Desert International Triathlon - Triathlon

Despite the water being cold, and the weather being windy, the lake was calm. I didn’t feel great in the water, but there was no panic – just slow moving. After ten years of little progress, I have pretty much given up on big improvements in the water – very little return is seen for time invested. I just train enough to get ready for the distance of the next race and maintain my comfort in the water, but do very little more. I find that spending my time doing additional biking and running is more worthwhile.

I finally made my way around the course, and was relieved to be heading out on the bike. I knew most of the field would be in front of me and I would have to contend with a lot of crowding on the bike course, but that is the penalty for being a below average swimmer.

There was a decent distance from the lake to the transition area, and I had a lot of trouble putting on my bike gloves. Not ideal.

I put a lot of effort into bike training over the winter. I started doing more structured workouts on a new trainer and using virtual power as a metric (I won’t go into details about this here, because it is very boring to most people, but if anyone is interested, I would be willing to talk into you’re tired of hearing about it. :)). Through the course of the new training regimen, I realized that I had not been working nearly hard enough on my sessions in previous years. The new workouts forced me to push harder and I felt like I had improved as a results. This would be my first opportunity to find out, and it would be on a relatively flat course, which plays to my strengths.

I knew the winds were expected to pick up throughout the day, so I wanted to finish and get off the bike before they kicked up. I briskly made my way out of the park and seemed to be maintaining a good speed. I got onto the loop section and went to work. Since the course was flat and straight, I just wanted to maintain a strong effort. Every time I looked down, I was between 22 and 23 mph, which is really solid for me. I felt like I was giving a good effort, but not pushing too hard.

I finished the first loop, and knew that there would be no surprises the rest of the way since I had seen the whole course. There was one guy who I kept trading spots with, and every time I passed him he managed to catch me not too long after. I finally decided to see if all of the training had given me a new burst. After a few exchanges, I was coming up behind him. I switched into a higher gear and hit the pedals. As I went by him, I heard him yell out ‘Nice!’. He caught me later on the run course (they usually do…) and told me how much fun he had racing me on the bike. He said that after the last time I passed him, he started to crack and couldn’t catch me again. I told him that the run course was where I crack and to enjoy the rest of the race. It was a nice exchange.

I finished the bike and estimated that I averaged about 22.5 mph – not quite a PR, but very good. I feel like I am stronger than I have been even if the speed doesn’t necessarily reflect it. I’m carrying a little more weight right now, and I didn’t feel like I had pushed as hard as I could have. I’m getting a new bike frame, so that might be a nice last hurrah for the trusty Cervelo that I have had since 2009.

Okay transition. Nothing notable

The run gave me some trouble on a few different levels. It was a little hiller than expected (not extremely, but enough to notice). In addition, most of it was on sand and gravelly road. I tend to perform best on flat pavement. The winds were also starting to pick up in a big way. Here we go.

I wasn’t running well, but I was able to sustain an average pace over terrain I wasn’t fond of. I was getting passed by a bunch of people I had passed on the bike, which was discouraging but expected when I am not in my best run shape. I got spoiled at the end of 2014 and most of 2015 – being a lot lighter, running was much easier and I was able to hold people off much more effectively.

Regardless, I kept making my way around the lake, and finally finished the first loop. One more to go. On the second loop, the wind really made its presence felt. Being a desert course, and having a beach area around the lake, the wind was blowing sand everywhere. Since I was already covered in water and sweat, the sand was sticking to me, creating a nice sandpaper effect. Also, note to self – sand moving at a high velocity hurts when entering the eyes. I fought the wind/dust storm for the final two miles, past aid stations that had become unmoored and had no cups left standing, and assisting a spectator with retrieving a hat that had blown off and was flying across my path. Even though it was miserable, I knew the situation was still somewhat laughable, and would make for a great memory and good story later. I came into what was left of the finisher’s chute (the inflatable finish arch had been removed) (or blown away, I’m not sure) and finished the event with a not-unrespectable 2:47.

I went to retrieve my things from transition, and saw additional carnage left by the winds. My bike had blown off the rack, and my helmet and swim cap were missing. Other people’s equipment was strewn all over. I finally tracked down my helmet a couple of rows over. My swim cap was lost (although these are issued by the event and are rarely kept anyway). I assembled everything and made my way to the car. I felt grit and sand in my mouth for the rest of the afternoon, but it was a good and memorable start to the season.


The organizers did a good job with the event under less than ideal conditions. It was well organized, and they can’t control the weather. They made the right decision to proceed. It would have been a big disappointment to cancel, and conditions were fine for most of the morning. Everything that was in their control, they did well. It was a quality event.