2 weeks before Buffalo Springs was forced to stop running thanks to a foot problem...but I went to Texas anyways, to try out where I am with my swimming and my cycling. So my friend Pam and I sat in the car, drove for 12 hours and landed in Lubbock, TX. What a drive. It goes from pretty mountains with trees...to hills without trees...to flat without trees...to flat without trees and cow poop smell :-)
It was nice to get there 2 days early. Usually I get in the day before and out the day of the race. We settled in our hotel and started searching for...a pool off course.
After 10 unsuccessful calls to a variety of pools (for members only...what...what is lap swimming?...we are not open for the public...) we decided to ask someone at Texas Tech to let us
in as guests...and we were successful!!! On the first attempt.
The pool was great with lap swim and super fun diving bords and a slide and a lzy river. Which we, off course, had to try.
Well, Sunday morning came around and the race was on. It was a non wetsuit swim with a beach start (2 new things for me :-). We went off and I found some feet to draft off, but then those feet decided to let the group in front go. I swam as hard as I could for about 2 min and caught up to the group in front of us. 26:30 min later I was out of the water with about 5 people :-) Success!!! Even though I was the only person without a swim skin (OK, what is the deal here...they totally give you an advantage...and they will be illegal shortly...so why are they even legal now?) but my Kiwami suit was great!!! Take that swim skins!!!
Onto the bike: I felt great, pushed hard, was very careful on the downhills (too much bad luck lately made me be careful) and I had the 4th fastest bike time!!! Yeah, my swimming and biking are great right now.
Onto the run, I felt good for about 3 miles...moved up a few spots...and then my foot started hurting...I started compensating and pretty soon (around mile 4-5) my hamstrings were TIIIGHT...I was shuffeling/stretching and even walking for the next 9 miles. So frustrating. I hate getting passed and not being able to respond. Especially since I have a running background. Oh well. I finished in 10th with a 1:47 half. Good news is that I know what I can normally run and believe that would have put me into 4th place which is a great success.
Pam PR'd on this awesome course which has a very tough 13.1 mile run at the end. On a flat course she would have PR'd by 20-30 min for sure!!! She did great in all 3 events!!!
After the race we sat in the car immediately to drive back to Phoenix so that I could be at work the next day :-)
Ouch...if you think your hamstrings are tight after a 70.3 try sitting in a car for 12 hours after doing a half :-)
It was a great trip with lots of fun!!!
Here are a few pics:
Jack playing in the water before leaving.
Flagstaff on fire.
And again...
Cadillac yard in Amarillo, TX.
Lazy pool. Not sure how I ended up under the mat :-)
Pam's diving skills.
Oh oh, here we go...
At least the landing is soft...hopefully...Recovery time is coming to an end now and I will be working on getting my run/foot better again.
Phoenix is getting hotter and hotter so JR and I are escaping to Flagstaff for the 4th of July!!!
1 comment:
Bummer about your foot Angi!! But WOW with your swim/bike!! As soon as you get that foot healthy you are going to be rocking and rolling!! Yeah!!!
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