Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 closed out a solid 4 weekends of back-to-back races in Steamboat Springs, Kansas, Boulder, and Texas (3 of the 4 were with the family), and I loved every minute of it! Because of the repeated high level of stress on my legs, I decided to scale my runs way back during the weekdays.  I only did 6 training runs in the entire month of June, and saved my legs for competition.  It paid off and resulted in 2 new ½ marathon PR’s in a ½ Ironman.  Recovery is key! 

 Friday night I dove to Lubbock by myself and camped in a little town in route called Clayton, NM.  After a brief 20 minute run in the morning, I got into Lubbock in the afternoon, checked in, met with the Trakkers team and got some sleep.

Race morning came and I felt great.  I was expecting the sun and 102 degree temps that I saw on Saturday, but instead woke to clouds and wind.  I got to the race at 4:30, and lined up in my wave for the 6:45AM start.  This year I was wearing my Trakkers GPS device (www.trakkersgps.com). I was testing the device for Trakkers which allows you to be seen via their website on a Google map updated every few seconds.  It’s waterproof so I wore it for the entire race.  The swim went well and I exited in 25:45, just behind fellow Coloradoan Eric Petersen.  I jumped on my TTX and was on my way.  The precipitation didn’t really start coming down until mile 45 and soon developed into a steady rain. The wind did not let up either as it was a 20 MPH on much of the course.  I soon saw the orange glow of my fellow Timex teammates at the turnaround, Adam Wilk and Gabriella Loskotova!

As I rode back into the park, there were many downhills.  I tried my best to have the combination of cork brake pads, carbon rims and rain not allow me to lose control of my bike and successfully made it back in 2:22.  Out on the run, it was still raining, but I did my best and ran 1:21 on the hilly course securing my spot for 1^st Amateur and 7^th overall at 4:12.49.  I found out later that Cameron Brown finished just behind me in 8^th by 3 seconds!

 After a quick warm down in the lake, I packed up the car and drove 8 hours to make it in time for dinner and bedtime with Nikki and the boys.  No 72oz. steak dinners in Amarillo this year, but it sure was tempting!

 Tim