Soma Triathlon
This past weekend Naomi and I went down to Tempe, Arizona for the Soma triathlon. We wanted to get one last race in this season before bringing out the winter gear. I managed to get some free flights with my airmiles, although it meant flying in on Saturday and back again on Monday. That's ok, as Naomi's schedule is a not as flexible being a teacher, and I wasn't keen on missing that many days at work either.
About 5 weeks ago I casually mentioned to Paul Tichelaar that I was going to Tempe to do Soma 1/2, and he must have thought that was a good idea because he signed up too. My friends Frank and Tanya were coming down from Calgary too, so there would be a few of us Albertans on the starting line.
About 15 days out from race day I caught the nasty fly/virus/cold that is still making the rounds here. I spent most of the time lying on the couch or in bed, or at work making my co-workers go nuts with all my sniffling.
The week out Paul asked if I wanted to get together for a ride, so I said sure... I didn't care how bad I felt... I wanted to get my body moving again! We left at 10pm on Sunday morning... it was only 1C, but sunny. I wore all of my warmest cycling gear, and since Paul brought his aero helmet, I rushed back in and grabbed mine. Great idea! No vents keeps the head nice and warm! Paul and I survived the ride, both of us suffering from lack of long mileage. I felt horrible the rest of the day, but it gave me confidence I could at least get through a 1/2 IM the next weekend.
It was Thursday when I started to finally feel a bit better and was happy that I would be able to race.
Naomi caught the same virus about a week after me, and was still not feeling well when we boarded the plane in Edmonton. When we arrived in Phoenix, we had to drive directly to the site to get my package, and build my bike and check it in before 4pm. No time for a quick SBR.... I built my bike in the parkade about two blocks from the race site while Naomi slept in the car. After checking in at the hotel, Naomi went straight to bed (at 4pm), while I drove around the streets in search of a grocery store. We ended up eating TV dinners cooked in the microwave in our hotel room as the fast food joints were not in the least appealing.
The next morning, Naomi was still not 100%, and decided to keep sleeping. I gathered my things and headed off into the darkness to Tempe Town Lake. I arrived later than my usual, but transition was just starting to get busy. I sorted my gear, did a quick run warm-up, chatted with a few friends then wandered down to the start. After the Best of the US race went off I jumped into the water with the pro's (they started 1min ahead) to get in a good warm-up. The announcer was warning everyone the water was cold at 68F. Umm.. that's 20C, I found it very warm. However, USAT has a weak AG wetsuit cut-off of 25.5C!!! I don't think I would finish a half iron swim in a wetsuit in 25C water. Anyhoo...
The swim went ok, I caught a female pro before the first turn, and realized it was Tanya. She jumped on my feet as I went by. About that very time the sun fully rose and as we were swimming east, completely blinded me when sighting. I saw a buoy and after swimming about 50m towards it, realized I was waaaay inside the course. I popped my head out and saw the buoy I was supposed to be swimming towards and pointed it out to Tanya as well. Finally after rounding the turn buoys I was heading back west... and could not see a single buoy to mark the northern line of the swim course. Not the best marked swim!
The bike course... wow. More like a crit race.... it had 5 u-turns in each 30km lap. And in many parts of the course, it was no wider than a single lane, making passing and avoiding other racers a real adventure. Times were quite fast though... the course was flat, slightly short (about 3km?), and some drafting was hard to avoid. Most people I saw were making an effort to ride clean despite the congestion however. I really enjoyed this course, it was always interesting, and the surges and braking broke things up. The lack of training made the last 15km tough... and my neck started to stiffen up... I couldn't ride for very long in my bars.
Out onto the run, it was really starting to heat up... into the 90's. I LOVED IT. I started out slow though as my quads were threatening to cramp. I managed to get into a steady rhythm and cruised through my first lap. The second lap I was immensely joyful and calm and I crossed the finish line knowing I had done my best on the day.
After some chatting with Frank and Tanya, and some post-race food, I went back to the hotel to get Naomi. She was up, feeling good and was in dire need of some food! So a quick shower and off to Mill Avenue for some Japanese food. Mill Ave is full of excellent restaurants and only a couple of blocks from the race site. For those that don't know Tempe, it is also right in the middle of the ASU campus. The massive ASU football stadium dominates the skyline about 5-6 blocks away... a very impressive site... bigger than any stadium in the CFL!
After relaxing in some cool shade at the awards, Naomi and I set off in the car to do some exploring. We headed into downtown Pheonix.. was a beautiful city. Flat as flat can be, and endless grid streets but clean and nicely landscaped. We didn't stop much, except to grab a bit to eat at Jack in the Box! YUM! After a quick nap back at the hotel, we went back down to Mill Avenue to find a good place to eat. We ended up at La Bocca, I nice Italian eatery with stunning decor, and to top it off.. it was movie night. They dimmed the lights and started "Pan's Labryinth". From the 20mins we saw, it looks like an incredible movie.... we're going to rent it soon.
The next day we only had time for breakfast and some quick souvenir shopping, before we heading back to the airport to catch our flight. I must say, Enterprise car rental in PHX was AMAZING. Fast, friendly, efficient. Our Kia Rondo, although a "compact" class car was HUGE inside... great for people flying with bike boxes.
Overall, a great trip. I love Arizona and plan to return. There are some great deals on flights and accommodation there right now with the economic downturn... check it out!
Naomi posted our pics here:
Arizona 2008 Part 1
Arizona 2008 Part 2
posted by Greg Nicholson @ 10/30/2008
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