I lined up well and when they horn sounded, tried to go hard to get up front. I knew the alttitude would feel the worse during the first half of the swim. I certainly felt short of breath but tried to stay steady to the first turn bouy. I found some feet to draft off, but they were slowing so I had to go around and found myself alone on the long downward leg. I never felt very comfortable with my stroke and still found my breath a bit short. Mostly I just felt tired and I was 10min into a Half IM! After rounding the third bouy, I was heading back to the boat ramp and kept running into this guy who was swimming a serpentine pattern. It was so frustarting I actually had to stop and change direction to try and get around him. I stood up at the ramp and looked down at my watch. 30:xx. I just shook my head. I was excpecting a 28:xx, my swim has been solid the last few races, and I was pissed. I was only 2.5min down on the leader, maybe the course was a bit long based on their times, but it was a mental blow and I would have ample time to dwell as I began the bike!

Anything and everything to get better motivated and moving well through the water. Negative thoughts don't help perfromance, as the rest of the day would prove. I rate this swim below aevrage and not bad only becuase somehow I was still in the race physically if not menatlly.

Well, I had a good transition as I was so mad and already had my friend and fellow 40-44 AG'er Dan Beaver right behind me. I had beat him out of the water by 3:00 at Tempe International and here he was. That was the second mental blow, it just re-affirmed how poorly I must have swum and now I needed to try and get a lead on him as he is a great runner. More negative thoughts as I headed out of T1....

Nothing, I tied for the fastest T1.

I headed out to the highway which would take us due west for the first 15 miles or so. I tried to settle down and get in a grove but still couldn't shake the feeling that I just didn't want to be there. 56 miles is a long time in the saddle to be thinking that way but that's just what I did. I was moving well, slowly catching and overtaking people, trying to get in my nutrition, keeping my HR in check, but I just wasn't "there". On one occasion, I wished I would get 2 flats so i could just end the day. Around mile 25, I passed a guy in the 35-39AG and he stayed with me. He would overtake me a few times and I would drop back, but then his pace was too slow, so I would have to move in front again. I never turned around to look at him, but on a long strecth of empty road with a headwind, he sat right behind me. Was he legal? I don't know, I didn't look, but I'm sure he was benefiting from my work, but I didn't care. I managed to finish most of my gel flask, but it was hard to choke it all down. I had one bottle of Gatorade from an aid station as well as my water. It was cool and I wasn't dehydrating aggressively, but I think I was a little light on calories. With only a few miles to go, I was alone and dreading the run. again, for no good reason, my run has been good at races, I just felt...tired. As I ran into T2, I was told I was in 3rd place. Instead of being psyched all I could think was "that won't last long".

Have a better attitude!

Got into my socks and shoe's well and was pretty quick out of T2.

Nothing.

You know you are in trouble when you start a Half marathon wondering at what poitn you will start walking! The first mile was along a winding trail and I could see second place up the trail. Within that first mile I was passed and was now in 4th. I was following this guy and we came to a point where the trail joined the road. The guy ahead dropped back onto the trail and so I followed him. The trail got a bit rocky and then smooth as it curved along the lake. I was actually starting to enjoy myself a bit when....
This nice lady out on her morning jog coming the other way stopped suddenly in front of me.
"Are you racing the DeuceMan?!" she yelled.
"Um, yes?" I replied.
"You're off the course!" she said.
"I am?" I said looking around.
"Yes! Turn here up this road and you will hook back up with the course at the top of the hill!" she said pointing up a side road.
"Are you sure?" I said as I started to run up it.
"Yes! Go!!!!"
Welcome to the cherry on the sundae which was my day. :)
As I ran up the hill, sure enough I could see runners crossing the road ahead. I had manged to add maybe 1.5-2min to what was already going to be a miserable day. on top of that, I saw Dan run by up ahead and knew I had just lost the AG. I was now in 6th. The best moment, however, came about 30 seconds later when the guy who had passed me and I had followed down the wrong path came busting out of the woods yelling,"Where the fuck is the course!!!!" I pointed and said I had followed him as well. He was pissed and took off after Dan. I plodded along to the far turnaround. Dan was coming back the other way wondering how I was behind him as he hadn't seen me yet. I just shook my head, smiled, and said I got lost. Up at the turn, my coach Nick was there. I told him what happened and how flat and bad I was feeling, he told me to hang in there, and that's what i did. I stopped thinking about stopping, I just found a nice grove and ran an easy, manageable pace. At the next out and back before the end of the first laps, I passed Dan again, he was just a few min up on me and he tired to get me to catch up but I said it wasn't my day and to go get it. He and I would eventually be passed by one other guy and would finsish 6 and 7th. I was 5:36 back from him after beating him by 6min at Tempe 2 weeks before and he has never been even close in race reasults over the years. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but he ran a great race and was the btetr man.
As I was half way through the last loop, I saw Jamie coming the other way heading towards the finish! She looked great and was smiling. I ran across to her side of the road to give her a high five and tell her I loved her. :) The last few miles were peaceful, no one was catching me and no one was ahead so I just cruised it in. My thoughts began to clear and I realized that as bad as my day was, I was still finishing a Half IM in 4:36 and in the top 10, a personal worst time, but I didn't quit and that's what I would take away this day.

Just about everything.

After I crossed, Jamie came over and I gave her a kiss. I just shook my head and said, "Bad day." She was really excited about her race, her swim went fine and she passed a ton of people on the run. She ended up finishing in 2:46. I found Dan and congratualted him and said beers are on me! I brough a bunch of Fat Tires to the wards ceremony for him and the rest of our friends. Jamie and I packed up and rode back to our cozy cabin together. :)


I'm still not 100% sure what the root issue was with this race. I am sleeping better already this week and my training so far has been feeling good. I'm feeling better and feel confident this was just a bad day for me to race. I have also decided to do the Mountain Man Half instead of the Olympic and try and race the race plan we had for Show Low more effectively. It's a similar course, also at elevation, so it would be some nice redemption. :)


Dueces Wild Triathlon Festival is a full weekend of racing sponsored by TriSports. They have the Half, Oly, and AquaBike on Saturday and an XTERRA on Sunday. They have two athlete dinners and a huge rafal on Saturday. We ddin't go but I hear they give away a ton of great stuff. The volunteer issue was the result of a massive case of food poisoning on Friday night! They lost a bunch of folks, including the one who would have been directing people on the run course at a certain point... :)