Nathan Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

As soon as I got in the water, I felt pretty good. There was a short swim to the start buoys, so that gave an opportunity to get comfortable. I went far right toward the shore from the beginning to try to get into less congested water, and this worked for the most part. I got a little tangled up with other swimmers on a few occasions, but this had more to do with the fact that I was actually swimming with my wave for a change instead of them being way ahead of me.

As I swam and breathed to my right, I could see Jenna following me along the shore. She walked along with me all the way to the turnaround buoy. Seeing her walking beside me and being close to the shore only made me even more comfortable in the water. This approach worked well at Soma last year, and we will do the same thing at Soma next month and IMAZ in November. Being more comfortable in an OWS than ever allowed me to swim smoothly and even push the pace harder than I ever have.

Being faster resulted in getting off course, especially after turning and heading back (since there was no longer a close shore to confine me). However, I have never had an OWS go nearly this well. It will give me needed confidence going into Soma and IMAZ. I was a little surprised when I looked at my watch and saw 38 minutes and change when I got out of the water, but I know I added some distance by being off course. It was, however, strange exiting the water with other people wearing the same colored caps. I later found out that the course was measured longer than 1500 meters. Seeing this, the time makes more sense. I actually finished the swim in the top half of the field - stunning...

Instead of sighting every 100 strokes, I might do it at 50-75 instead. It might have helped me stay a little straighter and on course. However, since things were going so well, I didn't want to break my rhythm.

I had a really long transition. I had a terrible time getting the wetsuit off - probably cost me an extra minute or two.

I'm not sure that there was anything I could have done differently - the suit just didn't peel off as smoothly as usual.

I had a few goals for the bike segment. I wanted to average more than 20.5 (which I did last year in the sprint). I wanted to stay in aero position as much as possible, and I wanted to make sure I drank enough, since it was unseasonably hot and I knew that being dehydrated would catch up to me on the run.

The bike leg started well as I headed up Rio Salado on the first loop. Pace was comfortable but fast. It was very different than other races - since I had a good swim, I was now closer to the middle of the pack and was on the course with faster riders than normal. This resulted in a good pace, but also led to passing and being passed more than I was used to. Having to pay more attention to handling on a crowded course was good experience.

I checked my time at the end of the first loop and was at 34-35 minutes - a good pace. I just need to maintain it through the second loop. The second time around felt faster and I pushed a little harder, but at the end of the bike, I was at 1:10 - around the same time for both loops. In addition to having a time I was happy with, I drank Infinit and water frequently and had held aero position unless I was in a crowd or going uphill. I was happy with the bike split and knew that I was on the edge of being on pace to hit three hours, which was my goal for a 'perfect' race.

Nothing - happy with the bike split.

Decent transition - I was putting on my shoes and checked my overall time. I had about 63 minutes to finish the 10k. I would have to hustle, but it was still possible to break three hours.

Nothing - solid transition.

My running has improved considerably in the past year, and I was hoping this run could be a statement, since a flat course is ideal for me. However, I would have to run at my open 10k pace to reach my goal, and on this day, I was coming off a 13 mile run on Saturday and a swim and bike this morning - not exactly like an open 10k. After the bike, I was right at the middle of the pack, so I was surrounded by much faster runners - being passed a lot more than usual was a little discouraging. I still tried to focus on just running my race and assessing where I was at each mile split.

After the first two miles, I was right on the edge of the pace I needed to go. I stopped at each aid station to drink a cup of water and dump another on over my head as it was starting to get hot. As I finished the first loop, I realized that I needed the exact same split on the second loop to hit three hours. It was a little deflating, because my legs were tired and I had hoped to have a little buffer time after loop one.

After mile four, I checked my watch and saw that I was starting to fall off the pace. However, I knew from loop one that the second mile of the loop was a little faster so I held out hope. When I passed the sign for mile 5, I checked and saw that I had 11 minutes and change left. I would need to run a sub 10:00 mile pace to the finish. That was a tall order for me. The final mile has an uphill on the approach to the Mill Ave. bridge - when I hit it, I just ran out of steam. The three hour mark passed as I was about 2/3 of the way over the bridge - I still had about 2/10 mile to go. I was disappointed that I wasn't going to break three hours, but I ran it the rest of the way in, knowing that I still was haivng my best race ever.

Nothing - it was a good run and better pace than I have had before.

I found Jenna at the finish line, and had some water and a banana. We sat down with Dean, Cody, Elliot, Dustin, and Denise and waited to cheer Kim in. I was wobbly and spent - it had been a good effort.


I know I have had a good race when my biggest complaint with my performance is a slow T1. Hearing from some other participants, it sounds like both the swim and run courses were a little long. I was tantalizing close to reaching a big goal, but it wasn't to be this time. However, it was the best race I have ever had from start to finih, and I am really satisfied with it. For three consecutive years, I have had trouble at the Nathan race (open water panic attacks, flats, etc.), and it felt great to finally have a great race there. Being in the middle of the pack instead of bringing up the rear was a different experience. Things are a little more competitive and a little less friendly there, but for the first time, I really felt like I was involved in a race instead of participating in an an event. This was a good confidence builder as I head into the most critical month of my IMAZ training plan.


Red Rock, as usual, put on a very professionally run race. They do a great job.