Before my heart rate could drop from the Vegas Super Sprint on Thursday night I hopped in a rental car with Jarrod Shoemaker and headed down to Arizona for the Lifetime Fitness Tempe Triathlon. This new addition to the Lifetime Pro Series is held at the same venue as the Ironman Arizona. The race just doesn’t get so far out into the dessert.
I had an awful race. but I (re)learned a lot.
In the swim I found myself fighting with TJ Tolekson after 800 meters of futile attempts to get him to stop physically landing on my hip every stroke. I learned my lesson about fighting in the swim back in 2009 at my first World Cup in Mooloolaba, but perhaps lessons need to be reiterated every few years. Being rough in the swim slows everyone down. In Mooloolaba it cost me the breakaway, in Tempe it cost me about a minute to the swim leaders.
I spent the rest of the race trying to catch up. Passing a big pack of contenders, then starting the run in noman’s land – minutes back from Cameron Dye and Joe Maloy, and a hard-earned minute up from the pack of runners. Starting the run I immediately felt the fatigue left over from Thursday’s race. My legs were heavy and offered little support in my quest to catch the men ahead. Stewart Hayes passed me at 5k and I finished in 4th place.
Lessons learned:
- Thursday to Sunday is not enough time to recover from races if you’re trying to train through. Cameron did well, but he came in from a big training block and Thursday was his “shake-out†session after a few days of rest. My training block, on the other hand had ended with the Super Sprint, and the race had pushed me into the depths of fatigue that required a solid rest week to recover.
- Etiquette in the swim is a wonderful thing. But since it’s not enforceable, be strong enough to get away from the guys who don’t follow it. Don’t fight, just swim faster.
Next up is Lifetime Fintess Dallas Triathlon. Great course, and I have a couple of weeks to get my legs back under me.