City of Mesa Halloween Triathlon

Mesa, Arizona

This was the inagural race and it went smoothly. Tri Family Racing did a great job as always. The City of Mesa provided nine police officers to ensure us safe bike course which I really liked. The shirt design was my favorite so far of the Tri Family Races, and was sponsored by Iron Gear Sports. The medal was the same cool Halloween logo as the shirt and I was happy to get one. There were several dedicated athletes who wore full costumes and medalled in them. All and all a fun Halloween morning.

Playa Del Rey Triathlon

Playa Del Rey, California

This race was a beach start. I was a little sore and not looking forward to swimming after the tough 2.4 miles I swam only 18 hours before but I warmed up and had a decent swim. The bike course was flat and I felt I turned in a pretty strong performance. There was a slight drizzle for almost the entire race. I was doing good until I hit the run. I don’t know why, but the muscles in the front on my legs in the shin area just cramped up and turned to rock. They became inflexible and painful. Every step hurt. I slowed my run and suffered until I reached the half way point aid station. There I stopped and tried to stretch my legs. It helped and I was able to run better. I hated stopping. I haven’t had to stop on a run for a long time. I am still not sure what happened. This was a well run race by Sporteve. I met a lot of friendly people at this event.

Distance Swim Challenge

Santa Monica, California

This was a unique and inaugural event. There were people doing 12.6 miles. I don’t think I am ready for that. In fact in order to swim this race you had to qualify. I was only qualified to swim the 2.4 mile distance. Participants swam from pier to pier along the Santa Monica coast line. We were required to come ashore and get checked by medical staff at each leg of the race. The swim was a challenge for me for sure. I have never swam that far before. It became even more challenging as I was coming ashore for the first time. I got pounded from behind by a big wave that sent me tumbling. This was not the first time this has happened to me in my life, but it was the first time after swimming over 1.2 miles. Normally I hold my breath and wait for the wave to lose its force. Try doing that after swimming hard for more than a mile. Your lungs don’t have the patience. I was so completely focused on getting air that I did not realize my goggles had come off. I managed to recover from the wave and searched for my goggles for several minutes with no success. I lost valuable time, but I did not want to have to swim for another 1.2 miles without goggles in salt water. I had to give up the search and make the decision to continue without goggles. For the next 1.2 miles I counted off every 10 stokes and then raised my head to make sure I was on course. It was cool to swim past the Santa Monica pier with everyone looking on. This race was put on by optimis sport. It must have been a logistical nightmare given all the swimmers starting at different points and times. They did a great job and I was glad I was able to participate. I want to try a longer distance next year.

Prospector Triathlon

Lake Pleasant, Arizona

While all the greatest triathletes were competing in Kona I decided to do an olympic triathlon out at Lake Pleasant. This was the inaugural race. I decided to swim without a wet suit due to the water being 76 degrees. Now I believe that a wet suit is an advantage. I guess I had to Experience it for myself. I never get passed consistently in the swim. Wetsuit after wetsuit kept going by me. The buoyancy does make difference. I will always wear a wetsuit when legal for now on. There was a lot of wind and the some of the choppiest water I have ever experienced. I have to mention the run up to transition. It was like a half a mile up hill on some very rocky terrain. I wore flip flops for the first time and I am glad I did or I would have tore up my feet up. It was kind of like a swim followed by a duathlon the run was so long. The bike course was up and down, up and down, I actually used the second ring. It was good thing my running legs showed up today because the run required them. It was a two lap course. The course required 2 loops. The loop was a long steady downhill, followed by a long steady uphill run. That steady hill caused more walking than I had ever seen before in a race. I didn’t walk, and I actually preferred the uphill today to the down. The hill wasn’t super steep, just steady and relentless. They gave updates about kona in the transition area. We had was great temperatures. The only place I felt heat was the run, but even then we had a great breeze most of the time. 4 Peaks racing gave us all the oppurtunity to compete today.

4 Peaks Racing

Seville Sports Club Triathlon

Gilbert, Arizona

I really like this race. It is the second time I have done it. The Seville Sports Club is a beautiful place to hold this event. Tri Family Racing did a great job as always. My son did well and placed 2nd in his division. The logisitics of everything just works well for this race. The bike course is smooth and flat and I really like it. The swimming facility is luxurious. I will do this race over and over again because I enjoy it so much. I dropped over a full minute off my swim time from the spring which is amazing given that the swim is only 300 yards. I also improved my bike split by almost 7 minutes. I will look foward to doing this one again.