 miles.  Joe and I were going to pace him for the last portion of his run.  I think Joe was picking him up with twelve to go and I was going to meet them at Murrell Park for the last seven.  I wasn't real intersted in speed so a nice easy pace with Rich was fine with me.  I was still really tired from the plane trip home.  I won't see these guys for a few weeks so it was good to get a run in.

Back From Mexico

 

I spent last week in Mexico but was able to get some work in.  I took Monday off since it was a travel day.  It was my wife's birthday on Tuesday so I wanted to get everything out of the way as soon as I could, so happy birthday to Patty.  I woke up at around 6:30 and swam for 50 minutes.  I estimated the pool at 70 yards in length based on stroke count.  The pool wasn't really built for swimming laps but it worked out just fine.  It had an island in the middle with a fountain that had to be avoided. 

Another obstacle each morning was the pool cleaner.  It was a bummer swimming over the top of the hose. 

After my swim, I went back to the room.  My wife and I had breakfast next to the pool.  I decided to go ahead and do a five mile run.  The sun was up and it was getting warm.  I found a bar next to the pool and asked the bartender to have a glass of water for me each time I ran by.  It was a mile and a half from one end to the other so I just ran back and forth until I got to five miles.  My guy in the bar was right on each time by.  It was a really tough run that day.  Each day was happy hour at the pool.  We met a bunch of people at the swim up bar and pretty much hung out with them all afternoon every day we were there.  It was alot of fun.  The next day, the resort was putting on a 5k race around the resort.  They actually called it a 5k marathon, which was kind of funny. 

I was supposed to do 3 miles on Wednesday, so it was right on plan and was a good opportunity to stretch my legs and see where I was.  The resort did not do a very good job of keeping everyone on the right path.  There were alot of twists and turns.  I was with the leaders for the first mile but a few guys were faster than me.  I ran with a woman who was training for a real marathon in Hartford.  She was fast and was turning miles at the same basic 7:30 pace I was running.  The two guys in front took a wrong turn and headed towards the highway.  We did an extra loop somewhere as well and fell behind when the gate wasn't open we were supposed to run through.  We caught the rest of the group and were in the lead again.  I actually won the race despite not being the fastest runner.  The funny thing was the 5k ended up being 2.25 miles.  I asked the woman running with me if she wanted to run an extra mile so we did that and called it a day.  My miles were all in the 7:20-7:30 range.  I was happy.  We took a tour into the jungle and climbed a Mayan ruin.  I don't know what that counts for in the exercise department but it was really cool.  Over a hundred steps to the top of the ruin.

We swam in a Cenote and zip lined across a lake as well.  It was a full day. 

 

On Thursday, I only swam in the morning.  This time I swam for 62 minutes.  It was probably at least 3000 yards in the pool.  On Friday, I ran another 5 miles as soon as the sun came up.  Much better running before the sun starts beating on you in combination with 100% humidity.  It was a nice easy pace.  I was too early for my bartender so I just powered through the five miles and grabbed some water afterwards.  Saturday was a travel day so no workout.  I was happy with getting some work in early in the morning and was able to have the whole day for having fun.  I gained a few pounds while on vacation but it should fall off quickly once I get back into a good routine. 

 

7.21.13 Bike

Since I will be on vacation next week, I decided to ride the bike again today instead of running.  My legs were shot from yesterday.  My neighbor Justin went with me today and we met Brandon who was going to do 100 miles today.  We rode a loop through Irving that is about 30 miles and takes around 2 hours to complete.  Perfect for me, it's all I wanted today.  The hills in Valley Ranch were an ender for me on the day.  My legs were dead after climbing.  They broke off close to the house and I headed home.  I will not be doing anything tomorrow.  I'm not sure if I will have internet access for the next week or not.  I'm mostly going to be relaxing but I should be able to get n some short runs and swims this week.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/345909717

7.20.13 Long Ride

I sent Jeff a text and asked him if he was riding today and how fast.  He is training for the World Championships in Vegas.  I can't hang if he is going to go smoking fast.  He was going on a longer slow ride today so I met him at Andy Brown park at 6am.  He was having problems with his rear wheel.  We were going to ride for about an hour and then come back to the park to pick up some others.  When we took off from the park, his wheel was making some weird noises and was out of true.  We headed back to my house and gave him one of my wheels not in use right now.  Seemed to solve the problem.  I forgot to air my tires so we got that taken care of as well.  We were able to ride for about 30 minutes and headed back to the park.  I didn't plan on going with the group that was doing 70+ miles today so I took off with Marie and Tom.  They planned on doing 40ish.  We kind of got lost a little bit and next thing I knew Jeff made an appearance behind us.  We rode out to Highland Village and then worked our way west to familiar roads.  A guy named Lane hooked on with us and we headed out towards Hilltop Road.  I suddenly felt my back tire going a little soft.  I had a slow leak and was going flat.  Bummer.  After changing my flat, we headed on down the road.  I decided to stick with Jeff since I didn't have a spare.  We headed out over 35W to Robson Ranch and then started to work our way back.  We came across a woman Jeff knew that was having a problem with her bottle cages.  We got her fixed and then headed on back.  I only planned on about 3 hours and I ended up going 4:15:21 for 70.68 miles.  I'm not going to ride next week because we will be on vacation so I need some miles.  I'm going to ride tomorrow morning with Justin instead of running.  I was definitely tired at the end.  I don't know what I have left in the tank for tomorrow but I'm sure it will be ok.  The weather is awesome for July.  Hard to pass up comfortable riding conditions.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/345447292

7.18.13 Tempo Run

Had a little bit of a hard time sleeping last night so I woke up plenty early and waited for the sun to come up before running.  The plan was for an easy four miles again this morning.  The second and third miles had a one minute fast pace in the middle of the mile.  I started to feel alot better at the end of the fourth mile and went with the pace.  Not super fast but closer to 8 minute mile pace.  I might be coming out of the recovery funk.  It was really cool outside when I started the run.  Hard to believe it is actually the end of July.  Absolutely the strangest summer weather ever.  Enjoy it while it lasts.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/344521352

In all the excitement of registering for Ironman Boulder, I rode the bike yesterday for an easy one hour ride after work.  A little bit of rain was around and the wind was pretty strong with the storms seemingly circling Coppell.  Luckily , we avoided the hard rain and I was able to get the whole hour in.  Legs felt pretty good.  I did not push it at all per instruction.  It's hard to back off and not stretch things out.  I guess another one of those odd go slow days in order to go fast.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/344244400

Ironman Boulder

Ironman added a new full distance race for 2014 in Boulder, Colorado on August 3.  My coach Jeff is trying to get a training group together for this race.  I want to do a full Ironman and the timing is good.  140.6 miles seems like alot and it is.  I should have plenty of warm weather training in Dallas leading into the event and I would be done before my kids head back to college.  It's wetsuit legal and the water should be mid 70s which is a good thing.  The altitude has me more than a little nervous but I trust Jeff has a plan.  The race opened for registration at 11am this morning.  I had a meeting at 11am and decided to hit the registration button and see what happened.  It put me in queue and said I had one hour to complete the registration.  I decided to leave for my meeting and if it was still up when I got back, I would go through with it.  It was still there when I got back to my office.  I was really nervous about this and had a hard time completing the registration.  I finally decided to just man up and do it.  I called Jeff and told him I almost felt like throwing up from nerves.  The die has been cast and I am in.  I have 382 days to get ready for this.  It is something I have looked forward to for awhile and is a challenge I should be ready for.  Boulder is a great location and I love the mountains.  I hope this works out.  I don't think my heart rate calmed down after registration for about an hour.  Hitting the button is the easy part.  I haven't been through the next level of training so this will be something new.  My last race this year will be at the end of September and then it's on.

7.16.13 Easing back into Running

After the race on Sunday, I talked to Jeff on the phone and my body just hasn't really recovered from BSLT.  We are going to ease me back into things this week.  More bike work at the end of the week since my wife and I will be in Mexico next week.  I can do a little early morning running and swimming there.  Today, was an easy 4 mile run in HR Zone 2.  My miles were in the 9:30 pace as planned.  Jeff didn't want me running too far or too fast.  I typically go to the track on Tuesday's but ran through the park today.  The trail was blocked off and ended up running down Parkway to Denton Tap and then on the trail by CMS North and Denton Creek back to the house.  Legs were a little sore today so I need to get this right.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/343593591

Couples Triathlon 7.14.13 - Texas Tri Series #3

We drove down to Austin on Saturday afternoon.  The ride down is always fast.  We made it to the hotel in about two and a half hours.  We stayed at the Crowne Plaza at I35 and 290.  It's not expensive but not a dive.  We have been staying there for most of events.  They usually give me a late checkout without a fight so I can get a shower before we head home.  It was hot on Saturday.  Austin set a record high at 105 degrees.  We picked up my packet and then walked around downtown on Congress and 2nd street.  We ate dinner at La Condessa.  I had mole chicken for dinner.  Hoping for a little protein.  We went back to the hotel because it was just too damn hot to walk around but decided to come back to see the bats under the Congress Street bridge.  You can park for free at the Austin American Statesman.  We walked on the trail next to the lake to the bridge.  Going down under the bridge is the best place to see the bats.  No doubt.  Once we got back to the hotel, I watched the news and then went to bed.  Sunday was supposed to be much cooler, high in the low 90s, with rain in the afternoon.  My trend of bringing cool weather to every race continues.  This will be tested on August 4 at the Jacks Generic Triathlon.  The race did not start until 8am.  I would start at 8:08 so we were able to leave the hotel at a reasonable 6:30am.

Prerace:
I'm very comfortable with the distance and slept pretty well.  Nervous energy wakes me up every few hours but I was good.  I woke up for good around 5:30 and took a shower.  Woke up my wife and daughter, packed the car, they ate some breakfast and then it was off to the race.  My son slept in for this one.  I ate one Honey Stinger bar.  Jeff would like me to eat at least two but one is usually the best I can do.  I had one bottle of Skratch Labs and another small bottle of water for dumping on my head to stay cool on the bike.  First time to deploy this strategy.  Two Honey Stinger gels taped to my tube and I was set.  I kept some Enduro Shark salts in my race belt along with a Cherry Lime Roctane GU, just in case.  I did take a Shark Salt before leaving the hotel.  I found us a place in our rack area and set up my transition area.  Timing was good for everything.  I hit the portapotty one more time and then we headed down to the lake for the start.  We really didn't seem to have to wait around very long for the start.  Before I knew it, they were singing the Star Spangled Banner and it was on.  This was the second race in a row that my wave was close to the front.  I like that.  Less time to think.  Once you get moving, it is all about the task ahead.  Miscellanous downtime thinking ceases to cloud my view of what needs to get done.  The start came fast and it was time to get in the water.

Swim:
The space for the start line seemed really small for this race.  Usually, there is plenty of room to spread out at this venue.  This didn't seem like an abnormally large wave so I'm not sure what difference was for this race.  We were in the back to the right for the start.  The buoys kind of trail out to the right for the first turn so staying right is ok.  I still get some anxiety in the open water swim so I tend to take it easy at first to get a rhythm and then speed things up a bit.  The kayaks seemed to be real close to the buoy line and either I was right on them or pretty far off line.  I seemed to be with the group for the most part so I don't think it was me.  I was able to weave my way through several people to the first buoy and even passed some people in the prior wave.  Strange, since there was a 4 minute gap and we were only a few hundred meters from the start.  After the first turn, the sun was directly in my eyes since I breathe to the right.  I started running into a few breast strokers in the previous wave.  I really don't want to be the guy who is clobbering anyone and wouldn't do it on purpose but the water was dark.  You can't really see more than a foot or two with your head in the water.  I would think I was drafting off someone at times and look up to find no one around.  My line was not great from buoy 1 to 2.  Right before getting to the second buoy, I swam directly into one of the round marker buoys.  I'm sure anyone that saw that had a good laugh.  I made a good turn at buoy 2 and headed for shore.  My line was horrible.  I thought I was right on target but was drifting to the left.  I never drift left.  I must have been 20 feet inside the buoy line.  I wondered why nobody was around.  Time to get back in line and swim to shore.  I was hoping for about 15 minutes but my time was 18:04.  Not bad but not what I wanted.  I think my 800 meter swim was probably more like 900-1000 meters.  I really have a hard time keeping a good line in that lake.  I'm not sure why.

T1:
I saw everyone coming out of the lake so that was cool.  I don't know why but I gave my goggles, hat, and ear plugs to my wife.  Probably because it's easy to lose the ear plugs in the transition area chaos.  It is a long run from the lake to my bike and the transition area is grass with stickers, rocks and mud (from everyone coming out of the lake).  I was careful to wipe my feet this time before putting on my bike shoes.  Not much to do here so it was pretty fast.  I carry my bike off the ground at this location to keep the stickers off my tires which can cause flats.  I was in T1 for 2:18 which seemed like more time than I thought.  Our designated rack area was a long way from the bike out which was not ideal.

Bike:
I really looked forward to the bike and improving on my last ride from early May.  The wind was not too bad and I felt good at the start.  My heart rate was a little high from the swim.  It took a few minutes to settle down and get into a an easy groove.  After a mile or two, I was cruising and started passing alot of people.  A few passed me but they were the very fast people in the swim waves behind me.  I tried to drink when I could but having my bottle in the cage on my down tube is becoming a problem logistically.  I need to get something I can drink from when in aero position.  I didn't drink enough and my bottle was two-thirds full when I got off the bike.  This may have been a problem.  I did have two gels and ate both of them.  They were easier to deal with since they were taped to my bike right in front of me.  There are a couple of short hills and a long hill on the back half of the course.  Since I have ridden this course once this year, it helped to know what was coming.  The first steep hill I came to caused some problems.  My legs really didn't respond well and I started to get concerned.  Downhills and flats were fine but climbs were more problematic.  Buffalo Springs appeared to be lingering with me.  I was having problems generating the power I needed.  Towards the end, I felt a little better but my legs were burning.  I was a little worried about the run.  In the end, my time was 34:31 at 19.5mph average which was at least 30 seconds faster than the race in early May.  I probably would have been faster if I was healthier. I still felt good about the ride considering the circumstances.  I was hoping to be at 53 minutes getting off the bike and I was at about 54 which was a little slow but still in the target range.

T2:
At dismount, I didn't feel like carrying the bike so I rolled it through transition as fast as possible.  Halfway to the rack, I started walking.  I couldn't find our rack.  I don't know why it was so confusing.  It shouldn't have been.  I didn't really lose much time but the disorienting effect was uncomfortable.  I may have been behind on my hydration and was having some focus issues.  In such a short race, I ignored alot of the principles in play for a longer race.  I was in and out in 1:43 which seemed slower than T1.  It was actually faster.  The transitions were mirror opposites of each other.  Very odd.  On the way out, they had volunteers handing out Gatorade in the most narrow turn to get out of transition.  Kind of a bad place to do this.  If anyone stops there for a second, they block the entire run out chute.

Run:
Wheels come off here.  This race is a trail run all the way and the footing can be a little suspect if you lose your concentration.  I run alot of trail miles so it doesn't bother me alot but it is more taxing physically than running on concrete.  My first mile was steady. I didn't feel real fast but not slow either.  I could tell this was going to hurt but 5k doesn't seem like much and figured to suck it up and go.  You go around this corner on wood chip path for a half mile and then run a power line path down the hill and up to a turn around.  The one mile mark was at the power line turnaround.  Coming up the hill I sensed problems.  I was having problems with anything related to a hill.  I rounded the aid station at mile one with a guy who proclaimed the water flavor as the worst tasting water ever.  That made me laugh for a minute.  I remember looking at my watch and thinking things were still ok but I was struggling mentally with the thought of maintaining pace for another two miles.  Mile two seemed easier.  The landscape was flatter and some of it was down a big hill that helped with generating speed.  Behind the dam of the lake below the spillway the trail hit the lowest elevation.  At some point, mile 3 started there.  We went around a corner and were faced with a long steady climb up to the only asphalt we would see all day on the run.  The hill won this round.  My body quit and actually walked for about 10-15 steps.  A few people next to me started encouraging each other to keep moving and we all trudged up the hill.  I was shot and my legs were too.  Once I got out of there and up to the road, there was probably a quarter mile to go.  I kept a good pace to the finish but my time was disappointing.  My 5k was 26:13 at 8:27/mile pace.  Argh!  I thought going under eight minute miles was possible at a minimum.  If it was flatter, I had a chance but my legs would not respond to the hills on the run and the bike.  They really weren't all that difficult and if I would have been better rested it would not have been a problem.  My finish was 1:22:53, almost 5 minutes off my target.  I lost a minute and a half to the guy in second place for the Texas Tri Series in my age group.  I expected to lose some time for this race but I should be in better form for Jacks Generic and it is an Olympic distance.

Post Race:  They gave us a cold water bottle and a medal.  I found Patty and Meghan.  It was starting to get hot so we got our bikes out of transition and packed up for the hotel.  I had a late checkout so I was able to get a shower.  As usual, we made the obligatory lunch stop at the Oasis on the way home.  It rained all the way from Salado to the house.  The traffic got bad in Waco so we took the side roads and ended up going through West.  We drove right by the fertilizer explosion site.  Unbelievable.  That's all I can say.  Good trip and considering the circumstances of racing two weeks after a very tough half Ironman race, I am satisfied.  Great to have the family with me.  We finished 5th in what was a very competitive division.  We would have been third in the men's division.  If I would have raced as an individual, my start time would have been something like 8:45am.  Had it been another 105 degree day, I don't know what I would have done.  Next is August 4 at Lake Pflugerville.  I plan on being ready for that one.

Getaway for Couples Tri, Happy Birthday Russ

Today is my brothers birthday, so happy birthday Russ.  My plan called for an easy one hour ride this morning.  I basically took the same route as Wednesday.  I slept in a little to get some extra rest.  We will leave for Austin in a few hours for the Couples Triathlon.  This is race #3 of the Texas Tri Series.  I felt pretty good this morning on the bike so I'm looking forward to the race.  Should be fun.  Gabriella sent me a text a few minutes ago and she is almost in Austin already.  I averaged almost 18 this morning without putting alot of effort in.  I am targeting something less than 1:18:00 tomorrow morning.  There is supposed to be rain in the area and it may not be too hot.  Interesting.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/341763149

7.11.13 Taper Tempo Run

I'm not sure what to think about my run this morning.  My plan was short with a little speed work.  1 mile warm up, 4x (1 minute at 5k pace and 3 minute recovery), 1 mile cool down.  I chose a 4 mile route from the house that I use quite a bit.  I woke up with tight hamstrings this morning and could definitely feel it during the faster tempo sections of my run.  The fatigue from Buffalo Springs continues to hover over me a little bit and I'm a little concerned about the race on Sunday.  Not that I won't finish or anything like that but I do want a decent time.  At this point, I can only do what I can do.  There are only a few more workouts before the race and no running.  I should be fine in the water and on the bike.  My running has me a little worried which I never would have considered a problem a few months ago.  My fast minute runs were at 7:37, 7:38, 6:46, and 7:34 pace.  The third was obviously too hot and I felt it during the fourth.  As always, the early ones were tougher to get going on until I warmed up.  Hmmmm....don't really know what to make of this.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/340823578

7.10.13 Hump Day Double! Yea!

Love the commercial with the camel who loves Wednesday.  Still cracks me up.  I had two swim workouts to choose from today.  One was 2800 yards and the other was 2100, I went with the long one and will save the shorter swim for Friday since I should be resting a little for the race on Sunday.  Longer sets today and I felt pretty good.  Speed wasn't quite up to par yet but I'm slowly coming back.  I rode the bike for an hour tonight.  Same results for the most part.  It took me about 5-6 miles to get loose and then I was able to get my legs going.  I rode for a little over an hour.  Jeff is going to have me dial things back a bit the rest of the week.  I really need a decent time on Sunday so I'm still hoping to get my mojo back by Sunday.  It should be fun doing the race with Gabriella.  A different twist doing a race with a teammate.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/340696172

7.9.13 Track Run

I made a real mess out of my track workout today.  Jeff is in DC on vacation and I didn't get a workout for this morning.  The Dallas Athletes are always at my track on Tuesday morning so I checked their web site to see if they post workouts.  Sure enough, they do.  I was going to follow their plan for today, if reasonable.  Here's what I had:  1 warm up mile, 4x (3x300 meters at 5 sec less than 5 k pace with 100 recovery between each 300), 1 cool down mile.  For me, I put this at around 7:20-7:25 pace.  Somehow, between home and the track, I had a brain fart and convinced myself that I was doing 600 meters with a 200 recovery.  When I got done with the first set, I was thinking this was going to be really hard today and what the hell was wrong with me.  I seemed really tired.  After the second set, I started doing math in my head and the numbers weren't making sense.  At this point, I realized the error of my ways.  I basically did the distance after the second set, since I doubled everything by mistake.  I went ahead and did one more set of two 300s to get few of them in.  I was kind of tapped out after that and ran a slow cool down mile.  My numbers were good for the most part but the results and the way I feel about it are somewhat skewed based on my own faux pas of following the plan.  It's in the books, move along and get ready for tomorrow.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/339861899

7.8.13 Swim

Monday is a rest day for the legs.  I pulled a 2500 yard workout today with a little bit of speed work.  My stamina is coming back.  Not perfect yet but much much better than my swims last week.  I should be ok for the race this weekend.  I am currently third in the Texas Tri Series and ten seconds or so out of second.  I would like a solid performance this weekend and I should be able to knock out a pretty good time.  This is a sprint on Sunday so I only have to hold it together for a little over an hour.

7.7.13 Northshore Trail Run

I met up with the boys this morning at 7am for our Sunday trail run.  Jeff's plan had me going 80 minutes and an easy pace.  For the most part, that was what I did.  Northshore is never easy but the pace wasn't fast by any means.  That trail is good for the legs but it can take a toll on you if your not careful.  With about a mile or so to go until we got to the trail head on the return, I decided to see how my legs would respond to a fairly quick pace.  I did pretty well.  I think my body is close to recovering from Lubbock and that was encouraging.  The last mile from the trail head to Joe's house was an easy run.  I feel like I can throw a competitive time out there on the 14th but we'll see.  Jeff says if we time this right, I should have a pretty good race.  It is going to be hot on Sunday in Austin so I am very thankful Gabriella is doing the race with me.  It gives me 35-40 minute head start on the heat.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/338880885

7.6.13 Back to the Bike

I spent a couple days on the bike on Friday and Saturday.  When I got home from work, I went out on what was supposed to be an easy hour to ease my way back.  It was in the high 90s in the afternoon but shouldn't be a big deal on a short ride.  After about 28 minutes out, I heard a hiss coming from my front tire.  Great.  I pulled off of Spinks road just before FM 2499.  Pulled the wheel off and changed my tube on the side of the road.  I had a CO2 malfunction and didn't get enough air in my tube so I had to call my wife for help.  She brought me my pump and I headed back home.  My helmet and sunglasses were covered with fire ants.  That sucked big time and I started getting bites before I headed out.  Damn ants.  Altogether, not a great day.  My legs felt pretty good for the time I spent in motion but it was really hard to know based on my 30 minute stop to fix my tire.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/338320540

My neighbor Justin was going to ride with me on Saturday morning at 6am.  I needed between 2-3 hours and decided to play it by ear and see how I felt.  We went out toward Flower Mound and were able to avoid the construction on Heritage.  Once we got out to the country in Denton County, we decided to go north to Argyle and up to Hilltop road.  My legs felt pretty good through the first half of the ride and we stopped at a Subway before hitting the hill to refill our water.  I ate a quick snack and off we went.  Hilltop road did not seem all that bad after Lubbock and I was able to spin my way up fairly easily.  Hilltop seemed far more daunting prior to Lubbock.  Justin took us back through Lantana.  I haven't navigated my way back through there, so it was nice to do something different.  Once we reached Coppell and were about a mile from the house, my front tire started hissing.  Another flat tire, that sucks but it happened close to the house so we just walked home from there.  We covered a little over 50 miles in 3 hours so my work was done for the day.  I wanted the bike shop to see my wheel as is to try and determine what was going on.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/338320577

I took my wheel up to Bikes Plus and they found a huge cut in my tire that was all the way through.  I haven't had these tires for very long but it meant buying another one so $100 later, I was ready to go again.  At least I didn't do anything stupid.  I feel pretty fortunate to have made it through Buffalo Springs without a problem.

7.4.13 4th of July Trail Run

 

Running crew for today from L to R: Fred, Me, Joe, Matrix. Katie didn't run.

 

My first run since BSLT was today.  Jeff wanted to do about 4 miles and keep it slow.  I kind of forgot about being off today until Joe and Rich sent me a message about running this morning.  We met at Joe's house at 7:30am.  I wasn't going as long as they were.  I think they were going to try and do 7 miles today.  My goal was around 50 minutes or so.  Granted, the Northshore trail is probably not what Jeff had in mind but I wasn't going to push it too hard.  I saw the Ghost today on the drive over on Lakeside Parkway.  I slowed down and had a quick conversation with him before moving along.  He's everywhere.  Just like yesterday in the pool, I didn't feel bad but I couldn't summon any speed if I needed it today.  My legs did not feel sore but my left hip had a little bit of pain in it.  Nothing serious.  I ended up going out about 28 minutes and then turning around.  I waited for the rest of the group at the trailhead.  They were about 15-20 minutes out when I got to the trailhead.  I just walked around and headed up the trail and back for a quarter mile or so while I waited.  When the group made it to the trail head, I ran back to Joe's house with them.  Overall, not too bad for the first run back.  Hopefully, my legs will return next week for my race in Austin.  Bring on the burgers and hot dogs today. 

http://connect.garmin.com/dashboard?cid=7679769

7.3.13 Slowly Working My Way Back

After speaking with Jeff on Monday, I decided to ease into the week.  I took Monday completely off and was pretty sore.  Yesterday was the worst.  I used the foam roller on my legs and that thing is the devil's spawn when you are really sore but it does work.  I was feeling a little better yesterday so I decided to go on a 30 minute easy bike ride.  I avoided anything resembling a hill.  Surprisingly, after about 5 minutes or so, my legs felt really strong.  A stretched things out and hammered out a nice pace for a few minutes and seemed to come easily.  I wasn't going full speed by any means but didn't have any problems holding on to 20mph on flat sections.  This morning I went to the pool and swam.  This was a little more difficult.  I pulled an old workout that was 2500 yards.  It had some speed work in it.  I didn't have any problems finishing the distance but ramping up speed just wasn't there.  My body is still tired.  I found my boy Chris from Buffalo Springs on Facebook last night and sent him a message thanking him for running with me.  I've said it before, this is the great thing about this sport is the people you meet along the way. 

Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon

Queue the original Rocky music please and take yourself back to the end of his fight with Apollo Creed.  The bell rings at the end of the 15th round and Apollo tells Rocky "There ain't gonna be no rematch" and Rocky says "Don't want one".  That's pretty much how I feel today but just like Rocky I may fight another day.

This is probably going to be a little long but hell, it's my blog and it was a long day so here we go.

Ironman Buffalo Springs....a certain fear comes with that phrase for the unindoctrinated.  When you tell someone your doing this race, you usually get a definitive response.  No one really is luke warm on this race.  As a result, from the perspective of someone who had not done the race, it really creates alot of anxiety leading up to the event.  I have had a fairly busy race schedule which has helped to take my mind off of BSLT but over the past few weeks it has weighed heavily on my mind.

Friday:
My wife and I left Dallas on Friday afternoon for Lubbock.  I wanted to sleep in on Saturday and have a relaxing day before the race.  We were able to get to Lubbock in time to pick up my packet Friday night.  No one was there and I was able to walk right in and get my packet.  We walked around the expo for a little bit.  I spent some time talking to a couple who owned the Velocity Bike Shop in Lubbock.  They were great to talk to and gave me the run down on the bike course.  I was hoping the Ironman store would sell the Ironman racing kits with the Buffalo Springs logo but no such luck.

Windmills outside of Sweetwater on the way to Lubbock

 Saturday:
I was planning on heading to the race site to swim a little bit and ride the bike in the late morning after they completed the sprint and olympic races.  There was a big time storm that blew in during the morning.  Jeff (my coach) and Doug (aka The Ghost) were down at the race site watching the Sprint.  A friend of mine that is racing with me in a couple of weeks, Gabriella, was racing the Sprint.  A huge dust storm rolled in followed by a torrential rain storm. The race officials pulled Gabriella from the course for safety reasons.  The scene at the hotel was pretty crazy looking out the window.  I called Jeff and asked him if he was still down there and he told me what was going on.  It was nuts.  After lunch, I drove out to the course and rode the sprint bike course.  The hills getting out of the canyon are steep and you have to be geared right once you leave transition as the first hill is on you immediately.  My ride went pretty well but it was hot.  Probably 98 degrees but I didn't really feel it much until I stopped.  I grabbed my wetsuit and headed to the lake for a quick swim.  The boats and jet skis were going crazy in the lake and it was very choppy.  I forgot my goggles but decided to go ahead and do a few hundred yards without them.  I didn't have my spray or body glide to help get my suit on and it didn't go on very well.  As a result, everything was uncomfortable and hard to move.  I was not in a great place mentally and this made me more nervous.  I probably should have just went back to the hotel but I thought a quick swim would be a good thing.  Not so much.  By the time I got back to the hotel, my running buddy Joe and his wife Kim were at packet pickup.  Joe was doing the relay with Jeff's daughter Chloe (swim), the Ghost (bike), and he was running.  We headed to Orlando's for dinner and met up with Gabriella, her friend Michelle, the race director Mike Greer, Jeff's mom and dad, Jeff, Chloe, Doug.  I think that was everyone.  Dinner was great.  Patty and I drove around Texas Tech and then headed back to the hotel.  The Rangers were on so I faded in and out watching the game.

I could not sleep at all and had the same negative dream rolling around in my head.  I kept dreaming that I had to grab a buoy or a kayak and I just couldn't get around the swim course.  My wetsuit was choking me and I couldn't breathe.  I would wake up, calm myself down and they try to sleep again.  The whole thing was just defeating.  I swim thousands of yards a week.  WTF and why was this happening now?  Needless to say, this had a very negative effect on my pre-race mental state.  At 3:30, I decided it was time to start getting ready.  I took a shower and went through my transition bag and then packed all of my stuff.  We were checking out of the hotel in the morning.  Joe's twins go to Tech and we were going to shower at their apartment before heading back to Dallas.  Joe was coming to the hotel and riding with me to the race at 5:00am.  I had lots of nutrition for the bike ride and decided to wear a cycling jersey for the ride so I would have a place for everything, including my trash.  If I was interested in time and efficiency, I wouldn't have bothered with changing jerseys.  When I started to pack the truck, it was raining.  It was pitch dark and the weather was a little indecisive on when it was going to stop.  We were supposed to get a break with the temperatures but I think the rain pushed the humidity and was going to make it a really rough day. 

On the way to the race

We got to the race site in about 15 minutes.  There is one two laned road heading into the race area.  My wave was going to take off at 6:36am and we were at least a half mile or more from the parking lot waiting to get in.

My rear view mirror blocks part of the line up the hill to the parking lot.  This is also the last climb before transition on the bike ride.  Parking is the shiny area in top of the picture.  At this point (about 5:30am), Jeff called me and told me not to panic.  He was behind me in line and promised everything would be ok.  It really helped to calm me down a little and I appreciate him thinking about me.  I saw at least one guy grab his gear and start riding his bike in.  We went ahead and parked and walked the 9% grade down the hill to transition.  We will revisit this again later.  I was body marked heading into transition and searched for my rack.  I was 652 and Jeff was 615 or something like that so we were in the same row.  The relay crew with us were about 2 rows away.  Due to the parking log jam, I really didn't have alot of down time.  We made it to transition at around 6:00am and my wave left at 6:36am.  I set up my transition area quickly.  I had much more stuff to keep up with than usual (nutrition, Enduro Shark, tylenol, extra Skratch Lab sticks, bike jersey, vaseline, body glide to name a few).  I really didn't get as organized as I needed to be.  The people in the rack spots next to me took up all of the space and it was hard to find an area for my gear.  I made the best of it and took off to meet up with Patty after a quick conversation with the Ghost and Joe.  Patty is my official wetsuit helper.  She always gets my suit on and it feels way more comfortable.  Once my suit was on, I felt much calmer.  I could move well and started to settle into a better place mentally.  I got in the dark waters of the lake and my body popped straight up like a bobber into a flat position on the water.  Perfect.  I felt much better now.  All of the negative thoughts throughout the night started to fade away.  I found Jeff and Chloe on the beach and hung out with them until they called my wave.  I was going in after the pros and the hand cycle group.

Swim:

You walk through an arch with the timing mat to activate the timing chip.  Everyone lined up on the beach in my wave.  Probably a couple hundred feet across and at least 4-5 deep.  I wanted to start out easy and find a good rhythm.  The first buoy was about 100 yards out and everyone had to make a right turn around the buoy and then you worked the course with buoys on your left the rest of the way.  When they gave the signal to go, I waited about 10 seconds and then entered the water.  You could walk at least half way to the first buoy and alot of people did for some reason.  My wave was the 30-35 men and the over 50 men.  It was a really big log jam at the first turn.  This was a very civil start considering the space constraints.  Imagine a couple hundred fairly equal swimmers rounding one buoy 100 yards out.  Yes, it is controlled mayhem to be polite.  Some grabbing and elbows but considering the number of people, it couldn't have gone any better.  Buffalo Springs brings out a very experienced crowd and I think there is alot more awareness with a group like this.  My line was great after the first turn.  It was at least 500 yards to the next turn and I was on the inside with a direct line to the buoy.  Most of the guys around me were to my right and we were all going about the same speed so I sighted off of them.  I didn't really get any separation and it was crowded to the second turn.  At the second turn, another log jam and the guy in front me kicked me in the nuts.  He didn't mean to but it still hurt like hell.  From this point on to the third turn, I found open clean water and it was great.  I felt excellent and my line was great.  I was probably going 75 strokes without having to sight.  When your bored, you do things like count strokes.  At the third turn we were on the opposite side of the lake swimming along the shore, there were not any buoys until you got to the last turn and it was a little hard to keep a good line.  I'm guessing it was at least 1000 yards to the turn.  When you go that far, it seems like the buoys don't get any closer no matter what you do so I tried not to look too much.  I started to tire a little bit and did brief stints of a swimming walkabout with my line.  Like my last open swim, some guy was really lost and started heading straight into shore and clipped me in the head on the way by.  I just kept going, what can you do.  At about 3/4 of the way to the last turn, the fast women in the wave behind me started to catch me.  I was chicked in the water.  Awesome!  We hit the last turn and headed to shore.  I was very relieved and knew the swim portion of the race that tortured me all night was coming to an end.  Jeff's group was wearing red caps and with a couple hundred yards to go a few of those guys went by me.  One looked like Jeff and I almost grabbed him.  It wasn't Jeff and that would have been a really bad idea.  The volunteers helped me out of the water and I looked at my watch.  Something like 37 minutes.  This was my best open water swim ever.  It was a very good start. 

As I headed into transition Joe and the Ghost were cheering me on.  I asked them if Jeff beat me out of the water.  I had 9 minutes on him (he was 3 waves behind me) and he is really fast so if I got out before him, I knew it was a good swim.  They confirmed he wasn't out yet but it wasn't more than a minute or two later I saw him at his bike down the row.

T1:  At a race of this distance, I am not punching my ticket to Vegas and have no delusions of doing so.  I am going to be comfortable.  I don't want my next race in two weeks ruined because I didn't take care of my body in this one.  I put on a new pair of toe socks and changed into my bike jersey.  I made sure I had all of my nutrition and then took off out of T1.  I did forget my race belt which could have cost me a penalty but I wasn't going back for it.  Slow but purposeful.



Jeff is way faster than me in transition and we left at the same time.  It was the last time I would see him.  He's a beast on the bike and did a pro like 2:35:00.  My T1 time was 5:22 which was faster than I thought at the time.

Bike:

Kind of a log jam getting to the mount line, the rain in the morning left pooled water all over so I walked my bike about 20 feet past the mount line and got on.  I was geared right thanks to all of the warnings and worked my way up one of the steepest hills on the course.  Two guys ran into each other and they discussed dinner plans together and obviously didn't agree on restaurant choice.  I managed the hill and sailed down the back side only to be met by another steep hill to get out of the canyon and head out of the park.  My legs were really feeling it at this point but it was a good reminder to start drinking and eating.  I marked the time on my watch and committed to a gel every 25 minutes, an Enduro Shark salt at the 40 mile mark and drink something every 5 minutes.  I had one bottle of Accelerade, two bottles of Skratch Labs and would pick up water hand ups on the course.  I was flying for the first 10 miles out to the "T" and turned south to the first climb outside the park.  The wind was either from the east or north but it was helping.  The downhills were great.  I'm not sure what my top speed was but it was fast.  Despite what I considered a good pace, I was getting passed on a pretty regular basis.  This was a very fast field.  I got my first glympse of the pros at about the 12 mile mark.  They all seemed to be riding disks on their rear wheels and they make a whirring noise that sounds like they are about to take flight.  They were fast. We turned left and then made another left going north to the turn around.  Still feeling pretty good.  Once we returned back to the road with the big hill we rode going south, everything changed.  The wind was blowing pretty strong from the north and it was a pretty heavy wind.  When I looked up the route profile on map my ride, there were at least 6-7 category 5 climbs on this course.  Taking this long slow climb through this canyon was a grind.  Somewhere in here, the Ghost passed me.  I never saw him and was looking for his haulassedness to blaze by me.  Doug is incredibly fast.  So fast, he did his Ghost thing and I never saw him fly by.  Once we got out of the canyon and hit a flat section that seemed as if it would never end.  I don't know how far in we were when the turn came to go east but my dreams of a 20 plus 56 mile ride were over.  The conditions slowed me down alot and my legs were starting to burn.  When making the turn, the pros passed going the other way, Greg Bennett set a new course record and he was way in front.  He was making the turn to go south when I was turning to go east.  He was looking back to see who was with him.  There was no one with him.  Shortly, there was a pack of 5-7 trying to chase him down.  It was nice to get out of the headwind but I was getting tired.  Another long flat stretch and then we headed south with the wind.  Alright, great news except I knew that meant fighting the headwind on the way back.  We went downhill for what seemed like a long time and went through a tree covered chute at the bottom of the canyon.  It was really pretty in there.  I wish I had some time to enjoy it.  I saw the Ghost going the other way and yelled at him.  He was really making good time.  He rode a 2:25:00 which was faster than alot of the pros.  Granted, he didn't swim but he was really fast.  You have to get out of this canyon at some point and climb something referred to as the spiral stair case.  You have some cruel motivational messages spray painted on the road and it felt very Tour De France like.  The guys coming the other way were humming like mosquitos while everyone on the way up were doing less than 10mph.  It seemed like the switchbacks from hell would never end.  I thought I handled the staircase pretty well and once I got out of the canyon it was hello wind after another turn to the north.  Maybe we wouldn't retrace our steps like the map said.  Nope, we hit the turnaround.  My legs were not happy and pulled over to grab a shark salt to keep the cramping at bay.  I probably forgot to mention I got a cramp in my right hamstring at dinner the previous night and I started to feel a few twinges at this point.  I decided to slow my pace to try and save something for the run.  Going down the staircase was good times but once I hit the tree chute is was a very long and arduous climb out.  At this point, it was damn near brutal.  The crowd started to thin out at this point and I felt like I was in the back half of the pack.  The back half of this pack was still really fast.  I managed to find a group to pace myself with and kept moving.  Once we headed south again, I was able to pick up the pace and probably held 20+ until we got back to the park.  Once we were inside the park, the wind seemed to shift back to the east and was clobbering me until we got to the last hill.  Anyone who does this race will tell you the last hill is probably the worst.  It took the last bit of energy I had to get up that hill.  I passed my truck in the parking area and knew Patty was down there somewhere.  You can't really enjoy the last downhill to transition because you have to brake to get off the bike.  I wanted off that thing and was happy to do so.  My bike split was 3:15:42 and I averaged 17.17mph.  I faded a little towards the end and really wanted to be above 18mph.

T2:

One guy next to me hung his wetsuit on my spot and the other guy threw his wetsuit on the top of my transition stuff.  Thanks alot 651 and 653, whoever you are.  I was absolutely spent.  The thought of running a half marathon was beyond my mental capacity.  I changed into some dry socks and put my tri top back on along with some arm coolers.  I forgot the arm coolers and had to go back before I left transition.  I hit the portapotty on the way out and was able to pee.  I took this as a good sign on my hydration although that was probably a little misguided.  Joe was out on the run and I looked forward to seeing one friendly face out there at some point.  It took several minutes to get my head right with this.  I am pretty sure my T2 time was around 10 minutes (actually 10:46).  Once again, I didn't really care about my time at this point.  This was purely about finishing the race.  Don't get me wrong, I would like to be fast but my head wasn't really there anymore.  I was doing mental calculations and realized under 6 hours was over but thought coming in under 6 and a half might be a possibility which would be close to my Austin time last October on what was a much easier course.

Run:

As I left transition, I heard the announcer call my name.  That was kind of cool.  I heard Patty and Kim yell at me from the side.  I was so happy to see them.  I was feeling really bad and needed to see someone familiar.  I stopped and leaned on the rail to speak with them.  Patty asked me why I was stopping to talk.  This is a race and I should be running.  I was tired and really just needed to see her for a minute before running.  I really wanted a hug or something but the finishing chute was between us.



 I was finally convinced to start this half marathon and took off down the road.  I took my fuel belt with two water bottles to primarily hose myself down with.  There are aid stations every mile and I should be ok on water, gatorade, and GU.  I did take two Cherry Lime GUs with me. I discovered them at Ironman Austin and they saved my life.  I still use them when running.  They put me in a happy place and I wasn't sure what would be available.

We were in the bottom of this canyon and I saw the runners heading out of the park when I came in on the bike.  This meant we had to climb out of this sucker and that pretty hard to wrap my mind around.  I heard the announcer mention some of the pros at the finish line when I left and there were several very fast men and women coming the other way in the first mile that I ran.  They made it look easy to fly down the road like that.  The first mile was a struggle.  I ran with a woman who would stop and walk, I would stop for a minute and she would pass me, she would stop and I would pass her.  This went on for the first mile.  It seemed like an hour to the first aid station at mile 1.  I got some water and gatorade and settled into a slow and steady pace and ran the entire second mile.  Ok, that was good, one mile at a time.  The second mile went around the far end of the lake at there was a bridge that cut off the corner.  I wanted to get on that bridge and jump in the lake.  The heat was coming up and it had to be close to 90 degrees at this point.  The roads and the sides of the road were wet and you could feel the humidity coming off the road.  At least this was an environment we have been dealing with in Dallas lately.  Not pleasant at all but at least familiar.  Mile 3 began the ascent out of the canyon if my memory is correct.  I remember one long and steep hill that I had to walk.  I tried to run it slowly but I just didn't have it and I knew I had a long way to go and needed to conserve energy.  Finally, I made it to the park entrance and thought I was home free to flatter running.  Nope.  When you get out of the park, you go left and dip down into the canyon again and then run up a very steep hill out of it again.  On the way out of the park, Joe yelled at me on the way by.  I was slipping into a weird funk and wasn't really all that aware when he passed by.  Once it registered with me it was Joe, I stopped and turned around to speak to him.  He waved me on and told me to keep going.  He would see me at the finish line.  Down the hill I went.  As great as it was to build some speed, my thoughts went towards every step down meant one back up.  There was an aid station with a Hawaiian theme at the bottom of this hill.  I got a high five from a woman in a hula skirt before I got there who was encouraging everyone.  She had a sign that said "Welcome to Hawaii" or something like that.  Very confusing at first until you turn a corner and saw the aid station.  I stopped here and had a GU (Mandarin Orange, not that great), drank water and Gatorade, grabbed some new wet towels, and started my steady regiment of pouring ice down my jersey and my shorts.  I would do this at almost every aid station from here to the finish.  The heat seemed far more intense than 90 degrees and staying cool was job one in my mind.  The volunteers at the aid stations were all great.  Time to get out of this canyon.  The hill out was long and steep.  I had to walk portions of the climb and came across a woman from Arkansas who was running a fairly steady pace.  We would go back and forth.  She was very upbeat and always had something nice to say.  We talked a little bit as we ran.  I would stop at the aid stations and she would cruise through grabbing a drink on the go.  I would catch up and talk for a few more minutes.  We ran together in some form for the last 8 miles of the race.  She was awesome. Once we got up the hill, there were no trees in sight.  Just a long straight road surrounded by farm land.  We turned right on another long, straight road to what seemed like nowhere.  I was running aid station to aid station.  The next aid station at this point was mile 6 and you could see it way off in the distance shimmering from the heat coming off the road.  For a few minutes it seemed to get farther away than closer.  My mind was slipping into a very negative place.  How was I going to get back to the finish?  I am cooked.  What the hell are we doing here?  When it got bad, my running buddy would show up and we would talk about something else and keep my mind quiet.  I finally reached mile 6.  The aid station volunteer gave me like 4 wet towels.  I layered them on the top of my head and put my visor on over the towels.  That felt great.  The only Roctane they had at this aid station was pineapple.  Sounded terrible (and it was) and I really felt like throwing up just thinking about eating it so I kept it in my hand and started running again.  The turnaround was another half mile down this road and looked to be 10 miles away.  Once there, volunteers were handing out ice, water, and gatorade.  You could hear the familiar beep of timing chips crossing the sensors.  That felt good to know every step was getting closer to the finish line.  The trudge back down this road was tough.  I was encouraged about making progress back to the finish.  Once we turned left and headed back to the Hawaii aid station, I felt for the first time I would actually finish.  People were still coming the other way and they looked wiped out.  I tried to encourage as many as possible on the way down.  I stopped to get recharged at the aid station and my girl came by with one of the volunteers in a hula skirt.  The hula girl was pacing her up the hill.  I jumped in and we listened to hula girl tell us how close we were to finishing.  How great was that and perfect timing.  We passed a guy that I had rode with quite a bit on the bike and I told him to come on with us.  He was walking but I got him going.  I think his name was Chris.  He was 34 and was from Lubbock.  It was his first half iron race.  The three of us pretty much ran together the rest of the way.  Once we got back to the park, it was back down into the canyon.  At close to the bottom of the canyon, my hamstrings started to cramp.  When I stopped for a second, Chris stopped.  He stayed with me for every step and made sure I was ok.  I told him not to wait for me but he said all he wanted to do was finish and beat 7 hours.  We were way under that and I appreciate his company more than he will ever know.  We talked about jumping in the lake, all of the people walking around staring at us like zoo animals, strange things we were thinking, whatever.  Our Arkansas girl was still knocking out a steady pace and she would run with us and fall back a little.  Then catch up and run with us for another few more minutes.  Once we had two miles to go, the aid station had coke and I generally stay off coke during races.  Chris had some and said it was the best thing he had ever tasted.  I told him I was breaking tradition and would down at least two cups of coke at the last aid station.  We got to the last aid station at mile 12 and they were out.  Dang it.  It did keep me motivated to get there so there was something good about holding out for a coke.  Seemed like every small hill caused me to cramp.  We were counting down the tenths to go.  A few people on the side of the road or people who had already finished were telling us to keep going and we were so close.  I had to stop one more time with about a quarter mile to go and I told Chris to go on without me.  I would see him at the end.  Good news was Joe had come up the road to meet me.  Here is a picture of me and Chris with Arkansas girl behind us.

It was the greatest thing ever to see Joe.  First, he knows what this feels like because he runs big distances as an ulta runner and knows what to say and do.  Second, he is a friendly face and you need that alot.  He was talking to me.  I don't really have any idea what he was saying but I think he was telling me how close we were.  I dumped my wet towel turbin and tried to look decent for my finishing picture, at least as good as I can look considering what I have to work with.  Seemed like the finishing chute came out of nowhere.  At this point, there were some hearty soles at he finish area cheering everyone on. 

I hurt so bad but it was good to hear them clap or say something nice.  Since Joe had a competitor bracelet, he came around the back side of the finish and met me.  I made it.  I was finished, literally.  Somebody took my chip off my ankle and grabbed me something to drink.  I don't think I looked very good.  I got my medal and a shirt.  Joe was leading me around a little bit.  I'm not sure I was making sense.  I lost Chris and didn't see him again.  I would have hugged him if I had the chance.  Bummer.  One of the volunteers took me to the medical tent.  I thought it was all going to be ok.  It wasn't.

Post Race:

Once I got to the medical tent, it was a crazy sight.  There had to be at least 50 stations where people were getting IVs.  I didn't feel like I was going to cramp so Joe and I passed through the tent and found the drinks and fruit.  I ate some watermelon and drank an Ironman Perform drink.  I wanted to jump in the lake just like me and Chris talked about.  Joe wisely talked me out of that.  The cool water on my muscles probably would have sent me directly into a cramp fest.  We found Patty and Kim and wondered over to some shade.  This is a happy picture before my actual cramping started.  I wear two bracelets at these races for luck.  The pink one is for Joe's wife Kim who is a cancer survivor.  Joe gave me the bracelet and it helps when things get hard.  The second is a white one with names on it.  Patty, my kids Lance and Meghan, Joe, the Matrix who runs with me and Joe alot (he's a ultra beast), Jeff my coach, and Justin my neighbor who rides with me alot even though I'm not as fast as him.  Good luck charms that haven't let me down yet and keep me going in very dark moments.

I sat in a camping chair and it took about 10-15 minutes and both legs cramped hard, quads and hamstrings.  I couldn't stand up.  At this point, I had to be pulled to my feet and I stumbled over to the medical tent.  I brought Patty with me and I wasn't going to have anyone say she couldn't be there and no one did.  The nurse came over and started an IV for me.  They started a bag and put cool towels on my legs and got me a drink.  Awesome.  I thought I was in bad shape until I looked to my left.  The guy next to me ran the half marathon with a rock lodged between his toenail and his big toe.  They called over the doctor and basically had to numb his toe and do surgery right there to remove his toenail and get the rock out.  Brutal but that guy must be one tough SOB.  A nurse came over to me when my IV was finished and asked me if I was ok.  She asked if this was my first time at this race and I said yes.  Then she asked me if I was coming back.  Excellent question.  She lived in Lubbock and said she had done this race twice and we were lucky to catch it on a good day.  Her advice to me was to check it off my bucket list and move on.  I'm not sure what to make of that advice, at least not today.  Sitting in that medical tent, it seemed like the best advice anyone has ever given me in my life.  Joe and Kim went back to the apartment to shower and pack while I was getting my IV.  We were going to meet them there.  I had to gather my stuff and get my bike out of transition.  I wish I had a picture of that.  It was carnage in the tranistion area.  I handed what Patty could carry to her and went to check out my bike.  If you remember some time ago in the post I mentioned the hill from the parking area and the 9% hill out of transition.  You have to go up that hill to get to the car.  Climbing up that hill was one last kick to the crotch but getting in the truck was great.  Air Conditioning never felt so good.  We met up with Joe and Kim, had some lunch and then headed home.  I cramped up one more time on the way back to Dallas but that was it.  The IV was the best decision of the day by far.  No way I make it home without that.

......so in the end was it all worth it.  Yes.  The course was awesome, the people were great, and it was the hardest physical challenge I have done by a long shot.  There is something really satifying about testing your limits that makes you feel alive.  My neighbor Justin called me yesterday and he put in perspective.  You get high marks on the triathlon street cred meter when you tell people you have done Buffalo Springs.  Like Rocky, I didn't win the fight but I didn't get knocked out.  Finishing as strong as possible was what I was looking for and I think I won on that count.  Stay classy Lubbock!