2010 SEASON

SOUTH WEST CHALLENGE SERIES

2010 Southwest Challenge Series Schedule Online
2010 Southwest Challenge Series Schedule Printable PDF

Gretchen's official race report from Buffalo Springs 70.3 (Jun/27/2010)

This is a good race to get to a day in advance and Greg G.,  Laura Bernal and myself drove to Lubbock Friday night.  It is important to train right for this race because it's a tough course by itself and weather can be all over the map until monsoon season starts.  As it was, we had sun, moderate humidity and windy conditions.  It had been so warm that the lake barely made wetsuits legal (76.3*) and that was a call made at 5am race morning!  the water was perfect and  swim race times were fast.  Out on the bike the winds were every way and steady 25-30mph.  Choose your wheels carefully as I ran a 100mm on the front and almost lost it on the first downhill outside the park with the crosswinds;  I was very conservative on upcoming descents.   Lots of water/aid stations well stocked on the bike course and due to the conditions it was important to drink early and often and stay on top of electrolytes.  Onto the run it was really heating up and humid around the lake.  The first hill had everyone around me walking but I was determined not to loose my cadence and groove.  The winds now had a nice cooling effect and the aid stations provided lots of water, gatorade and ice of which I put down my top and shorts and under my cap.  Staying cool is at a premium for racing 13.1 miles.   After the finish it was time to find the food and the lake to cool off in.  Laura came in, then Greg and we visited the med tent for cold towels and then it was time to find the shade while we each broke down our race.  Finish times and age group reports were coming in and it showed that the field was stacked this year all the way around.  A race of this caliber brings in the best when Kona and Clearwater slots are to be had.  I was stunned that my race time this year didn't put me in the top 5 as it would have won my age group last year by 4 minutes. At the awards ceremony, the food was great,  Kona slots went fast, and Clearwater slots rolled way the way down.  I was offered a Clearwater 70.3 slot but declined it as I didn't want something I hadn't earned outright and  the race has gotten extremely bad press.   I was happy to be over 18 mins faster than last year under very different weather and physical conditions.  Will I go back?  I always say give me 24hrs to think about it!  I've decided there is lots of room for improvement IF i focus soley on this race and I think I've found the method to do just that so see ya at next year's race!

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