City of Santa Fe Triathlon - Triathlon

Because I'd heard the pool heater was broken I expected the water to be chilly but it felt pretty good when I jumped in. I took off from the first wall and it didn't take long before i saw, once again, that blue/white kit. She got a bit ahead of me but I never lost sight of her feet. As I approached people from behind I drafted for a while until I could pass them.

As we turned at the first wall I wasn't far behind #171 and started to gain on her. Of course there were the occasional frog-kickers to navigate around but I kept an eye on #171. About half way in to the swim I caught and passed her! WooHoo!

At that point I was trying to stay strong, stay long and be smart about being faster. When I swam to the last wall I stopped and looked for the stairs. They were a few feet behind me so I lost a few seconds going too far at the end.

I am pretty happy with this swim, considering my ability. I beat last years time. yay.

I had the 7th fastest T1 time. This is a reverse tri so it's basically run shoes off, bike shoes on, helmet on, GO!

Noting really

I like this bike course. Lots of rolling hills, some traffic circles, a few corners, good stuff. As I headed downhill on Richards away from the community center I was passed by #171. She'd beat me on the run but I had a faster T1. I figured I'd see soon enough what she had on the hills. Sure enough as we started the first hill i caught and passed her, then she passed me on the down. That continued for pretty much the whole bike.

I was passing other people, and occasionally getting passed myself. Vehicle traffic was mostly non-existant but at one point, as I was approaching a traffic circle, I could hear a car behind me. That's no good. Cars and bikes don't fit in to traffic circles together. Fortunately the race volunteer stopped the car and let the racers through first.

As we approached the end of the bike I knew I had to drop #171 and give myself a nice cushion going in to the swim... cause we all know my brick-like swimming abilities. Like the run course, the bike course ends on a hill so #171 was behind me, I just didn't know how far.

Keep working on bike fitness. I don't ease off on down hills but people that I've passed up hill seem to catch me going down.

Just after I got through the dismount and was starting to go toward my transition spot someone hit Fi from behind and knocked her out of my hand. That's the first time she's ever fallen to the ground :-( My first thought was to check her for damage but I decided it would still be the same after the swim so I jog/walked toward my spot.

I got to my spot, pulled off shoes, socks, race belt and shades, grabbed my goggles and put on flip flops. As I was headed to the exit there was #171. She wasn't wearing shoes and was tender-footing through the transistion area and down to the pool. I knew that I had to gain enough time wearing my flip flops to justify the time putting them on/off and to buy me some swim time.

Not drop Fi :'-(

This is a reverse tri so the run is first. I love the start of this race with the quiet morning and the pounding of several hundred feet on the road. You don't get to experience that at most tri's because the crowd is so spread out by the run.

As we headed down Rodeo I felt pretty good and tried to just enjoy the slight downhill. I tried to keep an eye on the ponytail lady but lost track of her once we turned on the MUP.

As I headed down the MUP the leaders started coming back at me. I like out n backs because I enjoy seeing the people ahead of me (and knowing how many are behind me).

At the turnaround there was a water station so I grabbed a cup off the table. I somehow managed to grab an empty one so I poured a splash from the cooler then downed it and headed back. I had to re-pass some folks I'd passed before the turnaround but not bad. As I headed back up the MUP I found myself continually passing people.

Somewhere along the MUP I saw her, #171. She was in my AG and was wearing a distinctive light blue and white kit. I would be seeing a LOT of that kit over the next hour.

Toward the end of the run we pass a fire station. As a passed the FD I heard a voice from the FD say "Nice job Mr. Mayor" and a friendly response from a man behind me. Cool, I guess I'm racing the mayor of Santa Fe!

Last year I walked more of this run than I would care to admit. This year I had the short water stop and then walked part of the steep hill back up to transition. Funny my time was faster last year though. Hmph

BTW the first two OA women for the run were in my AG.

I'm pretty happy with this run but will continue to work on my run fitness

After I crossed the finish line they handed me a ribbon that I'm sure read "participant" the first time I looked at it ;-)

I went over to grab my flip flops then searched out #171. I walked up to her and told her nice job and that she'd really challenged me. She said that I made her go faster as well but that she hadn't really trained and had a cramp on the swim. Oh well, we can only race what's there right?

I grabbed a banana and granola bar then stood and watched as the mayor finished. Cool!

After a while I wandered back up to transition where I got to encourage a few people coming off the bike as I packed up.


I guess I haven't been training too seriously either. I've been s/b/r-ing but not with any intensity.


OA rank is for women only. There is no OA with both men and women.

This is a fun race. The organizers do a nice job, there is a nice supply of post race food and a massage tent. This is the second year I've done this one and I would gladly do it again.