Southwest YMCA OLYMPIC tri : Official Thread

This will be my 1st Sprint. Looks like we'll have great weather.

Yep, also, think this is a good course for 1st's. Think it's all pretty flat in the middle of a metropolis.......My 2nd TriFamily race, 1st one was pretty good, organized, etc. Wondering how the Oly swim werx? That pool doesn't have the lanes to cover the distance with one pass thru the pool.

I'm working (volunteer) for this one. hope to see you guys there!

this will be my first olympic distance as well and my 3rd tri family race. the only thing i dont like about tri family races is the wait that takes forever to start. i know we will have to get everyhing in transition by 615 and then sit and wait forever. aside from that i hope it doesnt rain like it has the past 3 or 4 sundays

I'm originally from PHX and am driving in from San Antonio late on Sat for a family vacation.  Not sure how smart it is to do the Oly after a 15 hr drive with 5 kids, but I'm still looking forward to it, maybe I am slightly insane.  Other than the multi lap swim/bike and the late start, is there any other local advice?

Edited by bearpauly 2010-03-08 12:54 PM

you'll do fine. Beware last year it was HOT.

keep loose and warmed up. not only do you have to wait for the kids tri but also the adult sprint. It may not be until around 8-830 (my guess) before the olympic starts. the last few times ive raced with this organization ive done my warm up a little early and been not smart about it...then come race time i am a little sluggish starting out.

Any idea how many are signed up for the Oly?  Is there any method to the swim seed madness or just first come....?  How full does the pool get?  I'm used to open water here and in Austin, only done 2 "pool" tri's in the past both sprints..... 

Mark usually starts folks by age, in DESCENDING order.

This was my first race 2 years ago, did the sprint.  Both the wife and I will be doing our first Olympic distance at this race.  2 years ago, the swim start was based on age, oldest to youngest.  As far as the Olympic swim, they started in lane six and had you serpentine swim the pool.  Up one lane of 50M and then under the lane line and then back down, so each lane only goes one direction.  You started in lane 6 and swam until you got to the end of lane 1 then got out and ran back to 8, swam 8 to 1 then got out and ran back to 8 and did that a few time until you got your distance.  You end up doing 6 to 1 once and 8 to 1 three times.  From 8 to 1 will be 400m.  Unless Mark has changed the race, this is what I am expecting.

JJ

On the bike, are there still traffic lights to stop at? Since it goes on major roads I was wondering how that worked. Will there be a lane blocked off for bikes? Just wondering.

There may be one lane blocked for you on some of the route and half a lane on other parts. You should have a cop at each stop light, so you will not need to stop. Anything can happen though. Good luck!

There's an In N Out burger just down the street from the tri. Dysart just N of the I-10. Yummy!

  Yeah, don't speed between Tucson and Phx!!!!!! Be safe.

Amazingly got bags for 7 and the bike in the back of a Yukon XL.  See y'all (Texan for you) on Sunday and thanks for the reminder about the speed traps!  I'll remind my 16 yr old with the learners permit not to speed!

In N Out......I gotta get a double double  it's been a long time!

Edited by bearpauly 2010-03-12 10:42 PM

Well, I've done all the training I can for this race. Now it's just rest, relax and mentally prepare for it. For some people, even a sprint might be an easy race but this is my first and I don't really know what to expect. I have an idea of what my times will be and I'm guessing I'll be almost last but I just want to finish. I have plenty of time to get faster. I'm guessing that my swim will take 9 min (400 yds), 2:30 for T1, 40-45 min for the bike (12 mile), 1:30 for T2 and 35 min for the run (3 miles). That puts me at just a bit over 1 1/2 hours. I know that the winners will finish in a few minutes over 1 hour but through my training, I know that I can finish.

Hope to see everyone there. I'll be the 6'1" red head with the blue Specialized road bike with clip on aerobars. We'll see if I use them or not.

Good luck to everyone and I hope everyone stays safe and has fun.

I'll be thanking all the volunteers.


Todd

Hey Todd, Great attitude! I'll keep an eye out for you. Like to check out that Specialized! Good luck..Todd

Finished my 1st triathlon this morning and it was a really good experience. As soon as I got there, I ran into a fellow BT'r (think it was todds) who said hello and that was a nice way to start the morning. Got in the pool and the 2 people in front of me and in back of me were doing their 1st tri's. That was also cool. Volunteers were great at helping out someone who had never done this before and were pointing everyone to where they needed to go. Wish I would have said thanks more to them On the bike someone passed me at the beginning and they had already done the loop and he told me what the wind conditions were and that was so nice. I said good job to the people who passed me and those I passed. Even waved to the police who were running the intersections. Out on the run I struggled. I was walking a lot when hardly anyone else was and at one point someone passed me and said, "You can walk tomorrow, let's go" and I started to run again. That was so nice for him to say. On the last stretch to the finish down the neighborhood a 65 yo man passed by and said, "You don't want to tell everyone at the finish that you got passed by a 65 yo man do you, come on and run with me". I did until almost the very end and I thought that was the neatest thing. Whoever you are (man with the South African accent), Thank You. Probably bigger than my accomplishment to finish was the experience I had with other people before and on the course. Thank you to everyone who cheered me on and motivated me to keep going.

Edited by phxphotog 2010-03-14 4:28 PM

This user's post has been ignored.

Had a great time at the race today.......but I'm wondering if anyone else that did the Olympic distance found the course to be a little short?  I had the bike at 23.8 miles, and the run at 5.64 miles on my Garmin.  Regardless, it was a great time, lots of awesome volunteers, and perfect weather!  Congrats to everyone who competed!