Sunday 9/27 was the second year I’ve raced in the Nathan Tempe Urban Triathlon in Tempe AZ. The race is put on by Red Rock Co., a very polished event company. Of all the races I’ve done, they are one of the most professional and organized events I’ve participated in.
My time last year was 3:04, but I sincerely didn’t “push it” to hit any time goal. I’ve broken 3:00 plenty of time for Oly’s, so I was more interested in seeing how Jason & Ilia did. I was very impressed with both of them for their first time at that distance.
This year, I was pretty positive I’d smash the 3:00 mark by at least 15-20 minutes as my training for IM AZ has been great so far. I’ve done more swimming & biking training than ever over the last month, so I should see improvement in both those areas. I figured 2:45 was easily within reach.
One big change for this year was the lack of any race teammates. Jason separated his sternum in a rugby game and hasn’t been able to train for the last 3 weeks while it heals. I had gotten so used to having several teammates at each race when I was back in CT with the ESPN Tri Team and I took it for granted how much more fun it is to have friends at the start & finish as well as passing during the race. Without that, I felt a little selfish dragging Kristen & Vivi 45 minutes South two days in a row (bike drop-off on Saturday).
The swim was non-wetsuit legal, so I proudly donned my Xterra Speedsuit over my tri suit. It was surprisingly comfortable as it stretches far more than a wetsuit. The 0.02 speed suit is also very slick in the water, I was clearly a lot faster than I’d been last year without it. My biggest problem is swimming straight. No matter how much faster I was cutting through the water — when you zig-zag, you make the swim longer. The swim portion may have been 1500 meters, but I am positive I stretched it to 2000 (no joke). I am actually embarrassed by how poorly my orienteering was in the water, and am thankful to the lifeguards on kayaks to keeping me on the course. I now realize how much stronger my pull is with my right arm, and how far I veer off-course to the right if I don’t compensate. Since this swim course turned to the left, I was constantly VERY far from the buoys and swimming hundreds of extra meters. Getting out of the Xterra Speedsuit is a breeze; it pops right off when you pull your arm through. I was seriously impressed by how comfortable and fast this thin membrane was and how I never felt short of breath or tight in the chest. Swim grade: C-
Both T1 & T2 were around 2:10, so those are as fast as ever. I actually feel like I “took my time” in transition, so no problems there.
This was my first tri on my Guru Chron’alu tri bike, and I think it performed really well. I felt fast and comfortable for 25 miles, so that’s all that really matters. I never really “hammered” on the bike, I wanted to find a speed and cadence that was sustainable for 112 miles and mentally pictured myself on the IM AZ course. Bike grade: B+
One of the best parts about coming into T2 after a good bike portion was that my legs felt fresh for the run. I was actually looking forward to a sub-50:00 10k and felt like it was within reach… until I started getting nauseous right as I was leaving T2. I don’t know where it came from (GU?) but it seemed to happen right after gulping some warm Gatorade that had been in the sun in transition. This was to be one of my worst runs during a tri ever. I’ve had plenty where my legs were dead and even crampy – but never been sick like this before. The first 2 miles all I thought about was quitting and walking back to the start. Miles 2-3 I was scoping out a place to throw up and walk back or see if I felt good enough afterwards to continue. At mile 3 I met up with a guy named Kevin and we talked for a bit about what would be the best option. He wondered if I would be dehydrated after vomiting and have to pull out anyway, so I had to think about that.
Before I knew it, we’d hit the halfway point and were done with the first lap. I looked to find Kristen & Vivi thinking I may just stop and ask her advice, but I couldn’t make her out in the cheering crowd. I started lap 2 with the grim determination to suck it up and finish. At the next aid station, I all but came to a halt and downed some water and splashed some over my head. I jokingly spiked my hair into a mohawk and figured I’d at least make myself laugh for the next couple miles. Maybe laughter IS the best medicine, because I began to feel a little better by mile 4. My nausea was gone, but I still felt queasy. Shortly after that, I sparked a conversation with another guy who was wearing Newton Running shoes (they were EVERYWHERE during the race, I estimated 40%+ of the athletes were wearing them this season) and we chatted until about the mile 5 marker when I suddenly came back to life. Once the queasiness left my stomach, I was able to run the last 1.2 in about a sub-8:00. I caught & passed the guy Kevin I talked to during the first lap. (He was very cool about it)
Me: “Hey Kevin, how’s it going?”
Kevin: “Great… HEEEEY Brett, how you feeling?”
“Good, the sickness passed”
“Well, now I’m sick because you’re passing me!”
We both chuckled and I sprinted towards the final turn where I had a surprise waiting for me.
Kristen was waiting for me and held out Vivi for me to carry her (yes, I slowed down) across the finish line. It was a wonderful finish with my little girl waving her hands to the cheering crowd. Run grade: Miles 1-5 D-, Miles 5-6.2 B+, Finish A+
Wrap-up: My time was about a minute faster than last year, but still over 3:00. I left a LOT of time out on the course during the swim and the first 5 miles of the run. The positive thing that I can take away from this experience was that no matter how horrible I feel if you take it one mile at a time you can handle it. The negative take-away is that I feel like I’m losing my passion for the sport of triathlon. Racing without teammates is boring and selfish and I am planning on taking some time away from tris after I’m done with IM AZ. We’ll see how that goes.