Lubbock Texas and Olympic weightlifting

While in Lubbock this weekend I attempted to find a gym with drop plates which are used for olympic style weightlifting. None of the normal gyms did. I know CrossFit gyms use drop plates. I called each and every CrossFit gym in Lubbock and left messages. Compass CrossFit and Flatland CrossFit were the only ones who called me back. Compass CrossFit doesn't allow anyone to use their gym unless they are doing the Workout Of the Day (WOD). Flatland CrossFit called me back on Monday after my family and I were already on our way home, but they said they'd allow me to use their facility anytime as long as I wasn't a distraction to their athletes performing the gym's WOD. Next time I'm visiting Lubbock TX I'm going to use the Flatland CF facilities to see if I like it there. I'm eligible to retire from the NM state penitentiary this May. Lubbock is one of the 4 places I'm thinking of moving after I retire. Where ever I go has GOT to have some sort of facilities available for me to weightlift olympic style. It's surprising how few cities has olympic style weightlifting gyms.
The cities I'm interested in moving to after i retire in order of favorites:
1) Santa  Fe New Mexico
2) Concord Metro New Hampshire
3) Lubbock Texas
4) Albuquerque New Mexico

To early to tell but not to early to dream

I know 7 weeks into a training program is to early to tell how I'll race at the end of a 7 month training program, but if my training now is any kind of indication I'm going to ROCK Ironman Arizona! I finished a 10 mile run tonight at a much faster pace while my average heart rate was 10 beats lower than I could normally keep.

Tonight there was enough ambient light to run here in Lubbock Texas until a little past 9 PM. I love west Texas.

bonked & dehydrated in West Texas

We are visiting family in Lubbock Texas. Since August of last year my longest bike ride has only been about 30 miles. Today my cousin Greg & I were able to slip away for a 62 mile bike ride. We rode the Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon 70.3 course & through Ransom Canyon twice. It was a GREAT ride.

Since I'm not used to riding longer than 30 miles I made some stupid mistakes on today's ride.

1) I usually don't ride long enough to need to buy extra Gatorade and Power gels to finish my ride. So when we pulled into the convenience store we realized we had both left our wallets & money at home. The people who ran the local convenience store in Slaton Texas let us fill up our water bottles with tap water, but without any more calories to finish the ride I bonked hard on the way home. I'm sure I could of handled riding 62 miles with that few of calories if I was used to riding those distances, but since that was twice as long as I was used to riding I fell apart.

2) the other mistake I made was not planning for how much hotter it is here in west Texas & how much more fluid I needed to drink. By the time we got home I had bonked & was seriously dehydrated.

The good news is I got to ride through my favorite 2 areas: Buffalo Springs & Ransom Canyon. When I retire in 2015 I desperately want to move to one of those 2 areas. That area would be perfect to train in & it would be a beautiful place to raise my babies- yes, in that order too!

We rode by the metal house in Ransom Canyon. That thing is weird, but oddly fascinating (see picture above). It's designed & constructed completely from scrap metal by local Texas Tech professor Robert Bruno.

My cousin rode his recumbent bike today. I had no idea how fast those things were. I'm in better shape than him & weigh less than him but he still laid a smack down. He let me put in a few miles on it & I was amazed at how comfortable it was & how fast it rode without much effort. I have to say I have a new goal. Before I die I'd like to ride in a 12 or 24 hour bike race on a recumbent. They are fast & comfortable & I'd be able to finish an ultra endurance ride much more comfortably on a recumbent than I could on a traditional road bike.

I love it here in West Texas! I can't wait to move here when my wife graduates & I retire!

Today while on my ride I tried Cliff gels for the first time. They were the best tasting gels I've ever had! They were like liquid candy! I'll be switching brands of gels from now on.