I've driven through Socorro many, many times on I-25 on the way to/from Albuquerque and the only thing I knew about the town was fast food and convenience stores. This race wasn't on my "to do" list for that very reason. I was wrong. The further you get into Socorro nearer the mountain and the New Mexico Institute of Technology campus, the prettier it gets. Nora, Cannon, Sarah and I got in on Friday afternoon for the youth triathlon on Friday night on the NMIT campus.
If you've got kids, this youth tri was one of the best run I've ever seen. They had actual chip timing, body marking, transition areas set up professionally, a swim start - basically everything that made my little 8 year old triathlete feel like the real deal. Trying to run a youth triathlon is like trying to herd ritalin-dosed cats and these people pulled it off in spades. I think my little man is hooked and he came in 2nd in his age group!
Back to the Holiday Inn Express which was only half-mile from the transition area for my triathlon. Dinner with the family at Socorro Springs Restaurant. Very nice place to eat in what is a fast food town. Again, color me surprised ( can you say small town prejudgment anybody?). We had a double bed room and believe it or not I slept better that night than I had before any of my previous races even though Nora and I are used to a Cali King bed and two less kids in the room when we go to sleep.
Up early and Holiday Inn Express was kind enough to open the breakfast area to conform to ungodly triathlete hours. Rode my bike with my backpack the whole half mile to transition area and set up. Again, the sponsors/organizers of this triathlon know their stuff. Everything went off swimmingly, pun intended. I would invite the organizers of the Midland and Odessa Triathlons to observe how a triathlon should be run.
400 meter swim start started exactly at 7 with last swimmer #254 in water by 7:53. Awesome job especially compared to Midland which had 100 less racers and I didn't get in the water til 8:45 (grumble, grumble). The transition area was set up a little weird because you exited the bike and run from the same end. Usually you exit the bike on one end of transition and come back in the same end. The way this was set up, nobody got an advantage wherever their bike was racked because one way or another, you were going to have a long run with your bike.
I felt excellent on the swim. I've been working hard with Gretchen and Bob Carlson on my swimming and although I'm still slow by the fast guy standards, I've noticed I'm not pausing and catching my breath or using little tricks like, "oh no, my goggles are leaking, I'd better stop on the wall here and adjust for a second or 10." Feel much more stamina, just gotta start getting some speed. 400 meter clock time was 8:43 and off to bike.
Bike was up long gradual hill with several turns through the scenic NMIT campus and golf course. Anybody that reads this blog knows that turns and I don't exactly get along (I have the scars to prove it wrecking in 3 different races this year alone with various level of mayhem ensuing). I took the turns easy and saw my main competition in the fat boy division Jason McClure at various intervals. He was flying! Jason beat me in Midland by 2 1/2 minutes and I beat him by 3:00 in Odessa so this was our rubber match. I feel honored just typing that because I didn't think once I saw that Jason was riding Clydesdale again I had any shot of beating him. Finished the bike in 37 and some change with 20.3 mph average which is good for me with hills and as many turns as there were. Quick transition and into the 5K.
Day started out overcast and it was still coolish on the run so I felt good. Actually felt better on the run than I've felt in a long time. Wanted to run first mile in under 8 and did that (7:57), picked up the pace on the 2nd mile to 7:52 and really let it go in last mile for 7:28 and kept the hammer down for last bit. Nora said I looked like an actual runner as I came to the finish line! I knew I had to bust it on the run because Jason is a beast on the bike and faster than me on the swim so I figured I needed to put pretty serious time in on him on the run. For reference, my 5K time in Midland was 30:20 and in Odessa 26:01 - and in Socorro? - a blistering 24 flat, for an overall time of 1:13. My time in Odessa was 1:13:37 on a flat course and Jason was 1:16:34 so I figured I had him beat. Wrong! He didn't play fair and busted ass on the run to a 27 minute 5K and really kicked my butt on the bike by averaging 22.5 mph with hills to a 1:11 finish. So second in Clydesdale to me and kudos to Jason for winning the rubber match.
On a final note, we got to stop at Owl Bar and Cafe in San Antonio, NM for green chile cheeseburgers for everybody except Nora (doesn't eat red meat). If you've never been, I can highly recommend it, the Holiday Inn Express, Socorro Springs Restaurant, and all events for the Socorro Chile Harvest Tri.
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