Tempe International Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

The first segment heading east blew, I was facing the sun the whole way, and every time I tried to sight the buoy I got nothing but sunlight in the face. After I rounded the first buoy I could see again. But I was slowing down, I kept getting pushed around by what I assume must be current, and went off course so many times, every time I sighted again, it felt like the buoy was in a different place.

Apparently the swim was longer than the 1500m it was supposed to be, I'm told by a good number of reliable sources with garmins on that it was around 2000 yards. I didn't change anything to account for how often I was off course and the extra distance that accrued as a result. Whatever.

For some reason this was the first OWS in which I was completely at ease. Usually I'm creeped out by my inability to see the bottom, and the certain knowledge that there are gnarly fish below me waiting for me to swim by so they can bite my toes. I think I watched too many scary lake/ocean/body of water movies as a kid.

Around the last 500 meters or so, my armpits were starting to get sore from rubbing so much on my tri jersey. I had heard stories of body butter in other people's logs, but no real useful information as to what it's for, what it does, and where to use it. Lesson learned.

1) Buy goggles with a shaded/mirrored surface.
2) Sight more often
3) Practice more open water swims.

It was a good transition for me. Though I did forget to take out my earplugs and because they are form fitting I barely know they're in there. I picked up a new transition backpack and it had a small collapsible stool in it. That was very helpful in getting my shoes on. It didn't feel like 3 minutes, but I guess it was. I had a gu on the way out, and two ice-cold gatorade bottles (frozen the night before, and only half melted). I felt good.

Luckily the guy in the rack next to me had some body butter and he hooked me up. I couldn't put my arms down, although that stuff hurt putting it on. Don't know if it was because my armpits were already chaffed or if it's always like that.

Nothing much, maybe move a bit faster, but It was a good T1
Buy body butter

Every time I looked at my cycle computer it was over 20mph, but a couple times on the hills (which were admittedly not very big) I slowed down. I tried to concentrate on keeping a rhythm, and making appropriate gear changes. Down shifting going up hill and corners, up shifting going down hill. There were a couple spots that I could have pushed myself much harder but didn't realize I had settled back into a comfortable pace until it was too late. Stepping up the gearing and cranking harder at these points yielded great results.

I had my earplugs in for the first lap, and shortly into the second lap a bug hit my ear and when I slapped at the side of my head I felt my earplug and still didn't realize what it was. I thought it was the bug, so I grabbed it and threw, and as I saw the translucent blue blur fly from my hand it dawned on me and I let out an audible, "FUCK" as I watched it disappear into a bush on an unidentified stretch of a road who'se name I had no clue of. I sighed and threw the other one too.

It became evident that something is wrong with my ability to sit. For some reason my ass gets completely sore by about 10 miles (which on a 25 mile ride is a very bad thing). By about 15 miles my twig and berries start to go numb. I mean completely numb, it's like a void in my crotch. So logically I must assume one of a few scenarios:
a) I don't know how to sit
b) My seat is adjusted wrong
c) My seat sucks and I need a new seat

Focus on my effort. If I feel comfortable with the pace, I'm obviously not pushing myself.

Figure out the whole sitting thing. I've been doing it my whole life, but I slouch a bit when I sit, a luxury one does not have on a bike.

I had entertained the thought of buying some of those quick-laces for my shoes. But dismissed the idea for some reason. So I left my shoes unlaced and my socks rolled down in my shoes. The rolled-down socks is always a good idea. The laces untied was completely stupid. It takes a lot longer to tie shoes when your dexterity is diminished from having swam a mile and biked 25. So this was a very long T2, but I think the little extra time helped a bit.

Buy quick-laces.

This has to be the hottest I've ever felt in my life. About 95% of the course was completely shadeless, it was 104 outside, and all of my hard earned hydration was leaking out of my pores at an alarming rate.

Thankfully I had my fuel belt with a couple bottles on it. So at every aid station I dumped 2 or 3 cups of ice water on me and refilled my bottles with fresh cold water. It helped a bit for about a half mile until the cold water was warm, and the refreshing coolness given by the periodic dousing was gone.

I kept pace with a few people, the talking and company helped keep my mind off of the heat. I had to stop and walk more than a few times and pour cold water on my calves to keep them from cramping up.

Trent (Teachertrent) and Ramsey (A guy I started talking to because his jersey was a skeleton and I kept calling him Skeletor) were awesome and helped a ton. I didn't even notice that my armpits were on fire.

Oh apparently I'm sunburnt as hell now.

Run in the winter, or at night, or install a 3 mile lawn sprinkler system around the race course and keep it running the whole time.

Sunblock...it is my friend.

Found the ESCKTC tent, and had a bottle of water. it's a shame, I brought beer, and when I finished the race,the last thing on my mind was beer. I just wanted water and cold food.

My wife and kids met me after the race, and while I picked up my gear from transition and packed it into the car, the kids played at the water park.

We went for a celebratory dinner at Texas Road House afterwards, and that was the best steak I've ever had. 16oz of USDA Sirloin cooked medium rare with steam vegetables and a ceasar salad.


I hate to blame things, I know that I'm still struggling with the mental aspect of the sport. But I have to honestly say that the heat played a huge role in my sluggishness. I could have pushed myself harder, but at what cost? Heat stroke? Cramps?


An excellent race, tons of volunteers, and my first olympic. I survived it and I learned a lot about myself in the process.