Buffalo Springs 70.3 Race Report 2011

I have conqured another 70.3 in Lubbock, TX, Buffalo Springs 70.3. The race took place on June 26^th at Buffalo Springs Lake just outside of Lubbock. I knew from watching the weather during the week that it was expected to be hot and windy. The forecast called for the high to be 110F with 20mph winds out the southwest. The course is a single modified OAB bike and an OAB run. There are spots were the course is flat and then downhill back to flat, back uphill, back to flat. The total elevation climb is about 1400 ft on the bike and 400 ft on the run.

I came into the race feeling great and new my training was much better than it was last year. I was hoping to beat my 5:55 time from last year and hopefully get under 5:30.

Pre-Race

A couple of events happened even before the race started! I woke up around 3:30. At this time I noticed that my back tire was flat! I know a tubular should hold air for a couple of days! I thought well maybe the valve stem is a little loose, so I decided to tighten it up and pump it full of air. It was holding at that time. I loaded everything in the car and headed to the lake. Event #2 happened when I was walking my bike down to transition. As I was walking down, the Garmin cadence sensor I have got caught in the spoke and then split it half! I’m thinking to myself at this time what else can happen! I was able to get some band cutters to cut off the zip ties. No big deal, I didn’t need a cadence sensor really. I get my transition area setup recheck the rear tire and everything is ready to go!

Swim

The swim is by far my worst event. Even though it is hot in Lubbock, the lake is spring fed which means it is usually wet suit legal race. This year was no exception. They had moved the start times forward and condensed the waves in order to get everyone in the water faster and hopefully out of the heat. My wave was the first AG wave to go. It was 50-54 male/female and the 30/34 males. I’d have to say it was on the larger wave starts I’ve been in. I was swimming well towards the first buoy but just after the turn I started to have a little anxiety. I thought to myself just keep swimming and everything will be good. I made the second turn and started to settle in and by the time I was heading back towards the west and then south towards the finish I was feeling good. My goal was under 40 minutes for the swim and I was able to achieve that.

Time

2011 - 37:36, 478/710 swim OA, 54/70 AG

2010 – 45:41, 857/862 swim OA, 72/74 AG

T1

Usually there is not much to say about transition, apparently this year had other plans. I got out of the water picked a wetsuit stripper and off the wetsuit went and me running towards my bike. Helmet, sunglasses, shoes, race belt, and off! I’m running down the aisle and my lens pops out of my sunglasses! Look around for it, finally find it and off on the bike!

2011 T1- 3:16 – stupid sunglasses!

2010 T1 – 2:06

Bike

The bike is one area that I’ve really been focused on since deciding on this race earlier in the year. I’ve been able to complete more longer rides than last year and been working on more intensity. The wind this year made the ride tougher than last year. The course runs in all directions, so at times, you had tailwinds, then crosswinds, headwinds, and rinse wash and repeat. I was feeling pretty good going into mile 40, but I knew the last 16 miles would be tough because it be a headwind back into the transition. I was able to push my way into T2. I was consuming water and Gatorade during the bike, but I did not consume enough because it come back and bite me on the run! I finished a 24 oz bottle of Gatorade, 24 oz of the front water, and then whatever I poured into at various times at aid stations and water bottle underneath. It was probably another 24oz. Consider the 3hrs I was on the bike, I should have been consuming probably closer to 30 to 40 oz per hr.

Time

2011 – 3:02:14 327/710 bike OA, 43/70 AG

2010 - 2:59:13 439/862 bike OA, 45/74 AG

Run

The run is where you can make or break a race and this year was more of break. I started off the first three miles feeling pretty strong but felt a cramp started to build in my leg. The plan was to walk all the aid stations and then decided on walking the large hills when I got to them. After the 3^rd aid station, I knew I would be walking the first hill. It was a good time to try and “cool” down and walk off the cramp building. It was a tough 3.5 miles after that. I was walking/running all the way to the turnaround point. I was putting ice down my jersey, water over the head, and taking in Powerade. I got to the turnaround and finally able to run. All the way to mile 11 I was able to put in around 9:00 miles! The only time I didn’t was walking up the last hill back to transition. I got to around mile 11 and the wheels came off again and pushed myself to the finish as much as possible. The whole time I felt I was in the zone with a little tunnel vision! I crossed the line and finished and was happy to finish my 2^nd BSLT 70.3 even though I didn’t beat my time from last year or make my goal time.

Time

2011 – 2:17:46 OA??, 43/70 AG

2010 – 2:05:16 406/862, 34/74 AG

Overall Time

2011 – 6:03:15, 248/505 Male, 43/70 AG, OA?

2010 – 5:54:07, 335/615 Male, 46/74 AG, OA?

Takeaways

Not all races and even courses are created equal. Some courses are different on different days. This year at BSLT was one of those days. It was hot, windy, and dry on the run. I didn’t take in enough fluids on the bike which really affected my run. Had I been able to run a little faster I would have equaled my time from last year on course that was a little harder this year. The overall times last year was 5:55 and this was 6:10. I learned a lot from this race and hope to take it into future races. My best takeaway was toughing out the swim and finishing in a great time for me! I didn’t finish towards the bottom this year.

Post Race

I crossed the finish line and felt a cramp hit my left calf, but went away quickly. They had medical people all around and one walked to me handed me water and asked if I was ok. I felt ok, but could barely talk and asked if I wanted an IV or to sit in the medical tent. I wasn’t sure, but she said why don’t you just go sit down and see if you feel better of course once I sat down, they asked are you sure you don’t want an IV it’ll make you feel better! It sure did because after 2 bags of fluid later, I was feeling great and ready to go again!

I got back to my bike and noticed that again my back tire was flat, so I was lucky that it didn’t go flat during the race. I had a spare and some pit stop, but wanted to save them until it was absolutely necessary. Of course packing up my later, I then found my front tire down also. So BSLT, you took two tires and one cadence sensor. I still beat you though!

Iron Moutnain Triathlon Day

This weekend I competed in the 1.2 swim that was part of the Iron Mountain Triathlon day. DLT events had a 70.3, sprint triathlon, open water swim, half marathon, and aqua bike all on the same day.

I competed in the open water swim. My goal for this swim was to be able to swim comfortably and hit a PR for the 1.2 mile swim. They had to change the swim on the day of the race to a two loop triangle swim. I started off the swim well and about half way through the first lap started to fill comfortable. I still did not have a great stroke through the swim however. Also, for some reason when I swim in the open water I feel I'm really trying too hard. I was able to finish the swim in 44:00. I was hoping for somewhere around 40:00. I love getting the experience in the open water. After I got back home, I even started looking for open water swims only. The only way to improve is to continue to tackle the open water.

After the swim, I watched other people complete the 70.3. Congrats to everyone who finished. It became a hot day that's for sure and would have been one tough race. I talked to some people after the race and they said it was good course. The course contained some rolling hills on the ride and then an uphill on the 3 loop run that you ran up at the beginning at each loop, but at least it was downhill towards each finish of the loops.

Two weeks until Buffalo Springs 70.3!

Memphis In May Race Report

My first race of the year is complete! I can say that it was pretty good race in which I was able to learn some things that I need to work on. Well let's get to the report.

I arrived at the Veranda Hotel on Saturday. The hotel and the race start were right next to each other, so it would make for an easy race morning on Sunday. The room at the hotel was nice. No issues there. After checking in, I went to packet pick up which was pretty easy. This was located next to the hotel. Following packet pick up, I went for a swim. The swim was in a lake behind the hotel. The water was nice. I wouldn't say that it was cold or warm. I was able to swim in my tri top and shorts comfortably.

The dinner options in the Tunica area are confined to the casinos. With recent flooding in the area, two casinos were still closed, Harrah's and Bally's. This left the Horseshoe, Road House, and Gold Strike as options. Also, the Veranda Hotel was having a buffet for $20, but it was BBQ and turkey with sides. Not my idea, of a pre-race meal. I ended up at the Horseshoe with some people that I know from the local tri club All in Multisport. We ate at Benions. It was a fairly pricey dinner, but it was great. I had the seafood pasta and hit the spot. The hotels also had buffets that were around $25. You could also drive up to Memphis or Southaven for food options. This would have been a 30 minute drive.

Race Morning
Woke up around 4:30 ate a clif bar, banana, bagel, and drink some Gatorade. I walked my bike down to the transition area around 5:30 to get a decent spot. The area were my bike was a pretty good location. The rack was located along the main in/out for swim/bike/run. Easy to find no matter where you put it on the rack. The great thing about the hotel being close is that I went back up to the room to relax after setting up.

Swim - 36 minutes 23 seconds

The swim is a time trial start with a person going every 3 seconds. You lined up by race number and waited your turn. They started about 7:00 am and by 7:15 was off in the water. The swim is not my best event. I started out with a pretty good rhythm, but then fell off that rhythm. I then kinda of struggled to find a good rhythm, but never really got there. I was hoping to finish the swim in 30 minutes, but didn't even get close! I finished the swim in 36 minutes!

Just before the swim start, I noticed some rain clouds moving in overhead. Was it going to rain? It started to rain while we swimming. It changed even more once on the bike!

The takeaway here is I need to swim more in the open water.



Transition 1/Bike - 1:11 transition/1:11:05 24 mile bike

The transition went smoothly and I was off on the bike. The course was a triangled shaped bike course with the first part heading west, then south, and finally back north towards T2. The wind was out of the SW for the day, so the first part was going to be slow followed by a fast back in!

The bike started off smoothly, but then the sky decided to open up! It started to pour. The rain was stinging and it was lighting. I just put my head down and rode hard. I also noticed that my Garmin had locked up, so I had to restart it. It took about 4 miles to get warmed up but once I did I was really able to push the pace.

The course was flat and fast and I enjoyed it even with the driving rain. The course was marked and managed well in my opinion.



Transition 2/Run - 1:45 T2/ 52:14 10Kish run

By the time I arrived at T2, I knew my shoes and socks would be soaked, but I put them on and off I ran. Not like, they weren't going to get anyways since it was still raining off and on.

I started the run off pretty strong, but my pace started to decrease by mile 3. After passing mile 3, we headed to the turn around point and just after that my watch hit 4 miles, before the marker? By the time I hit the 4 mile marker, my watch was 4.5 miles. I started thinking that my watch was off. I didn't think I was running that slow? After passing, the 4 mile marker. I was to able to again reduce my pace through the next 2.7 miles. I felt that I had a good push until the end. It turned out that the course was longer than advertised, but you have to prepare for the unexpected. It was 6.7 miles instead of 6.2.


The run course was flat and fast. The aid stations were well stocked and placed in good locations. If it had been hot, they would have served themselves well. The rain and clouds keep things cooler.

Overall I was happy with my bike and my run. I still need to work on the swim. I have another race coming up on June 4th were I will do a 1.2 open mile swim. It will give me a good chance to practice once more before Buffalo Springs at the end of June!

I would do this race again next year assuming it's at the same location.

Change the Weekend Plans

Weekend plans can change in hurry sometimes. On Wednesday, I found out that the Spillway Triathlon that I was supposed to race in had been canceled. They canceled it due to storm damage/debris along the race course. Also, the volunteers were from Teen Challenge. The Teen Challenge facility was hit by a tornado this week, so the race could not put together volunteers on a short notice. The race director was gracious enough to allow you to roll your registration amount into any of the other races that DLT manages. Since, I have a couple more in mind for this year I appreciate this.

So onto to the new plans! I now plan to race in the Toad Suck 10k and participate in the Tour de Toad. The TS 10k is here in Conway, so I'll just have a short distance to travel for this race. I hope to beat my time from last year. My running is feeling pretty strong, so I'll just have to wait and see. The weather is also looking pretty reasonable for the race also. It will probably be in the 60s at the start with no rain.

The Tour de Toad is a bicycle tour that goes West of Conway. You can either do a 33 or 46 mile route. I'll do the 46 mile route. This will be a great training ride and also a chance to meet other riders from the area or elsewhere. I'm sure it will be a casual ride which will be nice. Hopefully the rain hold off for this or it rains Saturday night. Rain will cancel this event.

Eureka Springs Multisport Festival - "The Eurekan"

I saw this event and thought I would share it. You start Friday afternoon with a sprint tri, on Saturday there is a century ride, and then on Sunday you finish it all with a 10k. Not only that, it's in August, it will probably be hot, and there area is pretty hilly also. You finish all three events in the weekend you can yourself the "The Eurkean". If you do not want to complete all three of these there are shorter ride options on Saturday and a 5k on Sunday, but you have to do tri/century/10k to call yourself "The Eurkean." Also, they will be giving awards for the fastest cumulative time. So, that means some people will actually be racing the century ride and not just touring! I think I'll probably be in for this challenge.