Monday, September 21, 2015

Lifetime Tempe Triathlon


So: 90 percent of life is just showing up (at the finish line, anyway).  There were only 5 entries in my age group, but I finished third, and got "a podium" and a medal the size of a salad plate.  3:17:15 isn't a very good time, and I've done basically this course in 30 minutes less, but not when it was that warm or when I was more worried about recovery from an injury than my time.  So good!

This was a test race, to see if my foot would hold up on an Olympic run, and it did.  I took transitions very slowly, no running out of the swim or with my bike, and started walking before I felt comfortable enough to run.  OK swim (34 min; I think that includes walking from the water exit to transition, the swim felt faster than that); good bike (1:22 overall, with a slight negative split, 17.9 mph on the first loop and 18.1 on the second), and a 10K run-walk in 1:13, which is better than I thought it was (with the heat, it felt longer), and with a slight negative split as well.  All in all, a very satisfactory day, and a necessary-but-not-sufficient test for IM Florida in not quite 6 weeks.