Amica 19.7 Phoenix - Sprint Course - TriathlonSprint

Before the race, I kept reminding myself to keep my pace and breathing pattern from the start, I was successful in pacing and breathing throughout the swim. The swim went well. There was some, but not much, contact at the start. About halfway through, my arms were very tired. I don't know if it was the shoulder resistance of the wetsuit as I am fairly sure I put it on properly. At about 600 yards, I felt the familiar smack on my leg, looked over and saw a female from the wave behind me zoom by. I felt like I was doing a swimming version of trudging when I got to the swim exit. I stripped my wetsuit off before entering T1, so that is included in my swim time. It came off very quickly! I was surprised that my pace was faster than at Nathan's!

Practice in open water more so I do not have muscle memory to stop to turn every 25 yards. Have faith in my training. Most importantly, swim more!!

My transition seemed cluttered as I added cycling gloves and, due to it being chilly, a cycling jersey. Both took longer to put on than I expected. It still does not account for the long T1 time as my cycling sandals went on quickly. Ate a Stinger very quickly on my way out of T1.

Practice, practice, practice going through transitions more so I move through them by habit, and I do not have to think. Work on staying focused despite fatigue from the swim. Organize my transition space better.

I got a good start on the bike and the entire ride went well. Even though there were a lot of turns, this course was very fun to ride! I only passed a few people, but I got passed a lot. I realized my cornering skills increased dramatically during the race due to so many turns. Both my mount and dismount were nothing fancy but went smoothly. I encouraged others but only as I was passing them at my speed. My hamstrings and glutes REALLY started to ache, I think from the repeated accelerating out of the turns. This was slightly slower than Nathan's, but this course had so many turns and was four miles longer.

More time in the saddle and work on the engine! I hope to get an indoor trainer to do a lot of cycling drills during the winter (I don't like riding in the dark during the week). I hear clipless pedals might give a little speed boost. I need to get more comfortable standing up to accelerate.

No reason for such a slow transition. Bike sandals came off quickly and running shoes went on the same. Drank some water and headed out to the run.

Again, I just need to practice, practice, practice so I do T2 on auto-pilot.

I started out too fast but quickly caught myself and slowed down. I worked hard to maintain a steady pace, hoping against hope I would run faster than ten minute miles. The only time I walked was through the water station so I could drink two cups of water. I briefly chatted with a couple of people but only while I was running the pace I wanted. My hamstrings and glutes ached worse than on the bike. I finished strong with a pace of 9:44/mile (much better than Nathan's 10:46/mile)!

Run faster and run more! Actually, I think I did very well on this run. I kept running when I wanted to walk, walked only through the water station, and pushed to amintain a good pace. I am very pleased with this run.

Walked around, packed up transition, walked to the car and loaded my bike. I forgot to stretch immediately after the race.


Overall fitness level and needing more practice in all three disciplines and both transitions.

HOWEVER, for this being my third triathlon, all completed within six weeks, and having only six months of training from no base in any of the triathlon dsiciplines, I think this was a successful conclusion to the season.


It was a fairly organized race. Lots of friendly volunteers guiding you and the courses were well marked. I enjoyed receiving a finishers medal, and a nice one at that. The post-race "free for participants" breakfast buffet had a wide variety of good food and was plentiful.

While it was a bummer coming in 13 of 13 in my AG, I was pleased with my times. It should also be noted that the first two finishers in my AG were also the top 2 non-pro finishers overall!