Iron Gear Sports Rio Salado Tri - TriathlonOlympic

This was my best race swim yet. I only have 4 to compare to but still! I had spent a couple of days just telling myself to stay calm and avoid those panic moments, stroke slow and steady and swim from buoy to buoy. The course was a triangle and sighting going out was hard because we were staring at the sun coming up so I just followed the girls in front of me. This is the first swim where I didn't have to take a break and catch my breath. This was a big breakthrough for me :) I pr'd the swim by over 8 minutes.

Nothing for this swim. I wasn't very fast but getting though it calmly and swimming consistently made my day!

Planned ahead and thought through what I needed to do in transition and cut my T1 time by 1/2 from my last race. I must of been having breakfast last time ;)

I liked that this was a 2 loop course. It was fun knowing that I knew where all the turns were the 2nd time around. I wanted to stay around 15 mph and I was able to do that. I'm not very fast on the bike but I'm getting faster with time. Pr'd from my last race by 20 min. I drank a nutrition bottle and a bottle of water during the bike and stayed pretty hydrated. I lost some power on the 2nd loop which I think is both the heat getting to me and just still working up my fitness.

I would of liked to push a little harder on the bike but I'm mentally still working on wondering if I'd still have enough in my legs for the run especially with the heat.

Another good T for me. It was fun trying to get out of there in a hurry.

The run was a 2 loop course on the path around Tempe Lake. They added an additional water station because of the heat which was wonderful. I started at a good pace and took 2 cups at every water stop. One for me and one for my head. I took a few walk breaks to get my heart rate down and because it was frigging hot by this time! I didn't pr the run but was still happy to get it done.

I'm planning on doing more hot afternoon runs during my training. I probably could of pushed myself a little more on the run but I think that's going to come with better fitness and experience.

Walked around a bit and stretched. Had some Muscle Milk.


Red Rock Company puts on a great race. Lots and lots of volunteers and all very organized. I had my first wetsuit stripper experience and that was kind of fun :)

This was only my second Oly and I PR'd by almost 25 minutes! I did better then the goals I set for the day and overall I'm happy with my first tri of the season. I know some new things to work on and I'm excited to get back to training.

I've come to the conclusion that Arizona has some pretty competitive athletes :) I came in 9/9 even with getting faster. I looked up the results from my first Oly and if I had come in with my Tempe time I would of come in 10/25. I'm not looking to podium anytime soon but it was nice to know that I was racing with some fast 50-54 years olds!

My niece Molly raced too and it was such a fun weekend together. Thanks for all the encouragement Molly!