I Can't Fight This Feeling

This was a great weekend. Dinner with fellow Outlaws Mark, Naomi, Cody and his family at Orlando's. My favorite race on the SWCS schedule, and I still got the grass cut on Sunday after the race.

I was standing in the transition area before the race looking at the swim course for this weekend's Buffman and Squeaky triathlon. This race is at the same location as the Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon 70.3 (the race formerly know as the Buffalo Springs Half Ironman). The swim for both is in Buffalo Springs Lake (go figure). It's not a huge lake, and the race organizers (Mike and Marti Greer, who really do a super job with their races) have to squeeze to get a 1.2-mile swim course laid out within the confines of the lake. The Buff&Squeak (named after the Greer's two dogs) is an "intermediate" distance race, so they only need a 1500 meter course. I've done Buff&Squeak every year since they started doing it, including 2004 when it was the M&M tri. I've done the Buff Springs half twice by myself, and I've been there as part of a relay team (or for the Tri-Raider sprint that is held on the same day as the Half Ironman) four other times. Anyway, the placement of the buoys for this year's 1500 meter course looked a lot like the placement for the 1.2-mile course. Now, everyone has to swim the same course, so it really doesn't matter if it's a little long or short. But I'm one of those people who views any swim as the necessary evil that needs to be taken care of before you are allowed to bike and run.

I started the swim pretty conservatively, not wanting a repeat of the panic attack that gripped me at Ransom Canyon two weeks ago. No problems this time. You swim eastbound (thank goodness the sun was already pretty far above the horizon) for a few hundred meters, then north for a few hundred meters, and then you set out on the long westbound leg that skirts the north shore of the lake. This leg always seems long to me, and yesterday it really seemed long. I should probably concentrate on my stroke or something while I'm swimming, but mostly my mind just wanders. I was thinking, "Good grief, this swim is taking forever. It's time to bring this ship into the shore, and throw away the oars forever."

Ah, 1985, REO Speedwagon. 24 years on, and this song still sounds good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Fb8XbpWMM&NR=1

And how about that hair!

Maybe I would race faster if I could get a different kind of song stuck in my head. But REO Speedwagon seemed to do the trick yesterday. It was my slowest "1500 meter" wetsuit swim ever, but I did manage to match my Buff Springs 1.2-mile time. (Hmmmm....) I had my fastest bike ever at this race, and I was only a few seconds off my fastest run time there.

In addition to Mark, Naomi, and Cody, fellow Outlaws Amy and Helen also did the race. Mark finished 20th overall. Amy almost caught up to Cody and me, and she finished as the 4th place overall woman. She and Naomi were second in their age groups, I was third, and Mark, Cody, and Helen were just off the podium in their super competitive age groups. Overall, a great race and a great time.

muffinman