Race Coverage

"Thank You, Body"....

Sunday, 27 November 2016 23:10

By Erin Klegstad (sweetsweatlife.com)

Keep fighting.

Ironman Arizona Race Report - This sign – held by a woman at mile 10-ish of the marathon – sums up my IRONMAN Arizona. I fought so damn hard all day long, but punching that second trip to Kona just wasn’t meant to be this past Sunday. Was there a smidge of disappointment? Of course. But, there were plenty of lessons learned, and it was a solid day building some serious mental fitness....

Onward to the offseason – of dreaming and scheming!

Swim // 1:09:15

Overall, the swim wasn’t that pleasant – or, perhaps I’m biased coming off Kona’s clear turquoise water!

I skipped Saturday’s practice swim because I didn’t want to know what I was jumping into: a dark, icy “lake” (who knew, this being Arizona and all!). The second my feet hit the bottom step into Tempe Town Lake Sunday morning… zing! It didn’t quite take my breath away, but, wow, it was freezing. I didn’t warm up until about 400 yards in and that was only because I peed in my wetsuit.

We started in the dark – at 6:50a – so sighting was hard until the sun came up, and even then, it still wasn’t great. My plan was to swim near the wall (on the right) until the bend, but because I couldn’t tell where I was, I ended up swimming just inside the buoys (with clear water) nearly the entire 2.4 miles.

I never really felt like I found a groove and instead focused on a getting to the next buoy… and the next… and the next… until I finally reached the final turn buoy. The choppy back stretch felt long – am I even moving forward?! – so I knew I wasn’t setting any PRs, even in a wetsuit. Maybe I need to stick to salty ocean swims?! READ MORE