Not to be confused with Kurt Cobain’s “Teen Spirit.”  There were eight of us that made the trek to Lubbock, Texas for the Buffalo Springs 70.3. We were all prepared for  a hot and windy race day, and we were not let down. Despite the conditions, spirits were high, and we persevered for Kona slots, Clearwater spots, and ceramic buffalo awards. Even more rewarding than ceramic Buffalo’s, and Kona slots was the privilege of racing with my teammates. Please read this post with a Texas accent, so it is more authentic.  

This was the first time in my Timex career that I have raced with Chris Thomas and Tim Hola, I consider them to be the best age group triathletes in the sport. Our Timex trifecta made up the fastest age group at Buffalo Springs this year. Chris was not only first in our age group, he was first overall. Tim “Is that Lance Armstrong?’” Hola was second, and I rounded out the podium in third with a PR for this race course.

I am wishing Chris and Tim the best of luck in Kona this year…not that either of them need luck. Good wishes also go to Cindi Bannick, who dominated the women’s 30-34 age group, and took her slot to the big show on the Big Island.I turned down my Kona slot because I will be racing Roth in 3 weeks, and Ironman Canada five weeks after that. I hope to return to the Big Island in the near future. 

Thanks to all of my teammates for the great weekend, especially Barry “I totally exceeded my expectations for the race” Siff for driving Tingle and I down in the Flex, and to Alex and Andrew who followed up their solid race days with an afternoon drinking beers at the pool with me. I feel like I am so much closer to all of these misfits who I call teammates.

Denny

Tri bikes are awesome in a “techy” way, mountain bikes have the cool factor, but nothing can compare to the straight up sexiness of a beautiful road machine. Not to mention that the high mountains of Colorado are often better suited to a road bike vs. tri bike. Enter: The Orbea Orca! This bike is one of the most sought after in the Pro Peloton and for good reason.

I have only been able to be on my new Orbea Orca for a couple weeks but it is nothing short of a beautiful high powered road machine. Orbea has always been known to make beautiful bikes- but they ride damn good too.

Orbea has put considerable thought into their use of Carbon with the SSN technology (size specific nerve). This creates more carbon where stiffer areas are required (bottom bracket) and less where you don’t need it (middle of top tube). I am very impressed with how this translates into ride quality. I agree to other reviewers in that the Orca is not the stiffest nor smoothest bike- but may do the best job of splitting the difference in these two key ride qualities.

Other key Points:
-fully adjustable seatpost (functional!! thank you! forget the seatmast)
-BB30 bottom bracket- significant increase in torsional stiffness
-Fork is just straight up awesome
-CAT III stem/ bar match great and are stiff enough to instill confidence on hairy descents

Having never raced the BLST 70.3, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived in Lubbock, TX for the race. I had heard it was supposed to be warm but hadn’t heard much else about the course. I knew I’d be in for a long day, though, when at the pro meeting, the race director said, “This ain’t no Starbucks racing; this is old school triathlon.”

Swim: 22:44

Being old school, the race began with a classic beach start into a beautiful spring fed lake. I got out well and soon found myself battling for position in the pack. After another minute I was worried about getting trapped by slower swimmers so I moved up and closed a gap to the next guy up the water. This took a considerable effort so I was pleased to be able to grab his feet and rest for a bit. After the first turn, I considered making another move but at this point the first few guys had opened up a sizable gap so catching them would’ve been a very tough task, if not altogether out of the question. I sat in until the next turn at which point I swung a bit wide and tried to open it up a bit for the finish.

Bike: 2:27:55

Out on the bike, I was shooting blanks. The combination of the hard, no wetsuit swim and a few short hills at the beginning of the ride left my legs really sluggish for the first 5 miles or so. They gradually started feeling better and I settled into a decent grove. Although the course traversed soybean fields and oil fields, the race director somehow managed to find what had to be the only hills in the vicinity for the course. Combined with some pretty strong winds, this was not a course to be attacked short on ammo. Regardless, I felt pretty strong on the back half and kept the power up throughout the ride.

Run: 1:22:22

Heading out on the run, I was looking forward to rocking and rolling. From the beginning though, it was evident not only would the bazooka not be available but the machine gun, colt-45, and air pistol would also not be available. Rather, I’d have to show up with a knife… not the greatest idea! I haven’t had too much time to adjust to my new bike position and my quads were not very happy as I started the run. I was moving along decently on the flats but the first steep hill around mile 3 was pretty rough. The second, around mile 4.5, wasn’t any better. Making matters worse, at the top of that second hill was the “Energy Lab” an out and back section which was a surprisingly accurate approximation of the famous Energy Lab section in Hawaii.

I finally reached the turnaround and started heading back, suffering through the rest of the run. There were a number of other Timex Teammates racing, and seeing them on their way out when I was heading back definitely provided some encouragement. Additional encouragement was provided by none other than two- time IM World Champion Craig Alexander! I finally reach the finish and bolted straight for the med tent for a cold towel and IV.

Total: 4:15, 13th

All in all I was pretty pleased with my performance relative to recent training indicators, which have been slightly less than epic. Looking forward, next up is the Chattanooga Waterfront Tri and then Steelhead 70.3 with a few other Timex Teammates. Hopefully we’ll be able to step things up by then!

Although a 13hr drive seems pretty far, I really needed to get in a race before Beaver Creek so Bryce and I grabbed a Team Ford Flex and began our drive up to Jamestown, ND from Boulder on Thursday evening.

There really isn’t much between Fort Collins and Bismark, North Dakota, actually there’s nothing and unfortunately we found that out the hard way. After driving over 8hrs, we found the only city within 4hrs of driving that had a couple motels and every single one of them was full!!! Apparently there are tons of oil workers in the area and nothing is available in that town for the next couple months. There was no way we could go another 2hrs to the next town so we just parked on the side of the road, threw the bikes on the top of the car and attempted to sleep on the benches of the Flex for 5hrs. That was probably the most worthless thing we’ve ever done!

After getting some coffee and Red Bull and splashing our faces with cold water, we got back on the road to hit the course for a little pre-ride. We met some really nice people and ran into two of my favorite people on the XTERRA circuit…Circ and Cindy Topel! After some good chats, we went to the hotel to wash up then over to the Buffalo City Grille for packet pickup and a little Q&A.

Race morning came much quicker than I had anticipated as all I wanted to do was sleep…in the huge comfy bed in our hotel :) Alas, I got moving, went to the course then ended up sitting in the car while a HUGE thunder/lightening storm went through. The start was delayed an hour but after the clouds cleared, the weather was great…very humid of course, but doable.

The swim started with the men leaving at 10am and the women at 10:05am. I’ve been swimming really well lately so I was excited to see how many people I could catch during the 1000m swim and 100m run across an island in the middle. To my surprise, my swim was only 15sec behind the fastest male and I had passed everyone except 3 guys!

After running up the steep dirt road from the reservoir, I jumped on my bike and headed out on a mission to kill the next 13 miles! The first loop was really windy with lots of short ups and downs. Because it had rained so hard just an hour prior, the dirt (or mud) on the trails in the middle part of the loop were slicker than all could be. I had the absolute worst tires for the conditions but made due and only slid off the trail once or twice. My legs weren’t totally there but then again I’m used to going straight up for a while rather than up and down and up and down, etc. I was having a total blast then realized my gel that was taped to my stem had fallen off. I grabbed a bottle of Gatorade at the aid station and that immediately popped out of my bottle cage. This was the beginning of the bonk.

I normally ALWAYS keep a gel in transition to grab before the run but for some reason I totally spaced it…must be because I haven’t raced in forever…At any rate, I headed out a bit fatigued but pulled it together for the first 2.5 miles. I was flying and feeling great then all of a sudden things started to get fuzzy and I got the chills all over. When it’s in the 80s with 100% humidity, that’s not normal. I stopped at the next aid station to sip on some Gatorade but chose not to take a ‘GU’ bc they just don’t set well in my stomach. I dumped some water on my head then headed back out as best I could. I got caught by a guy and stayed with him until about a quarter mile from the finish. All I could think about was the cold coke with lots of sugar I was going to down when I was done!

I crossed the finish line as the first overall woman and 4th overall. It definitely wasn’t the best of races but I’ll take it for the first one in a long time. I like to think of it as getting the cob webs out! The race director’s wife and father made some delicious food for the post race BBQ that hit the spot. I also provided some great Timex swag and 2 watches for the raffle.

Other than some crazy lightening storms, a speeding ticket, and pumping gas on old school pumps, the drive home was pretty uneventful. We tried as hard as we could to do it in one straight shot but couldn’t and luckily found a room in a small random town in Wyoming. That was the best $30 bed EVER!

Above is the picture that was in the local paper (Jamestown Sun) today.

I have start off by saying that I knew my race in Lubbock, TX was going to be fantastic, or horrific…I just wasn’t sure which.  Unfortunately, it was the latter.  However, there were 8 Timex Multisport Team member racing and part of the great things about being on a team (aside from sitting around the pool drinking beer post race) is that when one member has a bad day (i.e. me) the other members pick you up by having great races!  Tim, Dennis, Chris, Cindy, Andrew, Laura and Barry all had great races, aside from being awesome teammates…all in all a great showing for Timex.

As many of you know, my wife is 8 months pregnant and I wanted to get in one more big race before I take a mid season break and adjust to life as a father.  However, I had been on the road for 12 days the prior weeks, and I wanted to be around as much as I could to take care of her in the late stages of pregnancy I decided to make this trip as short as possible.  I landed in Lubbock at 8:30 Saturday night 10hrs before the race began.  My awesome host family picked me up helped me build up my bike and even fed me.  Thank you!  I had a feeling the stress of a last minute arrival, travel and the prior weeks of racing and traveling would either leave me exhausted or I would simply be racing on pure adrenaline due to all the chaos.  Unfortunately it was the former.  That is not to say that I am not glad I came, I am actually very glad.  As I had mentioned in my Eagleman race report, at this point in my triathlon career I need to race as much as I can to get the necessary experience.   My goal was to come to TX to race, good, bad or ugly, I came to the race with high hopes, but no expectations and I think it is safe to say I achieved my goal, I raced and I learned.

Swim: 26

I hate beach starts, but there we were standing on the beach about to start the race.  I began aggressively and jumped out and got into the mix of some of the heavy hitters at this race, but my arms did not feel much like swimming and I was quickly shot out the back on the lead group.  In retrospect I was hammering away trying to go as fast as I could, but doing so at the cost of proper form and technique and as a result I ended up in a small pack a few minutes behind the main group.  Lesson learned, swim form always triumphs arm turn over.

Bike: 2:24

Not a horrible day out on the bike.  I certainly felt better than I did at Eagleman, however, not stellar.  A crash lost me some time and hurt my ego, but I continued on.  Having not driven the bike course did put me at a disadvantage, but I’m not here to make excuses.  The bike course has a little of everything, some short steep hills, flat straight sections, a few technical descents (hence the crash) and on this particular day…wind!  The winds began to pick up throughout the ride and began to wear on me mentally.  I had made up sometime and a few places on the bike and was ready to hit the run.

Run: 1:32

The wheels didn’t just come off, they exploded.  I must admit at mile 3 and 4 I have never wanted to quit a race so badly in my life.  The first 3 miles my legs were exhausted, my lower back was seizing on me and I was running low on perseverance.  I actually stopped and stretched out my back a little and did some of my physical therapy exercises.  They didn’t really seem to help right away, but I continued on, because as much as I wanted to, quitting was not an option.  I took in as much nutrition as I could and began to just jog along.  I slowly began to feel a little better and by mile 6 I had found my running form and some semblance of a rhythm.  I decided to try to pick up and decided to salvage what was left of the race and give it everything I had.  I am a goal oriented person and at the turn around my Timex Tap watch read 3:43 race time and I said to myself, ok 4:25 is the new finishing goal!  With my mind newly focused I began feeling better and to my surprise I actually ended up passing a few of the runners who had previously passed me.  I crossed the finish line without my usual enthusiasm and went to the medical tent to clear off some of my road rash and have some food.  However, the clock read 4:25…one small victory accomplished.

Nutrition:

The race day conditions were hot, although wind, high cloud cover and arid climate made it deceptive and if you did not pay close attention and stay on top of your nutrition and hydration then you paid the price.  I did my normal halfironman nutrition approach with a few hickups:  Running out of T2 I grabbed my hydration belt with sports drink and PreRace, I knew I was goign to need all the help I could on the run.  I began my normal routine, however, as I began to break down at mile 3 I went into survival mode and drained both my bottle between miles 3 and 4.  After I started running again, I then grabbed water, sports drink and coke at the aid station.  I realized around mile 10 that I was pretty dehydrated, I was no longer really sweating and my arms, mouth and hands felt bone dry.  Because of the deceptive conditions as well as my nutrition/hydration and run plans going out the window I had fallen behind on hydration.  At the next aid station I slowed down and took in as much fluid and salt as I could and continued onward.  At that point it was late enough in the race that I was able to make it through on fumes.

As I write this I am left with a mixture of frustration and excitement on my mind.  I am frustrated, because know exactly what parts of my day I would do differently if I had the option to do it again.  This is part of gaining the race experience I need in order to improve.  However, I am also excited because I learned a lot from this race and I know that I will carry these mistakes with me make sure they do not happen again.  Additionally, I learn more and am more motivated after a “bad” race than a “good” race.  Races such as this, initially are pretty disappointing, but long term I think they do more for me long term.  This race has light a fire in me and will help me to become more dedicated and more focused each and everyday on being the best athlete I can.  So watch out!  Next time I do a major race, not only will I be motivated by my new daughter, whom I will be racing for, I will also be more focused and more dedicated than ever!  J