Buffalo Springs Lake Half Ironman RR - 6/26/05

Executive Summary:
Swim: 37:20
T1: 2:20
Bike: 3:00:57 (18.6 mph)
T2: 1:30
Run: 2:00:06 (9:10 min/mile)
Total 5:42:16
1/3 Athena - would've been 10/42 AG
PR by 5+ min. on this course
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/TriFilly/BuffSprings05/photo#s5118350549381470834

Long Version:
Once again, as this wasn't an A race, I'd not tapered. My coach was VERY unhappy I was racing this race at all as he wanted me to do a peak workout this weekend. So, those peak workouts were moved to the Wednesday (4 hour bike) and Thursday (21 mi. run) before the race. Needless to say, I wasn't too "fresh", but nor did I feel burnt out coming into the race.

While most of my friends & training partners were off to IMCDA, I was off to Lubbock - oh joy. Kym (training partner & roomie for the weekend) & I made the six hour drive out on Friday night & checked into our hotel w. no major incidents. Rode an hour Sat. morning (only had to stop twice during the ride to adjust my saddle - very long story, but I think I'm making progress) and then jogged about 8 min. Temperature was in the low 70s & quite nice for Lubbock. Headed to IHOP for breakfast, did some shopping & then to packet pickup. All done and back to hotel to rest by 1 pm. I took a quick trip to Cap Rock winery to buy a few gifts, tasted a few wines and bought two cases of wine (oops).
Saturday night I'd set up a dinner with a few TRI-DRS folks, some members of the Inside Triathlon Age Group team I'm on and also some local Dallas athletes that would be racing. Well, it sorta snowballed & we ended up w. about 30 athletes - although I'd planned on 18, so wasn't that outta hand. Luckily, I'd called ahead for reservations and the restaurant wasn't too busy. They took great care of us and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves - although I didn't get to spend nearly enough time w. the people I'd never met before both from the TRI-DRS List & the Inside Tri people...
Race day arrives and Kym & I arrive at the race site on time, get set-up, take care of business, etc. I'm off in the last wave w. the Clydes - that wasn't too fun. Was pretty rough through the first buoy, including a kick in the nose, but I didn't lose my goggles or my cool :) At the time, I thought the swim was long, but was likely right on, just my own lack of swimming that made it feel a bit long.
Got on the bike & decided that since I'd had such a big training week & didn't want to really punish my body too much, I'd ride the bike at "training" pace. Got up all the hills just fine & flew by a lot of people (being in the last wave tends to allow for a lot of passing). Saddle "issues" were tolerable, but thought about my fellow friends racing IMCDA and was really glad I wasn't going six hours on the bike this day!
Onto the run & had the same philosophy as the bike. No need to push too hard, but don't get lazy either. Stuck w. my plan to run from water stop to water stop and walk the uphills and ended up w. a 2 hour half marathon - so was quite pleased with that. No where a near Half IM PR, but 5 min. better than my time here last year.

Oh yeah, most important race note - got my first IV. WOOHOO! I knew I didn't need one, but with IMLP just four weeks away and knowing I need to train hard the next two weeks, the volunteer asked me "Do you want an IV?" Well, heck, I sure wasn't going to say no. Then I drank a few post-race beers, chatted w. friends, got some food, showered & Kym and I drove back to Dallas. After about five hours in the car I was ready to be home, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought the drive right after the race would be. Today, I have the day off from training, although I feel fine & could workout if it was scheduled. Not sure if I can attribute that to the race strategy or the IV, but either way, pretty happy about it.

Thanks for reading,
Katie in Hot Dallas