Is this the record for number of blog posts for one race?  Well it’s definitely for a reason – we all had such a fun time with each other as a team and I’ll venture to say that ideally it would be great if we could do this more often.  8 of us raced in Lubbock instead of the usual 1 or 2 and it was wonderful to see such great representation from the Timex team.  It was one of the more fun trips down there purely because of seeing my teammates whom I only see one or maybe two times a year.  After a quick TV spot that Barry arranged for the local news, it was dinner time and lights out soon after on Saturday night.  On race day, I felt excited to race as I always do.  I raced Boise 70.3 two weeks earlier but felt very fresh and ready to go.  This year in my age group, M35-39, it was myself and fellow teammates Chris Thomas and Denny Meeker giving it all we had. 
 
I won’t go into too many details about my race, but nothing broke, I went as fast as I could, and placed 2nd in my age group to champ Chris Thomas and just ahead of Denny.  We swept the age group and I couldn’t have been more proud!  There is something to be said about being on a team.  I am sure I speak for all of us when during the race we were always looking out for each other, and getting motivation every time we saw the red, white, and black jerseys.  All three of us had the opportunity to get a slot to Kona.  Chris took one and the 4th place finisher got one as well.  Not to mention Timex teammate Cindi Bannink got the top spot in W30-34 and a trip to Hawaii.  Well done Cindi!!!

My buddy Alex McDonald hitching a ride post race

 
Our whole group from Timex had a great time in Lubbock: Alex, Barry, Andrew, Laura, Denny, Cindi, Chris, and myself.  I got to learn a lot about everyone.  Most notably the Andrew has a killer Kitchen Aid Ice Cream maker, Denny hates seeing other peoples blisters, Alex is really going to be a great dad, and me and the famous “Lance Story” that some other teammates will have to fill you in on sometime. It was fun hangin’ by the pool with you guys and no better way to kill some time on a Sunday afternoon in Texas than over a few “Lone Star” Edition Budweiser’s. 

 
On my way home I camped in Clayton, New Mexico and got up early and went for a 1 1/2 hour recovery ride that went literally in the middle of nowhere (see picture below) that ended up in Clayton Lake State Park.  It was one of the most peaceful rides I’ve ever been on, just me thinking about my family.

A peaceful ride in the middle of nowhere...

 
Congrats to all of you out there who raced.  It truly is an honor to be on such a wonderful team with great athletes. 
 
Train hard and be safe,
 
Tim