SOMA Half Ironman 2009

So at this point, I had a great trip to IM Kona and brought back some incredible memories with me. Fast forward one week off and one tune up week and I find myself driving out to Arizona for my last triathlon of the year. I was a little nervous about having enough in the tank to truly compete after such a big effort. However my body was responding pretty nicely and during the last few days before the race I seemed to be springing back.

My dad and I spent most of the 5 hour friday night drive out to Tempe, AZ choppin it up about anything and everything. Once checked into the hotel we noticed a pretty badass fish and chips place right next door and had some late night grub... only to be sitting outside hearing the faint sound of T-pain in the distance and some people gathered outside a place called the Bears Den. If you know me then you know that I dragged my dad in there for some cocktails and local beers. Off to bed around 1am fit as a pig.

Saturday morning I woke up and went for an easy hour run and then refueled for the swim session in the early afternoon. I did this race in 2007 and it was 97 degrees all day of the race and it made it pretty miserable. Saturday was only high 80s so I was pretty stoked. The swim in tempe town lake was refreshing as the temperature seemed to be a bit cooler than I expected. By great high school friend Dennis was there doing his first Half. Dennis, G, and I went and swam a quick 1K. There were some Tempe locs talking about Four Peaks brewery so you can guess where my dad and I went... and ordered some killer beer sampler and a few more pints before heading back and getting some sleep.

Race morning:

Kickin it off proper with some Dennys grand slam and a few cups of java it was time to get physical!

I met up with Dennis in transition and then just focused on the fact that my last real training swim was in Hawaii and that this one was probably gonna hurt a bit more than normal.

Swim- (27:41) (1:23/100m)
I started in the front and held a pretty good pace thru the halfway point. The second half I could tell I was fading because I started getting passed up by some swimmers and really didnt have any juice left to push. The water was dead calm and a really comfortable temperature. The last turn bouy couldnt have come sooner, my arms were cooked.

T1- (1:03) Redbull, gas-x, gu rocktane. GO!

Bike- (2:22:41) (Pave 235W, Pnorm 245, VI 1.05, 23.7 MPH)
To be completely honest I was kind of excited about the bike segment because I had such a good bike split back in 2007 I just figured I would kill it. The bike course is really flat and rewards those who can stay glued to their aerobars. The wind was pretty calm maybe just 5-8 mph out of the southwest, so it wasnt a major factor. There were alot of guys drafting which I thought was pretty lame but what can you do. My nutrition on the bike was pretty average, 2 bottles of carbo pro, 2 gatorades, 2 gu rocktanes, 4 saltsticks. The first two laps were pretty painful, I really felt rusty and flat. I tried to keep an even power output and not waste too much energy on a few of the cyclists passing me by. Lap number three was a very lucky lap... as I was finishing across the final bridge I noticed my back tire was about 50% flat and so I limped the last mile in on a flat rear tire (not recommended if you value your race rims) and racked my bike in T2.

T2- (1:20) Gu rocktane, gas-x, 2 saltsticks.

Run- (1:28:01, 6:40 min/mile) This run course is really really flat and circles the tempe town lake twice. There were many volunteers at the aid stations and quite a few college kids getting involved as well. The run started out pretty bad, the best way to describe the feeling was RUSTY. By mile 5 a few of the leaders had passed me and I was just doing damage control. Around mile 6 and the finish of the first loop I had to spring a leak and not knowing what position I was in I just jumped in a portapottie rather than piss on myself for nothing. Probably a mistake but it had a great outcome. After the piss break I felt really fresh and started dropping 6:30s and 6:20s for the next 5 miles. My strength was rising and my feet got light again. About this time I saw one of the navy guys who passed me back at mile 4., and then at mile 12 I saw the other one. He looked really strong and I didnt want to give him a chance so I punched out a 5:52 final mile feeling the best I had all day.

Final time- (4:20:47, 4th Overall, 1st AgeGroup)

Summary- This is such a fun race for so many reasons. Heres a few... SD Tri Club shows up in big numbers, the course is fast and challenging, lots of people from the town turn out to cheer, the brewery at four peaks and restaurants are really good AND its only a moderate drive. I will probably be doing this race quite a few more times, its just that much fun.