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 Swim
Comments: Well, once again I had to suffer a poorly measured swim course. This is 2nd time this year a Tempe Lake Olympic course has been at least 200M long. Our local pro Lewis Elliot swam a 24+. I spoke with the RD after and he said it was clearly long and apologized for the mess up. While I was out there, I felt very good, with a high turnover, good body position, seemingly good sighting, but not a lot of draft opportunities. I had to navigate through at least 2 of the waves ahead, so I just spotted for clear water and put myself there. When i hit the exit stairs, I looked at my watch and saw 28:xx and just shook my head. I also gave a thought to Jamie and hoped she wouldn't be discouraged by this long swim. What would you do differently?: Find a RD who can measure a swim course, I am tired of having to make up so many positions on the bike!  Transition 1
Comments: Had a smooth T1. I had a very long run with my bike to the mount line and had my shoes clipped into the pedals. I hit the mount line and got going and out from Transition before slipping into my shoes, which I did with relative ease and speed. Evrything went very well.  Bike
Comments: Coach Nick had targeted a 162HR for the bike which is my bike AT or thereabouts. As I settled down into the ride, my HR came up to 157 and sort of sat there for a few miles. The course has a decent number of turns, so my HR would drop and I would bring it back up, but it seemed to love that 157. I was feeling very good and thought ok, well, let's see if it builds intot he 2nd lap. I was riding well, passing everyone. Course seemed much safer than last year. the second lap was more of the same and my HR was a steady 157. I considered pushing harder but figure I had the run still and really wanted to have a good run. I thought I was just closer to 1:01 and was very suprised when I saw the 59min split. This si the first time I have really split a true sub 1:00 on a proper 40K course. VERY happy with my current bike fitness especiall considering the efoort level was below target. What would you do differently?: Ride harder. Transition 2
Comments: Some slight numness in my little toe made putting on my right shoe a bit difficult. I ran out of T2 carrying my visor and race belt, I normally stand there putting them on, which is a waste of time. Still, my time was kind of average, but I had a really long run with my bike. What would you do differently?: Hope to be assigned a better spot on the rack. Jamie and I were way on the end.  Run
Comments: I headed down the south side of the lake and felt really good...until Chris Latvahoo, a freind in the 35-39AG went by me like I was standing still! He was flying (he split a 3:09 in Kona in '08) and I wasn't ready to chase. I also started 4min behind him but I was sure he would put that time into me if he held that pace. My HR goal for the run was 167, but again, I felt like i wanted to build into it and have a solid 2nd lap. So I stayed on my pace, running long and smooth. Breathing was steady, form was spot on, HR was low 160's and slowly built up. On the secong lap, I was still feeling great, my HR eventually hit the 167-168 mark and I was moving well. i wish I had split halfway to see if I negative split the run. I certainly held a strong pace ont he back half and even Chris couldn't put in enough time to beat me int he overall. I knew i wasn't going 100% but I just felt so damn good, I didn't care! I was having a good run and I was having fun. :) What would you do differently?: Run harder. Post race
Warm down: Had some pizza, watched Jamie finish 7th in her AG! What limited your ability to perform faster: I did. I held back as the concern of having a poor perfromance was stronger than my desire to go really hard and I am happy with that decision. IMAZ will be the day to leave nothing behind, not this day. Event comments: I left all my dissapointments from this year out on the course this day. I was 5th overall behind 3 pro's and know that I had more to give. I never had the negative thoughts that seemed to haunt me earlier this season during the race. The demons have been exercised and I am ready to do what I need to do at IMAZ. Last updated: 2009-07-23 12:00 AM
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United States
Red Rock Company
85F / 29C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 5/627
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 1/81
Jamie and I were up by 4:00am, had some coffee and a Cliff Bar, apologized to the dogs for leaving them behind, and hit the road a little after 5. No big rush, bikes were already in Transition. This was Jamie's 3rd Olympic race but her first non-wet suit 1500M swim. It would be a great training day for her SOMA Half IM prep. For me, it was another Olympic race in Tempe Town Lake...but deep down, I felt like it was something more.
This season has been a bit up and down. It started poorly with a bike crash and DNF at the Lake Havasu Tritahlon season opener in March. In april, I found redemption in Las Palomas, Mexico with a 3rd OA, my best OA finish at that time. From there I went back to race a solid effort at Tempe International in early May.
Then came my two Halfs, Dueces Wild and Mountain Man, two tough races at 6000+ feet elevation. Sho Low was a mess for me. A sub par swim and run where I not only got lost on the course but kind of gave up on the run. I earned a bit of redemption again at Mountain Man, where my 2nd OA was my highest finish ever, but I still felt like my run wasn't so great.
So Little ol' Nathans would be my last race prior to IMAZ, and I wanted it to be a validation of my current fitness...and I wanted to just have a good day. :)