A race in Lubbock

Lubbock was a very easy 5 hour drive from our house. Part of the ease for me was due to Jeremy driving the whole way, but also because we took one road all the way there. First we went over the mountains to Mayhill, where we rode last weekend. This week, it burned. Lots of ashy ground and black trees lined the highway.

 

Below is a campground where we even stopped last weekend. I got some grass stuck in my chain that came back with me. The rest of it is gone. I think this fire was reported to have started due to some power lines caught in the wind. But remember Smokey Bear, and how YOU can prevent forest fires. On the way home we saw some Forest Service trucks stopped along the highway dealing with some active fire. The guy standing by the truck was smoking a cigarette. 

Across some plains, some oil fields, and a lot of flat flat land we drove and arrived in the metropolis of Lubbock. Buffalo Springs Lake is a few minutes out of town, so we surveyed the course Saturday afternoon. This is the same venue that the famous BSLT 70.3 takes place on. I expected the lake to be bigger. The hills I expected to be smaller. 

We knew the bike course had five hills on it. They were exactly correct. The rest was flatness and maybe a little false flatness thrown in for good measure (or was that just the wind?). But the hills were long and steep, into and back out of the canyon. Nothing to be worried about; it just slows everyone down a bit.

Race morning we were not prepared for the cold. Actually, Jeremy had brought no long sleeves or pants, so a run to Target Saturday night provided him with a sweatshirt. A much needed one. It was 53F in the air, 58F in the water, and thank goodness I just bought a new wetsuit. 

This was a small race, but not without the usual crowded bike racks. The evens were on one side, and odds were on the oth... oh no, wait, some odds were on our side too. I noticed the two sets of everything lined up neatly in a row next to my bike when #23 (which I've always known as an odd number) mentioned how crowded everything was. I tried to explain to her that it was more convenient for her NOT to have to duck under the bike rack with her bike in T1. But she argued that in all the races she'd done, she'd had that little space of real estate directly behind her bike. So this girl has rubber bands holding her bike shoes in perfect position, but she can't figure out which side of the rack to use? I just left her alone after my gentle advice didn't sway her, and found she'd moved before the race started. 

I was shivering before the race just standing in my wetsuit, so there was no way I was going to warm up in the actual water, or even stick my toe in for that matter. The cannon fired before the "ready, set" was voiced, and we all jumped a mile. At least that got the adrenaline pumping. The water was COLD. Sticking my face in caused a shriek and a few gasps, and the panic didn't subside for about 1/3 of the swim. I did notice a guy near me walking along chest deep, so I even tried that for a few steps. The chop was coming straight at us, so by turning, I found some relief, and coming back in was almost pleasant (oh it's all relative). 

The water calmed down a lot after the race.

 

Standing up onto the ramp, there was a line of volunteers. The first one pulled me out, the next one unzipped me, another unvelcroed me, and still another helped pull my arm out. All as I was running by. What a team! I got the suit off and realized that I was not willing to leave my new (ok, lightly used) wetsuit lying on the ground, so I ran over to the nearby fence and hung it up. Then I started to put on my jacket but it stuck so badly on my wet skin I gave up the fight. Ok, it was actually because I saw mis-rack girl with a jacket on and decided to be tougher than she was. Then I straightened up my area, folded my jacket, dusted the dirt off my feet, and decided it was time to go ride.

Hill #1 starts immediately outside of transition, but it was an excellent place to warm up. Then I'll just sum up the bike by saying this: 4 more hills, lots of headwind.

My right foot didn't have any feeling until 3 miles into the run. But it was perfect running weather, and I enjoyed doing a race in the proper order. Jeremy officially beat me for the first time, and by a lot. Except on the run, where I got him by 10 seconds. I was thrilled with my run until 1) I realized that he'd run almost as fast, and 2) he convinced me that it must be a short course. 

I got 3rd place after coming out of the water pretty much last for all women, then not getting left behind on the bike, and coming back to get the fastest run of the women. 1 and 2 only got me by 2.5 and 1 minute, so if I could just not freak out in the water... There's always next time.

In other news, I have a tomato bandit in my yard. This was my first tomato a few weeks ago. It had grown to tennis ball size, with some very early ripening color on it. Upon arrival back home, I immediately checked the garden to find it missing. Not a bite taken out or the whole plant destroyed. Just one missing tomato, as if it had never been there. I now have bars of soap hanging from the wires around them. I'll go to more aggressive measures if this happens again. It's just a warning, oh sneaky garden predator.