Goodyear, Arizona
I started out feeling like I could put in a good swim. It wasn’t too crowded either so I felt like I had the opportunity. There is a problem, that always affects me in this pool however and today it seemed particularly problematic. I can swim faster than I did today and I would like to have, but they just keep that damn pool too hot. All my life I have struggled in pools that are too warm. About 10 minutes into the swim I just started to overheat. I found a guy to draft off for a while. He was swimming a little slower than I wanted to but I needed to reduce effort and attempt to cool down a bit. It is an Olympic pool, not a play pool. That pool is built for real swimming. I don’t know why they keep it so hot. In the end, my swim split was one second slower than last year.
I started out on the bike and held a 23 mph average for the first two laps and then I started to slowly loose power finishing with a 21 mph average. I worked the bike and ended up a full minute faster than last year.
I got off my bike and experienced something I have never encountered in over 50 triathlons. My hamstrings were so tight I could barely walk. I hobbled out of transition and started my run taking little steps and slowly trying to extend my stride and stretch out those hamstrings. I prayed my hamstrings would loosen up and slowly they did. Most of this course takes place on uneven dirt and I have struggled a bit on it before. I chose to wear my new trial running shoes and was glad I did. I really think they help. Somehow my legs loosened up and I ran a 47 minute 10K which is faster than I have ever run a 10K. I was shocked to see that given how much I struggled to even run in the beginning. I didn’t feel like I was running fast, but I was putting some distance between myself and some regulars who I normally encounter out there with me on these races and normally catch me. During the race, I thought they were having a bad day, not that I was having a good day.
I ended up with not only my fastest 10k, but also my fastest Olympic finish. My body let me know the whole rest of the day that I had pushed hard. I meant to take a half hour nap and ended up struggling to regain consciousness after 2 hours. I am old.
