Yesterday was the innaugural Timex Triathlon here in Tempe AZ. There was a Sprint and Olympic race. I competed in the Olympic race along with 500 others. The Sprint field was also limited to 500 for a total of 1000 athelets. Good thing, too, as you will read .

I arose at 4:00, which for me is one of the easiest parts of the day as thats when I get up to go to work during the week anyway. Had some coffee and a cliff bar and headed on down to the start. My coach was just arriving setting up his booth at the finish area and I got my gear into transition. Bikes had been checked the day before, so there wasn't a lot to lug around.
In the week leading up to this race, there was a number of news reports regarding an excessive PH level in the Tempe Town Lake which had closed it to recreational swimming. As the event drew near, that restriction was lifted but the course had to be changed. Instead of two long legs out and back it became a square course with 1 lap for Sprint and 2 laps for Olympic. Also, at the last athelete meeting at the Expo on Saturday, they had to ban wetsuits as they water temp was 1 degree above the 78 cutoff for USAT. So we have a lot of first timers who have been robbed of their safety blankets and a square course with multiple loops. You can imagine how this swim is going to go!

The Swim: Well, they started the men's Sprint and Oly Pro's first. Then the women's Sprint went next. 2 min later, womens Olympic lined up with my wave, Oly men 35 and up, right behind them. The ladies go, we line up as the mens Sprint guy's start coming in with the Oly pro's right behind. Gun goes off and we go. By the first turn marker, I am into the back of the womens start group. Pandemonium! I felt awful as I clobbered at least 4 gals in the back of the head. I spent a good portion of that first lap saying, "I'm sorry! Are you OK!". At every turn, there was a crush of people. The square format never let the field spread out, although it was easier to track straight between markers. On lap 2, it was a little better. Still, it was tough to keep a solid pace due to traffic conditions. A lot of us also think the swim was about 100-150 yards too long. I think I was 15th out of the water overall.
Swim Split- 26:25

T1: The run to T1 was at least 300 yards up into a baseball diamond. So that wasn't great but when I arrived, most of the Sprint traffic was gone, so on with the shades, helmet, and race belt (they required us to wear our # on the bike), grab the Litespeed and out. They had a mat down leading to the road...that somehow ended 10 feet from the sidewalk, forcing you to run through some soft sand....in bare, wet feet.....When I put my feet on top of my shoes at the mount line, they got pretty muddy and sandy . I was able to wipe some on the fly before I put my feet in.
T1-1:26

The Bike: Let me begin by saying that where the swim was a little long, this bike course is a little short. Probably closer to 24 miles and change than a full 40K. Keep that in mind when you see my time. The bike course I had ridden before in my first race in May that was in the same location, so I knew it well. 2 loops for Sprint, 4 loops for Olympic on the roads around the Lake. It's fairly flat, only one noteworthy climb and then some nice high speed stretches. Traffic was terrible as now I am picking my way through the back of the Sprint pack and then the back of the Olympic AG'ers. 4 very sharp, 90 degree turns also made it interesting, as some folks on Hybrid bikes try and take corners too tight and end up swinging wide into your path. I also almost, and I mean missed him by 1 foot, hit a cop trying to pick up a fallen waterbottle! I think I said, "ON YOUR LEFT!" 23,000 times .
Bike Split- 57:01

T2: So feet out of shoes, peddle, feet on top of shoes, peddle, BRAKE! Dismount. Back into Transition, rack the ride slip on the Nike's, run out! As I was leaving Transition, this sweet lady at run out yells...."Your helmet!" Oh....My...God...I am still wearing my helmet! Classic newbie mistake! . I unhook the chin strap and toss it into the grass at the exit of transition (They later put it back on my rack).
T2- 1:11

The Run- The run was 2 laps around the Lake on a concrete pedestrian path, using 2 bridges to cross back and forth over the water, 1 lap for the Sprinters. During the bike, as everyone is all mixed together, it's impossible to really gauge where you are relative to your competition. It's easier on the run. I was moving through the slower Sprint folks when Ispotted a guy I knew was in my race. It's funny, but you can just tell (you know what I mean, jdub?!). He didn't have a very good pace going and I passed him and looked back once to make sure I had dropped him. Now the fatigue is starting to set in. All my trainign is huge base work for IM AZ in April. I don't do speed workouts yet, so red lining for this long is hard for me. Kept up the pace as I came around for lap 2, saw my coach and wife and 2 dogs which gave me a nice shot of new vigor and set out to bring it home. Now, in my other Olympic races, at this point I never seem to catch anyone in front of me and I have never been passed on the bike or the run, so I figure I am where I am and that will be my day. With 1.5 lousy miles to go, I look ahead and see another one of "those" guys. He's in my race, he's 50 feet ahead, he's 6'1", long legs, looks like he's doing good.....Crap. I stay on my pace, and I'm getting closer. He's only 31, so not in my AG, but it is a position. I sneak in behind him and figure I'll shadow him until just before the finish and thenm try and lay all out. As we turn for the final bridge, he glances back and see's me! I'm busted! We exchange, "hey, lookin' good!". He aks, "Are you finishing?" I respond, "Trying too!". He laughs. Well, it's now or never, so pick it up as best as my legs seem to want to allow and look for him to respond. It's funny how you legs, 1/4 mile from the finish, still hold you back just a little. It's not till that last 500 yards that they say, "OK, GO!!!!" Fortunatley, he was done and by the time I turned for the finish chute, he was almost 50 seconds behind. I cross the line....BEEP!!!
Run- 38:14

So it's a PR for me- 2:04:35, 9th overall, 4th overall Age Grouper, 1st in Age Group Men's 35-39. Was only 1 min behind the last Pro, so that was cool. It was a great result and even better as it is nearly identical to the first Olympic race I did in May where I finished in 2:12:00, so it's nice to see I have improved. Now to put it all together for the Soma Half Iron next month!

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Bryan