Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona 2014 : Official ThreadHi everyone! Ironman Arizona on 11/16 will be my 4th time at IMAZ. My first IM was IM Arizona in April 2006 (that's my profile image, starting out on the run). My second and fastest (11:53) was IM Arizona April 2007. My third was April 2008, that was the year they had a second iM Arizona in November, and it's been in November since. I've done a total of nine IMs, but I haven't managed to make it back to Arizona. In 2011, I signed up but dropped out because it was the same weekend as my middle daughter's Dad's Weekend at college. I didn't want to disappoint her. In 2012, I signed up but dropped out because of work pressures and time constraints. And I signed for this last race, and was training hard, but then I crashed and broke my collarbone and that was that. And not only did I have to cancel IM Arizona, I also had to drop out of IM Los Cabo last March, because it's just too close. Earlier in the year I'd been hoping to be able to train hard enough to PR this race, but family and work got in the way (as they do, triathlon is #3 priority) and anything in the 12:xx range would be great by me. My training is been appropriate to achieve that.. I'm a back of pack swimmer, middle of pack cyclist, and a faster runner. I pride myself on running the entire run and pace the bike accordingly. I've been in Tempe many times for races, marathon, volunteer to register for the race, and so on. I'm planning on the usual taper run, bike, and practice swims and so far conditions look just great. I'm happy the lake monitor says 68 degrees. If there are any meet-ups planned I'd be happy to go. My wife and I are staying at the Tempe Mission Palms, right there on Mill. |