BSLT 70.3 Race Report

Another fun road trip down to Lubbock for the BSLT 70.3 last weekend. The drive down to west Texas with my buddy Michael was fairly uneventful with the usual conversation...life after 40 (for him...I'm still MANY weeks away), training, women (or lack of in my current situation), where to stop for a "safe" meal, coaching...

This will be a relatively brief re-cap.

Swim (30:33) - What the hell?!? Well, at least the ridiculous running which took place the last two years at the start of the swim was non-existant(apparently two ladies were the only ones to violate the "no running" rule - shame on you ;) Not sure if the course was a bit long this year or if the course was short the last few years. I had a clean start and quickly found the feet of American Patrick Bless. We swam together and on the back stretch were joined by Argentinian Mario DeElias who seemed to be swimming solo noticeably wide. I felt very comfortable in my blueseventy point zero skin suit and was quite surprised to see my swim split close to four minutes on the south end of the last couple of year's.

Bike (2:27) - Legs felt very good throughout the ride as I rode within my target power range. Riding into and up the first canyon I was caught by my buddy Pat who reminded me this was the same spot he caught me last year. True, only last year I did a better job of maintaining closer contact with him. On this day he rode away from me with little response from said blogger. Mistake, big mistake, mental mistake, tactical mistake...you get the picture. I rode the remainder of the hilly & windy and at times rainy bike with Bless. Fueling was spot on and legs felt ready to roll as I approached T2.

Run (1:17) - Slipping on my comfy Spira Stingers I made my way onto the challenging run course. Within the first mile I put a move on Bless and was able to get away from him. Legs felt the best they have on this course and I focused the effort on hydrating and maintaining a swift rhythm in an effort to close the Grand Canyon-like gap between me and the guys up the road. I ran well through the long out & back section of the course (aka Energy Lab II as it is an exposed 1.5 out & back with a powerplant towering alongside). Shortly after entering the park I caught Kiwi Jamie Whyte and was working hard to catch the young Argentinian DeElias. Approaching the final stretch he took a couple of looks over his shoulder as I was digging deep and held me off with a six second spread.

Crossing in 4:18 I was grateful for another day of racing. It was great seeing so many friends from Boulder on the course and meeting new friends from the FCA-E team. I was honored to be invited to speak at the IronPrayer service Saturday before the race and look forward to being part of the service in Lake Placid for IMUSA.

Congrats to Paul Matthews & Amy Marsh for their wins as well as my teammate Ben Hoffman (6th overall).

Thanks to my support team of sponsors, friends & family.

May God bless you with a healthy, safe & fun holiday weekend!

Keep it smooth...