Nathan Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I'm always really nervous for the swim start, this race was no exception. We got in the water a little before 6:50 and had to swim like 50meters to the buoys. Not sure why they did it that way for this race. Probably to clear room for the next wave to get into the water.

I tried to stay in the middle of the wave. During previous races I've stayed at the front to avoid getting kicked but I end up going out too fast. I tried to grab the feet of somebody in front of me and just keep up a solid effort. I started breathing ever other stroke as opposed to every third like I do in training. I had a hard time finding people to draft off of so I just plotted a line and tried to swim straight towards the buoy. I felt good throughout and when I got the the turnaround I glanced at my watch and I was a couple of minutes behind where I wanted to be. I tried to pick up the pace a little on the way back and was shocked when I saw my time. I thought either the course was long or I really sucked at OWS.

The consensus is that the course was 200-250 meters long. That would account for some of the unanticipated time but I was hoping to be faster then this. Overall good swim. I didn't swallow too much water and I didn't have any stomach issues heading into transition.

Invent a way for a RD to have an accurate swim course. It seems like the last 2-3 races I've done the courses have been long.

I need to work on my OWS. I can put up good times in the pool training but it just doesn't translate in races. I'm always slower my almost 10 seconds per 100M. This off season I think I might look into so swim form training. If nothing else it will help me be more efficient so that I don't expend so much energy during this portion of the race.

This should have been quicker but at least I was able to find my rack right away.

Just be faster

Going into this race I have the goal of improving my previous OLY time which was 2:56:xx. This race fell a month out from my A race of the SOMA half ironman. My ultimate goal was to just have a good day and gain some experience that I can take into SOMA. I wanted to break 2:50:00 and part of that was to at least average 19mph on the bike. Up to this point I've never really been prepared for a race and I've always been under trained. That has always caused me to not perform well and put up bad splits in the bike and run.

As soon as I got out of transition I just tucked into my aero position and pushed a comfortable but faster pace. I stayed in the big ring which is something that I've been trying to do (push a bigger gear). I kept glancing at my garmin and saw that I was always around 19-26 mph. Of course the 90 degree and hair pin turns didn't help any but I felt comfortable and just kept pushing the pace. After about the first lap I knew I was going to average more then 19mph and would finish the bike portion faster then 1:30:00. I smiled and just kept riding hard while dodging people over shooting turns and riding two-three abreast on their mountain bikes. I made it off the course unscaved by some of the craziness that was out there.

Push harder. I think that despite this being my best performance on the bike that I held back a little because I was unsure of how this effort was going to affect my run. I passed a lot of people and even dropped a guy in my AG that I had been battling back and forth with. My bike training SOMA has been solid with more then 5 rides at 90 miles. My high training volume was what gave me the ability to ride so well and to run even better afterwords. I held back a little and looking back definitely could have pushed harder.

Again, too slow. Maybe I need to start practicing transitions because this should have been a lot faster. I also run with socks and while I had them rolled up and ready to go, that still takes a little bit of time. Maybe I'll start running without socks in training and see if that will toughen up my feet for a sock-less run in a race.

Just try to move quicker. Maybe run without socks if it's something that I've done enough training with.

Felt pretty good right off the bike. I was a little surprised as I didn't know how my legs would feel given my effort on the bike. I started out faster then what I wanted to or could hold. Sub 7 min/mile but a backed off into a pace that was comfortable. My plan was to go slower then what I normally run and then gradually build into a faster pace. I felt so good that I just floated between 7.5-8 minutes per mile. I had waster at every aid station and made sure to dump some on myself to keep cool. I finished the 5K in 23 minutes and was ecstatic. I had my garmin on one wrist for my run time and my Timex watch on the other wrist that had been keeping track of my total time and my lap time. I knew that I was going to smoke my sub 2:50:00 goal but I didn't know by how much. I was thinking around 2:40:00 or a little more depending on how the second 5K went. I was feeling good with my pace and I tried to keep it under 8min/mile. At one of the aid stations I took in too much water and could feel it sloshing around in my stomach. My pace slowed for a few minutes as my stomach adjusted. The discomfort subsided and I picked up the pace to where I was. A I got to the North end of Mill Ave I knew that I would finish under 2:40:00 and I really just pushed it from there. I went into a full out "run for your life" sprint down the finish shoot and gave a fist pump and a scream as I crossed the finish line. I was on cloud 9 and could not believe that raced so well. Not only did I bet my previous OLY time, I killed it by shaving 22 minutes off of it. I'm excited for where my fitness is at and for what is possible at the SOMA HIM.

Be more careful about taking in too much water. I also might have been able to push the pace a little faster but not by much. This is the fastest that I've ran a 10K in since doing triathlons and I'm more then happy about my performance.

Had a piece of pizza at the finish line and a beer with the Arizona BT people. Shot the shit and discussed the race with everybody.

Afterwords Mindi and I joined some friends for tailgating at the Cardinals game. Perfect way to celebrate a PR.


My pace on the bike had little to no effect on my run so I could have definitely pushed the pace harder on the bike and averaged 21 or more. My OWS needs work but for the time, effort and money that it would cost I'm not sure how much of a benefit I'd see and my time and effort might be better spent working on my cycling and running.


Great race! The bike course could use some rework but I understand the logistical nightmare between having the optimal course and keeping the race within one small city like Tempe.

I love Redrock and their races and this one is a must every year.