I don't know how you celebrated your 61st birthday, but I did the Tempe International Triathlon, the international (and not sprint) distance, after flying home from New Jersey Saturday evening. I was going to be very happy with anything under 3 hours, and did -- 2:52:16. That pace might have been good enough to podium in some tris in my age group, but we had 7 men age 60-64 who did the race in 2:35 or less, and I've never been under 2:45 even in my younger days. So I was 8/13 in my division, while 243/331 overall. I was part of the TriScottsdale mob that took first place in the AZ Club Championships. I also made a couple of mistakes (I had cleat covers on my bicycle shoes, so I wasted 1-2 minutes trying fruitlessly to clip in until I realized what was happening; lost my only water bottle at the beginning of the second loop of the bicycle course, so I was dehydrated for the start of the run; and cut my leg awkwardly dismounting my bicycle) but still managed to run the entire 10K (except for walking through water stops). I'm told there will be pictures later, but they're not up yet.
A very nice day, even if it started at 3:30 am. The best part? At packet pickup, the volunteer who got me my number and swim cap asked if I was under or over 40. When she learned it was my 61st birthday, she said I looked pretty good. How can you not have a good day after that?
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