Life Time Tempe Triathlon 2017

The fall (and now only -- they cancelled the Marquee event in April) Life Time Olympic/international triathlon in Tempe has been an odd event for me. In 2015, I raced very cautiously because of foot issues, but while finishing in a not-very-impressive 3:17, I placed third in my 60-64 age group and was on the podium. Last year, despite greater heat I did the same course in 12 minutes faster, but finished 4/11 in my division because fellow TriScottsdale dude Billy Dean (curse you, Billy Dean!) had turned 60 and was now racing in the same division.

This year, I seemed to be running better, and I took the radical step of having my tri bike checked so the derailleur actually worked. In the end, I took 5 minutes off of the 2016 time. It was a bit cooler, so that helped, but what really made the day was Billy Dean not having been able to train consistently. I caught him with less than a mile to go on the run and grabbed third place. I almost got under 3 hours, but missed it by seconds, at 3:00:27. I'd stopped to use a port-o-john and to tie my shoe on the run, but if I hadn't, I'd probably have been slower. Results were 3/9 division, 190/355 men, 246/497 overall. Averaged 18.98 mph on the bike, and 10:01 min/mi on the run. The podium finish means automatic entry to the NYC Triathlon next July, but I will probably pass, having just done it in 2016. A very satisfactory day.