The Deuces Wild Tri festival was last weekend – they have five events, including the kid's race – a little something for everyone. There's a half ironman distance race, an aquabike for those who want the half distance without the run, an Olympic distance race and a kid's race all on Saturday, and an XTERRA on Sunday. Show Low is a 5:15 drive from LA, and don't forget Arizona does not observe daylight savings time, so you lose an hour as you cross the border (a little tidbit forgotten by yours truly. And Laurie Goddard, so I didn't feel quite so much of a doofus). You can check-in at the venue till 7:00 Friday night, but can also do so early on race day.
The Triatomics who participated: Dina and Char Latham from Santa Fe both did the Olympic, Clay and Laurie both did the XTERRA, and I participated in the half. Our boys were supposed to do the kids race, but it got postponed till Sunday morning due to heavy rain mid-day, and we had to leave late Saturday night, so we'll have to wait till next year for that one.
Race morning was nice, a bit chilly (Show Low is around 6300' – helps for Northern New Mexicans, hurts the Phoenix and Tucson people) and there was the usual pre-race discussion about how much clothing to wear. Water temp was reported to be 62 degrees – I was actually comfortable with just my wetsuit, no booties or skull cap like I saw some racers wearing. The men went off at 6:30, women left 4 minutes later. I had a little trouble sighting, as usual, but got out of the water unscathed. It always seems like a long 1.2 miles to me. I knew there were a clump of women ahead of me, but not how many. With all of the men ahead as well, it's pretty tough to know where you stand. Out on the bike I passed 4 or 5 women fairly early on, and then just kept riding. I passed a couple more about a quarter of the way through. The course is a bit hilly but not bad. Especially for those of us who ride the loop on a regular basis. There is a long hill around mile 40, but certainly no worse than coming up from the Bandelier entrance to the back gate, and nothing as bad as climbing out of Ancho. My only complaint – there were a lot more people in the Olympic distance race than the long course and from about mile 27 till I came up to Olympic racers where their bike course joined the long course, I was by myself. That is a long time to stay focused.
The run was a two-loop course that consisted of dirt trail, concrete, asphalt, and hills that sneaked up on you. Definitely not a fast course. I ended up leaving too much out on the bike and never really felt that spring in my step that I usually feel after the first mile or so. It was a slow slog for me and lots of effort. Only one mile was sub 8:00, and at 7:58 for mile 1, I barely even made that milestone. There are a couple of places you have a turn around and can see your competitors. Olympic and long course share the same run, so it was fun to cheer for Char and Dina as we passed each other. I wasn't sure till the half way point for the half that I was in first place – with all of the competitors on the same course and the only delineation being the color of your bib number, and the two-loop nature, there was lots of ways to get it mixed up. I ended up coming in first, though, and beat second by quite a bit (18 minutes).
This is a great race for prizes: overall winners went 5 deep and each received a significant gift certificates to TriSports.com (the race sponsor), as well as a Spinervals CD for all AG first place,s and a decorative keychain holder thing (OK, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that – for now it's stuck in a corner with all of the other race stuff), and finishers medals for all. Plus, they have a HUGE raffle and give away really great stuff – multiple wetsuits, running and cycling shoes, aerobar sets, a Kuota bike frame, a very cool Felt cruiser, and tons of smaller stuff – well worth waiting around for Saturday evening.
I posted a couple of photos on the Photo webpage – don't worry, Clay, Dan came through for you and got some of Dina racing.
The Triatomics who participated: Dina and Char Latham from Santa Fe both did the Olympic, Clay and Laurie both did the XTERRA, and I participated in the half. Our boys were supposed to do the kids race, but it got postponed till Sunday morning due to heavy rain mid-day, and we had to leave late Saturday night, so we'll have to wait till next year for that one.
Race morning was nice, a bit chilly (Show Low is around 6300' – helps for Northern New Mexicans, hurts the Phoenix and Tucson people) and there was the usual pre-race discussion about how much clothing to wear. Water temp was reported to be 62 degrees – I was actually comfortable with just my wetsuit, no booties or skull cap like I saw some racers wearing. The men went off at 6:30, women left 4 minutes later. I had a little trouble sighting, as usual, but got out of the water unscathed. It always seems like a long 1.2 miles to me. I knew there were a clump of women ahead of me, but not how many. With all of the men ahead as well, it's pretty tough to know where you stand. Out on the bike I passed 4 or 5 women fairly early on, and then just kept riding. I passed a couple more about a quarter of the way through. The course is a bit hilly but not bad. Especially for those of us who ride the loop on a regular basis. There is a long hill around mile 40, but certainly no worse than coming up from the Bandelier entrance to the back gate, and nothing as bad as climbing out of Ancho. My only complaint – there were a lot more people in the Olympic distance race than the long course and from about mile 27 till I came up to Olympic racers where their bike course joined the long course, I was by myself. That is a long time to stay focused.
The run was a two-loop course that consisted of dirt trail, concrete, asphalt, and hills that sneaked up on you. Definitely not a fast course. I ended up leaving too much out on the bike and never really felt that spring in my step that I usually feel after the first mile or so. It was a slow slog for me and lots of effort. Only one mile was sub 8:00, and at 7:58 for mile 1, I barely even made that milestone. There are a couple of places you have a turn around and can see your competitors. Olympic and long course share the same run, so it was fun to cheer for Char and Dina as we passed each other. I wasn't sure till the half way point for the half that I was in first place – with all of the competitors on the same course and the only delineation being the color of your bib number, and the two-loop nature, there was lots of ways to get it mixed up. I ended up coming in first, though, and beat second by quite a bit (18 minutes).
This is a great race for prizes: overall winners went 5 deep and each received a significant gift certificates to TriSports.com (the race sponsor), as well as a Spinervals CD for all AG first place,s and a decorative keychain holder thing (OK, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that – for now it's stuck in a corner with all of the other race stuff), and finishers medals for all. Plus, they have a HUGE raffle and give away really great stuff – multiple wetsuits, running and cycling shoes, aerobar sets, a Kuota bike frame, a very cool Felt cruiser, and tons of smaller stuff – well worth waiting around for Saturday evening.
I posted a couple of photos on the Photo webpage – don't worry, Clay, Dan came through for you and got some of Dina racing.
2 comments:
I added photos of Clay and Laurie (and Matt Perini) to Deuces Wild Album on Triatomics Photos. Also, clay and I watched the kids race on Sunday and John and Ben would CLEANED UP if they were there to do it! :) :)
Thanks Amy, and AWESOME job in the race. That is a tough course and you weren't the only one who came in saying the run ate their lunch. It must have really been hard for those people so far behind you. You looked really fast the whole day.
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