Nathan's Tempe OLY - TriathlonOlympic


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Tempe, Arizona
United States
Red rock co.
75F / 24C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 11m 1s
Overall Rank = 4/448
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 1/68
Pre-race routine:

Another normal race morning at the Dunn house! Jamie and I got up at 4:00am, had coffee and the morning consititutional, Jamie complaining that she hates race morning, ect... :) Mom came over and we headed down to Tempe as usual!
Event warmup:

Setting up transition as bike check was the day before.
Swim
  • 24m 54s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 31s / 100 yards
Comments:

The swim was long. The two male pro's both went around 21min, one of whom would usually swim a 1500M under 18. The swim was the same direction as IMAZ, so the sun was glaring making sighting tough. I swam a hard, steady pace and found a great draft on the way back.
Transition 1
  • 01m 7s
Comments:

Tranisiton was fine, just wearing the Speedsuit made it simple enough. I ran to the mount line and pedaled away with my feet on top of my shoe's until I was on the road and could put them on properly.
Bike
  • 1h 04m 13s
  • 27.5 miles
  • 25.69 mile/hr
Comments:

This was the same course used for Tempe International Olympic and Sprint waves were much closer together making for a hazardous crowding condition on the course. It was very tricky. I knew it would be difficult to hold a steady pace, but I wanted to really push hard on this ride. My HR was in the low 160's and I just kept it there for the entire ride. Started to feel it on the last lap for sure and was a bit concerned about the run. I decided I would either finish strong or I would blow myself up! I was very happy with the pace and the perceived effort.
Transition 2
  • 00m 54s
Comments:

Quick T2 with no drama.
Run
  • 39m 56s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 06m 26s  min/mile
Comments:

Started out on the run feeling ok, it was getting very warm and I hit the first aid station for water. Ran the first mile in around 6:45 into a headwind and started hoping that I would loosed up some more. I passed one Olympic racer early on and then was lost in a sea of the BOP Sprint race. As I finished the first lap, I saw Nick and he cheered me on and said,"18 more min to go!" Yeah, right I thought, maybe if he dropped me off a cliff I would cover the last 5K in 18!

The last lap was very tough, I didn't feel that great and was ready to be done. I only occassionaly glanced at my HR as it was around 168 but I still was comitted to pushing this run to the limit. I finally got to the Mill Ave bridge with .2 miles to go. At .15 left, I passed Nick again. What's the worst thing you can hear at the ass end of a race when you are just ready to be done? "Cam Hill is righ in front of you, you can catch him!" Nick yelled. I looked down the road maybe 20 yards and could see him. He's in my AG this year and is a great short course guy with a pro level swim. In fact, Lewis Elliot, one of our local pro's drafts off Cam in Olympic races. I didn't even know he was racing. Last time we went head to head was last year at this race and he beat me by 23 seconds.

I wasn't sure if I could catch him, but figured I would give it a go. As we both descended down the bridge, I closed the gap a bit but it still seemed too far. He rounded the turn towards the finish and I followed. As I cam around the turn, he was a LOT closer. Now we had maybe 100 yards to go, downhill into a grassy area where the line was. I was usre he was going to look over his shoulder but he never did. I realized i had to go now and try and catch him flat footed. Right as I hit the afterburnners, the announcer calle dout our names and said it was a sprint finish. Cam heard that right at the moment I went by. I beat him by 2 seconds. My first finishing sprint in a triathlon. :)
Post race
Warm down:

Apologizing to Cam for sneaking up on him like that! He was a good sport and he was mad at himself.

Event comments:

I was a little dissapointed to learn that although there was a seperate Pro wave (with only 2 Pro's) they were aggregated into the final awards, so my potential 2nd overall was bumped to 4th, but it was ok. I did tease Nicole DeBoom about it and she felt bad.




Last updated: 2008-07-25 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:24:54 | 1640 yards | 01m 31s / 100yards
Age Group: 3/68
Overall: 22/448
Performance: Good
Suit: ZOOT Speedsuit
Course: Recatangular course in Tempe Town Lake, as usual..
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 82F / 28C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Good Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 01:07
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:04:13 | 27.5 miles | 25.69 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/68
Overall: 3/448
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: A VERY tight and crowded 4 lap course with a lot of sharp turns and narrow bike lanes.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:54
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:39:56 | 06.2 miles | 06m 26s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/68
Overall: 8/448
Performance: Good
Course: 2 laps around Tempe Town Lake....as usual.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too easy
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3