Ironman (Tempe) Arizona 70.3

It had been almost two years since I had done a triathlon. The first year was because I wanted a year off to pursue other goals and to rest. The second year was because of the pandemic. At the beginning of 2021, a friend was feeling the itch to do another one. I got caught up in the excitement of having an endurance goal to work towards and agreed to find one that suited our schedules. We settled on IMAZ70.3. Lou and I decided to roll a family reunion into the trip. After all, it had been almost three years since all of us were together at the full Ironman Arizona, and we were all excited to spend some quality and quantity time together that didn’t include the word “virtual.”

Leading up to the actual event I had put plenty of biking and running hours into my training, but swimming was a challenge as the Y I used to swim at transitioned to a booking system. Because we now have a well-equipped home gym (thanks, Pandemic), and I already belong to a club where I play tennis (but doesn’t have a pool), I didn’t want the added expense of another monthly gym membership just for the pool. Once the weather was warm enough to swim outdoors, I purchased a pass to swim at a local lake, which worked for a couple of months until the hottest part of the summer when the beaches would be closed due to algae blooms. After three weeks of not swimming at all I broke down and purchased a three month membership to L.A. Fitness, which turned out to be a blessing. Thanks to being able to swim mid-morning, which is typically a low-time for most gyms, the two days per week I swam laps I never had to share a lane. This would never had happened at the Y! I still swam in open water when it was safe, but never as much as I swam in the pool.

One week out from the race and I was still feeling unsure of myself. I never feel like I train enough, or hard enough, or smart enough, and I was more nervous going into taper week than I can remember feeling in a very long time. Part of me hoped that it would be canceled because of COVID-19, or that at least the swim would be cancelled, but, obviously, no such luck befell me.

Sage, Lou and I were the first to arrive in Tempe, and we rented a car and got ourselves situated in our VRBO, which was just 15 minutes to the race venue. The rest of our family joined us over the next couple of days, and took on most of the shopping, cooking, and cleaning duties while my race brain focused on making sure I had everything I needed (and some of the things I didn’t) to get me across the finish line. The evenings were spent in the backyard enjoying the pool and the fire pit.

The evening before the race Lou and I met up with our friends at a hotel within walking distance of the race venue, and spent the night. It was nice to see them and get caught up on their kids and life in general. They are normally early to bed, and being race eve we quickly followed.

Race morning couldn’t have gone more smoothly. Everything happened the way I had already visualized, and I was in line for the swim before the cutoff time to exit transition. My nerves were still in hyperdrive, and I felt myself tearing up the way I do when I feel afraid, but I kept inching forward while still trying to keep my six foot distance from the athletes in front of me. When it was finally my turn to jump into Tempe Town Lake, I waved to Lou, dove in, and kept on swimming. When I exited the water just 49 minutes later, the rest of my family were there to cheer me on with signs they had made the night before, and wearing t-shirts they had designed for just this purpose.

In reading about the bike course I learned about all the tight U-turns: fifteen in total. I practiced doing them in the weeks prior and the Saturday before I had to rack my bike in transition. I did them over and over again with Lou’s guidance, and was feeling fairly comfortable with them by race day. Even so, I planned to take the first of three loops with caution until I got the lay of the land. At the end of the first loop, I was averaging 18mph, which was my fastest ever on a race course. I was elated with that result, and knew that the second loop would be even faster now that I didn’t have to slow down so much going into the turns. With fewer than 10 miles left in my second loop, I got a flat rear tire. Nary a flat in three years of road riding and NOW my bike decides to flat! Nevertheless, I was prepared and back on the road within five minutes. I stopped at the next bike station to make sure the wheel was properly aligned and exchanged my flat tube for a fresh one, which turned out to be a smart move. My rear brakes were rubbing on the tire, and about half a mile from where I was to enter into the third loop I got another flat on the same tire. That one was on me because I failed to run my finger around the inside of the tire before installing the new tube. Because my CO2 cartridge had run out of air, I had to run my bike to the next “legal” air station to finish inflating my tube before I could finish my third loop, which I did in roughly the same time it took me to finish the first loop. My total time was 3:49:25, bringing my average of 18mph down to just under 15mph.

Thanks to my flat tire debacle, I was way behind on when I had anticipated I would begin the run. I was hoping to be finished before the worst of the heat set in. Instead, I was running in the worst of the heat. It was in the low 90’s when I started the run at noon, and climbed another 7 degrees by the time I finished at 3:15. My fastest mile was the first one, and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do the second loop. The only thing that kept me going was my family, friends and volunteers cheering me and the ice I stuffed down my sports bra at every aid station. It felt so good to run across that finish line knowing that I never gave up. I stayed strong even in the face of adversity and just kept going. It’s pretty much my approach to life in general. When things get tough, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and let the forward momentum get you to where you want to go.

We had one last night in Tempe with the whole family together and we made the best of it with a yummy Mexican dinner feast and more pool/fire-side fun. The next morning, we checked out of that house and made our way to our next family adventure: Sedona.