The six hour drive to Lubbock has become an annual pilgrimage for triathletes in Austin to race Buffalo Springs Ironman 70.3. This half-Ironman race has existed since the early 1990s and has become known as one of the more challenging races in the Ironman 70.3 series. The race directors, Mike and Marti Greer, put on one of the best organized races in the world. I finished the race in 9^th place in the pro field. While I wanted to improve a place or two on my 7^th place finish there last year. I was happy with a top ten finish and as the final checkpoint in my build before my taper to Ironman Lake Placid.

     At first glance, Lubbock, Texas doesn’t seem to fit with some of the other cities hosting major half-Ironman events like San Diego, Monaco, or Orlando, but that’s part of the race’s charm. Approaching the city, the land becomes a flat expanse of dry cotton fields and oil derricks; not quite the tropical paradise you encounter in St. Croix. I think because Lubbock isn’t as glamorous as other race destinations, this race attracts a different kind of athlete. The race has a very laid-back atmosphere without sacrificing any aspect of the organization. As I said before, Mike and Marti Greer really take care of their athletes and do not overlook any detail.

     It’s situated so that it’s a fairly easy trip from Texas’s major cities as well as Colorado, so many athletes travel from these places. It makes for a great three or four-day weekend trip from Austin. Normally, to go to a race of its caliber, I have to fly, rent a car, fly my bike, making for a costly trip. For Buffalo Springs, we jump in the car with a group of friends and road trip across the state. So my friends, Brad, Billy, and I all jumped in the car and headed to Lubbock.

     My favorite stories from the weekend’s trip surprisingly didn’t come from the race itself, but in the days before the race. The day before the race, we were in a diner gorging ourselves with a massive breakfast of pancakes. There we had one of the most interesting servers I’ve ever come across. In talking to our waitress, we learned that her hobby was to learn to say “thank you” in other languages. Now this may seem trivial, but according to her, she has learned the phrase in 170 different languages. Of course she asked us to test her, so I threw out Farsi, Urdu, and Navaho. She easily responded to each one. Now granted, I have no idea how to say “thank you” in any of those languages and she could have made up every response, but she said them quickly with confidence and authority, so I tended to believe her.

     Second story: One of the guy’s who was staying in our hotel room arrived a day after we did. We saw him at the race expo and gave him a key to the room because we weren’t going directly back to our hotel. He called me about fifteen minutes later and asked “did you say we are in room 213?” I responded affirmatively.

     “That’s weird, because I just went into our room and there was a lady in one of the beds under the covers.” (note: there were no girls with our group!!)

     “What? What did you do?” I asked.

     “I said that I was sorry and walked out.”

     After a few more questions I asked him if he was at our hotel. It turns out, he had gone to the wrong hotel (next to our hotel) and walked into room 213. He said he thought the key worked in the door. We can’t confirm if that was true, perhaps the door was ajar and it opened when he pushed on it regardless of the key. That story gave us a good laugh.

     Back to the race: Buffalo Springs is a spring-fed lake sitting in the bottom of a canyon about 10 miles outside of Lubbock. Because of this, the lake tends to be out of the wind and is usually a nice and calm swim. The water temperature is always on the warm side, but in the last several times I’ve raced there, it has always been a wetsuit legal race. About 50 meters out of the first transition, you bike up a short, steep hill. That’s when the first-timer learns the first reason this course is challenging. Until you see the canyon, looking out over the perfectly flat land around Lubbock, the assumption is that the bike course will be flat as a pancake. However, the course loops you in and out of the canyon several times, each time dropping down, then climbing out of the canyon, so you encounter numerous hills. Between the hills, the course loops you around the flats around the canyon. That’s where the second kicker hits you; the wind whips across Lubbock’s featureless terrain. As soon as you crest one of the hills, you’re either really happy to have the hand of a tailwind pushing you along or you’re cursing as you push into the invisible wall.

     Towards the end of the bike, the third course challenge begins to rear its head and can curse athletes all the way through the run until the end of the race. Buffalo Springs is known to experience some of the hottest temperatures in the sport. The end of June in Texas can see the mercury pushing well into the triple digits. The race is known for 1997 when temperatures on the run hit something like 110 degrees. I heard Mike Greer say that they measured the temperature about 18-inches off of the blacktop on the run and the reading was 130 degrees.

     Truth be told, because Austin had seen the hottest June on record with 20 days at or above 100 degrees. I had been training in some of the hottest weather of my life, so I was prepared for the heat and really wanted a hot day to plague the cool-weather pros coming down to Texas for the race. The Thursday before the race, the temperature peaked at 110 degrees. The car’s thermometer read 105 as we drove up on Friday. I was giddy to have a miserably hot race (I know that sounds sick, but it’s true). Then the night before the race, a cold front blew in and brought storms and chilly temps. So race day, I think it was in the low seventies and pouring rain. The storms brought in a nasty wind. So we raced in cold, rain, and wind.

     The race officials seemed to get caught in the lack of standardization for Ironman vs. USAT rules and changed the wetsuit water temperature rule from other Ironman races. So race morning, pros couldn’t wear wetsuits, but everyone else could. The most interesting aspect of the swim was the start. A few years ago, people started running around the edge of the start’s little horseshoe bay, rather than swim across. Mike Greer said he considered placing a buoy so people would have to swim out and around rather than run the first 50 meters. But he thought the little run was innovative of the athletes that started it, because although you are going further than swimming the straight line out of the bay, by running through the shallows around the edge, you could get a good 20 meter gap on someone swimming. This year, everyone took this little run to the extreme. When the start-horn blew, the pro field sprinted in the knee deep water around the little bay. About 30 seconds after I flopped into the water and started my post-sprint swimming, as I breathed, I saw others walking in thigh-deep water through the reeds on the edge, moving just as fast as I was. Forget swimming, I’m walking!!! So I moved over to the side to where I could stand and started wading though with about half the pro field while we moved at the same speed as the half who swam. We got probably another 25 meters or so before a dock forced us to swim. It was actually pretty humorous. After the race, I talked to a few friends who said they switched between running and swimming at the start three or frour times before they really started swimming.

     I came out of the water a little faster than last year and within sight of a big group of people I know I should swim with, so I wasn’t frustrated like the Boise and St. Croix exiting the water. I really had fun on the bike. This was my fourth time at this race, so I’ve come to love this bike course. The wind and rain made the bike course challenging but fun. We had to really baby some of the winding descents on the bike, but other than that, I really had fun. I knew at least ten or fifteen good friends racing, so it was fun to see each other at all of the out-and-backs.

     I felt pretty strong on the bike. I started the bike in 24^th place in the male pro field and got of the bike in 7^th or 8^th place. The run is similar to the bike where it has nice flat sections, separated by several challenging hills. The normal challenge of the heat was non-existent because of the rain. I actually found myself to be comfortable to fairly cold during the day. I felt like I could run myself into 5^th or 6^th, but in fairness to the other guys racing, they ran really well and after about 3 or 4 miles, I didn’t feel like I had a lot of pep. I was happy to hold on pretty strong to finish in the top ten. Although it wasn’t my fastest race, I felt like I was physically in a good position to start my taper and resting for Lake Placid.

     I was really happy with how well my friends raced out there. Friends and fellow Austinite pros Kelly Handel and Brandon Marsh raced really strong and both took top five placements. My friend, Brad Seng from Boulder, passed me with one mile to go on the run and ended strong. Another close friend and pro from Austin, Terra Castro also took home a top-10 finish in the women’s pro field. All and all it was nice to see my friends race so well. It seems to increase the collective fun of the race.

     I would like to thank Little Caesars Pizza for their belief in me and my racing. I’d also like to thank Jack and Adam’s Bicycles for their endless assistance. Additionally, I want to express gratitude to Source Endurance and my personal coach from Source, Derick Williamson for our continuing work and helping to foster my growth as a person and an athlete. I am also grateful to Patrick and Tim McGrath for their support of my racing. I’d also like to thank Xterra Wetsuits, Trifacts.com, Advanced Rehabilitation, The Genesis Agency, and Hill Country Running Company. I’d also like to thank Mario Cantu for the great photos from the race. Without the support of my sponsors, family, and friends, it would not be possible for me to continue my pursuit of racing; I am appreciative of their unending support and encouragement.