Location: Tempe, AZ
Race Type: TriathlonDistance: 1500 meter swim, 24.8 mile bike, 6.2 mile run
Participants: 261
Overall Place: 73rd
Age Group Place: 8th of 24
Time: 2:30:09. Swim: 29:31, T1: 1:31, Bike: 1:10:54, T2: 1:03, Run: 47:07
I went into this race with four weeks of solid training that focused on my swim. I was feeling pretty good and was excited to test out my fitness.
During the Marquee Triathlon in April my olympic distance triathlon swim time was my worst ever at 39:30 and I aimed to improve.
I had completed this same race as my first "big" triathlon last year and was excited to do it again. I didn't set a time goal but felt that I could probably come close to two and a half hours.
Packet Pickup
Packet pickup was held in Tempe on Saturday at Road Runner Sports.
Registration and USAT membership confirmation were held outside.
After getting my race number I had to head inside to pick up my shirt, bib, bike decal, and stickers.
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Once I finished my circuit of the swag items and the the shop I headed back outside to look at the race maps.
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I'd have to get up at 4:30am the next morning so that I could make the 6:20 transition close time and my 6:55am start. Preparation is key.
Pre-Race
So much for waking up at 4:30. I went to sleep around 9pm and was wide awake at 3:30. After fiddling around for a little bit I decided that I might as well head to the race and get a good spot on the bike rack.
I believe that I left the house at 4:15. It's all a bit fuzzy at this point.
Luckily I grabbed a nice car parking spot and a great place on the bike rack (I think that my bike ended up in the exact location as last year).
The time was about 5am and there weren't too many souls out yet.
Oh yeah, if you hadn't noticed, the transition area is underneath a bridge. The race company bills this event as the only fully covered transition area in the U.S. I'm not sure if I believe it but it is nice to be in the shade. On the down side, my GPS won't track here so I couldn't get my bike unit prepped.
Another downside of the location (not that big of a deal) is that you must run down these steps to get to the beach and up the side of the hill when getting back to T1.
Also, there are actually three or four times these steps. I only caught the top.
Once I'd received my timing chip and got my body markings I headed down to the beach for a look around.
I'm trying to figure out how to use my watch as a remote for my new camera. Got it!
And I can't go to any race without a selfie.
Time for one more bathroom break and then it is time to mount the camera to my bike for the ride.
I've been swimming a lot the last four weeks and I was hopeful that it would show during this race.
I stood on a ledge in the water and waited for the start horn that went off at 6:55. I started near the back knowing that even if I had improved my times over the last month I was still slower than average.
After the first couple of minutes I was able to get into a rhythm and made my way to the first turn buoy. I felt like I was moving at an OK clip but was a bit disappointed with the freedom of my arms to really reach into my stroke. My reach was pretty awful for the last races that I've worn this wetsuit so it was less of a factor.
Once I realized that I'd have to focus on extended my arms more than normal I was OK.
I had a few sighting issue on the back half of the swim but nothing terrible. When I stepped out of the water and glanced at my watch I was pleasantly surprised that my time was 28:30. This was an 11 minute improvement over last month and two minutes faster than last year. Nice!
Stats: 155th of 281 participants
GPS data. I'm pretty sure I didn't finish in the water...
Transition 1
I ran up the hill, over the timing mat, stripped the wetsuit, etc. Nothing new or exciting here other than I also turned on the Garmin Virb so that I could record my ride.
Here's a snapshot of me leaving the transition area. My heart rate was high and ended up staying in this range for most of the race.
The Bike
As I've said in the past, I'm not a fan of this bike course but it is what we have locally and I am coming to accept it.
The course consisted of two 12.4 mile loops/laps/or something.
There are so many 90 degree turns and even four 180 degree turns in the width of a lane. It is tough to get into a rhythm and it shows by my average speed of 21mph (I go faster than this on comfortable training rides).
The bike is my favorite part though and I did have a good time. I was pleased that I was further up in the pack and didn't have to pass so many people along the way but I was also passed more than I am used to.
There were some good sights along the way.
and plenty of volunteers handing out water.
At times it was also a bit congested.
Stats: 70th of 281 participants
Transition 2
I swapped shoes, tossed on a hat and headed out. Nothing exciting.
The Run
The run was two loops. Luckily the temperature was still not too hot; about 84 degrees.
I felt pretty good on the run and maintained a 7:35 pace throughout even though I stopped at almost every water station along the route to drink a cup and dump one on my head.
Being so late in the year this race provides ample stations every 3/4 mile or so.
I managed to pass around 20 people on this leg and got passed by a few really fast runners.
The last half mile was pretty painful as pain lanced into the right side of my body. I struggled on knowing that the race was almost over and after crossing the finish line a few minutes later I felt better.
Stats: 58th of 281 participants
Race Recap
The race went much better than last year. Mostly because it started on time. I believe that the temperature highs for the day were about the same each year but starting 45 minutes earlier made all the difference.
I also have a year of experience under my belt and a really good month of training.
This was a PR for me and I am excited to break 2:30 on my next olympic distance event.
Here's a couple post race pics to remember the event by:
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