Deuces Wild Olympic Triathlon - Triathlon

The water felt extremely cold to me, even though the temperature was announced in the low 60s. Thankfully, we were able to get in fifteen minutes before the start to get used to it a little. I didn’t feel great on the swim, and was moving pretty slow, but I wasn’t panicking or anything severe. I kept reminding myself that I was at 6300 feet, and I historically don’t respond very well to higher altitudes. As a result, I was prone to elevated heart rate and breathing trouble. In the water, that can result in a panic spiral, so I slowed down and made sure to keep things under control. My time suffered a little, but I made it out of the water okay and only lost a few minutes.

Not great (needed sunscreen) but not as bad as 2010

After a sub-par swim and an average transition, when I started the bike, I was only a couple of minutes ahead of my 2010 pace. The ride is where the wheels started to come off that year, so I was hoping to make up some time and continue the momentum into the run. My biggest criticism of my riding in 2010 was that I had settled into a pace and locked in rather than pushing and pursuing. I tried to keep that in mind during the ride, but it was challenging for a few reasons.
First, since most of my training is now indoors, it takes me a little time to get a good feel for riding outside. This adjustment period seems to take a few miles at the start of each event. Unfortunately, the first few miles of this course include a few steep descents. I can get a little skittish at high speeds, and creeping toward 40 mph with a crosswind while I was in my adjustment period was a little too much, so I backed off. As I passed an accident (everyone looked to be okay), I thanked myself for taking a conservative approach. Second, the lack of density of riders made pushing the pace a mental game. In a lot of events, there are always plenty of riders pretty close to reel in. You push, catch someone, pass them, and repeat. Since this course spreads out pretty thin, the next person you are chasing can be a long way away. That requires some focus. I did okay with it, but felt my concentration lagging on occasion. Third, the altitude was playing with me a little bit. Breathing was tougher and my heart rate was higher at the same effort level I am used to maintaining. Despite the challenges, I had a decent ride.
I pulled into transition in 1:09 feeling pretty good about the effort. In 2010, I had taken 1:27 on the bike course, so I knew I would be hitting the run course with 20 minutes in the bank over the 2010 time.

A little slow, but again, sunscreen

The run is where I completely fell apart in 2010. By the time I got off the bike, the course had already taken everything out of me. The only redeeming quality of the run was spending it with my friend Tom, who was injured and was walking back to transition. As much walking as I did, the run course took me 1:34 to complete. I was determined not to embarrass myself again.
Barring a spectacular collapse, I knew that I would be able to achieve my goal – the only question was what the numbers would be. The first mile passed without incident, but I always plod along when running on gravel. I am not exactly light on my feet, and I sink into soft surfaces. I was looking forward to hitting concrete when getting to the campground.
At this point in the morning, the sun was out and it was starting to heat up. The course, while not mountainous, is hilly enough to make you feel it. These two factors combined to make things tough. I was starting to overheat, my legs were getting tired, and the elevation wasn’t helping either. I knew at that point it wouldn’t be a great run, but it didn’t have to be a disaster either. At the aid stations, I walked through and got some fluids in while I collected myself. I still reached the midway point in a little over 30 minutes, so things were not going that badly. If I could push the second half, I might be able to get in under an hour, and under three overall. I tried to hold these mini-goals out as motivation.
In the last mile, the course finally won out. I needed to pick up the pace to hit the mini goals, and there was nothing but a long uphill in sight. I got on the hill and my legs just quit. I slowed to a crawl and started again. I repeated this sequence a few times until I finally reached the top and could see that the finish was just ahead. A run time below an hour was now out the window, but I was really close to three hours for the whole event. I seemed to recall that I started my watch about 15 seconds before the official gun went off at the beginning. My timing was just a little off and I tried to cut it too close. I thought I was under three hours with a couple of seconds to spare, but officially, my final time was 3:00:05. Missed it by five seconds. No big deal.

I talked to a couple of people on the way to transition that I had seen on the course and compared notes with another as I packed up. I rode the bike back to the hotel; I wasn’t in the best shape, and hadn’t had the best day, but I was still 55 minutes better than I was on my worst day back in 2010.


This is tough course – not as tough as Patagonia or Bartlett, which have much bigger hills, but the elevation definitely makes it more challenging than a course profile would indicate. It is well run, with some nice bonuses. The trip to Show Low was a long drive, but it’s a solid race.