The 2012 Warrior triathlon race report

On Sunday October 7th I competed in The Warrior triathlon, it was my 1st off road triathlon, and my 82nd multisport race. This year the Warrior triathlon was held at the Albuquerque Academy. It was a 5k run, 12k bike, and 400 yard swim. The run and bike utilized the dirt and sand trails inside the Alb Academy. There were plenty of help, over 60 volunteers. The course was a ton of fun, it was well marked and had multiple volunteers at every twist and turn so we never had to worry about getting lost or turned around.

The run was mostly hard packed dirt with a few sandy sections. It was uphill and challenging on the 1st half, down hill and blazing fast on the 2nd half. My run time was a slow and grueling 29:19.

The bike course had some flat hard packed dirt sections, some asphalt, some sandy technical sections, and even a couple ravines that we had to dismount and run our bikes through. I was nervous about the bike, this only the 3rd time I'd ridden a mountain bike off of the black top, so i knew I was out of my realm. Considering my total lack of experience riding a mountain bike and on trails I was content with my performance. My bike time was 41:47.

The swim course vastly different than any pool swim I'd ever done. It was held indoors and utilized two two hundred yard pools. The 1st 200 yards was in a salt water pool, then we exited the 1st pool and ran to a 2nd pool that was a normal pool. I'd never swam in a salt water pool, that was awesome. Having to get out of one pool half way through the swim and run to another to finish the last half of the swim reminded me of Ironman Florida's swim. I felt the split swim with a salt water pool was great fun and made for a perfect end to a fantstic and unique triathlon. Over all this was the most fun I'd ever had at a triathlon. My swim time was 8:16.

I take my hat off to Mark Mico, the race director of the Warrior triathlon.

My total race time was 1:19:20, I finished 7th out of ten in the 35-39 age group and 62nd out of 220 overall.

Just before the start of the race my front tire went flat. Turns out I'd forgot my tire irons at home. Thankfully a guy by the name of Brian Gutierrez jumped in and lent me his. While changing my tire I broke one of his tire irons, but he was ok with it. I was grateful for his willingness to help out. If anyone knows this guy, tell him I said thank you.

The 2012 Elephant Man olympic triathlon race report

Today, September 30th 2012 I completed the Elephant Man Olympic distance triathlon in Elephant Butte New Mexico. This was my 81st multisport race and my 8th Olympic distance triathlon. This was by far the hardest Olympic distance I've ever raced. As a matter of a fact, the Elephant man triathlon is easily the hardest course I've EVER raced. It has massive hills, lots of very steep climbing, heat, a rough road for cycling, and a mile of sandy dirt paths on the run. It's also one of the funnest courses I've ever raced. There's AMAZING views, lots of friendly volunteers, and the vehicle traffic was very courteous.

I knew I was going to be slow today, and I was right. Today was one of the 2 slowest race performances of my triathlon career, but I don't feel badly. To finish a race of this difficulty and distance with virtually no training at all in over 4 months is something I was proud of. My legs fell apart at the 10 mile mark of the bike, so the last sixty percent of the race I finished with nothing but heart. I'm in the worst shape I've been in in over 8 years, but my courage, ability to work through pain, persevere through adversity, and my determination has always been my greatest asset, and it came out in force today.

I swam a 1 mile open water swim having not completed any swim training in over a year and still finished it in 34 minutes 41 seconds, I was 10th out of 14 in my AG, 71st out of 156 overall. I finished the 25.5 mile bike in 1 hour 37 minutes, finishing dead last in my division, 92nd out of 156 overall. And I ran the 6 mile run in 1 hour, 12th out of 14, 82nd out of 156 overall. I finished the trithlon in a total time of 3 hours 17 minutes and 58 seconds, 12th out of 14 in my AG, and 110th out of 156 overall.

I only earned 1 point in the South West Challenge Series for the 2nd race in a row. I now have 46 points, and since the SW challenge series is no longer counting the Warrior triathlon 46 is how many points I'll be ending the 2012 season with. The SW challenge series 35-39 AG points standings is currently:

1st place Price Lowhon with 65 points
2nd place Cody Hanson with 46 points
T-3rd place Matt Hall with 41 points
T-3rd Cory Adair also with 41 points
T-5th place Jan Grande with 38 points
T-5thplace Valentin Ramirez also with 38 points
7th place Mike Edwards with 36 points

lucky me

I'm barely hanging on to 2nd place in the South West Challenge series 35-39 AG right now. I just got word that the Warrior tri wont be counted in the series this year. That is lucky for me. I'm too slow and out of shape right now to be able to finish any races in a decent enough time to earn points for the series. At the Patriot tri I only earned 1 point;-( The less races that are left the more likely I'll find myself still in the top 3.