Tempe International Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

Bad start as I swallowed some water and got way off course (almost swam into the boat dock). My breathing and heart rate were not good, but I settled down after the first bouy. The rest of the swim went well except for the end where I drafted off someone who took my off-course again.
I did the race day no-no of trying something new for the first time. I had bought a new wetsuit and had never worn it in the water. It work out well and I really like the suit.

Sight better and not draft off a blind man.

As I had never worn my suit wet, I had no practice removing it wet. No trouble with the zipper or pulling it off my torso. Can't say the same for my heels. It did get easier when I realized I had my fingers inside the neoprene strap holding my timing chip. Finally got the suit off and I was on my way.

Get out of the suit quicker.

I felt really good on the bike. Except for a brief moment where I was lost in la-la land on the 3rd lap, it was a good ride. I was awakened from my trance by 7 or 8 riders zipping by quickly. I glanced down at my comp and saw a nice 15mph. What the hell? Where did my mind go? Picked it back up and finished strong.
Side note- - saw lots of folks staying to the left, which made other riders pass on the right. C'mon people. Didn't see any accidents, although I heard there were some.

Not drift off during the race.

Quicker transition this time. Grabbed my visor, shoes, and race belt and I was off!

I felt pretty good in this transition. It probably wasn't fast, but I got everything I needed and felt good as I left T2.

Started off a little slow but held a pretty good pace. I so want to be a faster runner at the end of a tri, but I just do have it - -yet. I'm happy about being around 8:30, but I really want to be around 8min/miles. I'll get there. The run was pretty hot and then they threw a set of 32 steps at you at about mile 2.5 and 5.5. Good the first time, brutal the second. I was pretty winded after the second time, but got it goign again. Saw Sally towards the end and that helped me keep my pace up. We ran together for a while but she dropped me eventually. My goal was 2:45 and I knew that I was going to make it close. (It actually wasn;t as close as I thought it was going to be). Glad they had lots of aid stations out there for me to dump water on my head.

Try and run faster.

Saw my family just before the finish and my 6-yr old ran up to me just after I crossed the finish line. Got some water and some grub and eaded over to the kids' splash park to cool off (awesome way to cool down).
Headed back to the finish for a while, but never saw anyone else cross.


Not much. I had an average swim start, thought my bike leg was good, and I know there's room for improvement on the run. The heat was a factor, but not that bad.


Much better organized than last year. Bike course was not as bad as anticipated.