Steelhead Triathlon Race Report

Today was the 17th annual Steelhead Triathlon at Ft. Huachuca (Sierra Vista, Az.).

I awoke at 3am, ate a quick breakfast, got dressed and then hit the road. It is a 1.5 hour drive. I arrived at the race site at 5am. I picked up my race packet and then proceeded to set up my transission area. A quick review of the course maps was followed by a short warm up run. I then got in the pool for a few warm up laps. The weather was great. Cool and overcast but the humidity was high.

6am…race time. I was in the first wave along with all the other fast guys and girls. This pool is always a slow swim for me…there are no stripes on the bottom so you have to keep an eye on the lane lines. Today was no exception. I exited the 800 yard swim in about 12:45 and found myself in about 15th place. With a swift transission I passed 5-6 people. I then made quick work of catching people on the bike. I settled into my aerobars and set a strong pace. The course is a 12 mile out and back. The first half is rolling hills followed by a 1-1.5 mile steady climb to the turn around. By the turn around I was in 5th place…3 individuals and 1 relay team in front of me. I was slowly making up time on the 4th place guy. I entered transission only a few seconds behind him. After another quick transission I was off for the out and back 5k run. The course is a slight downhill all the way to the turn around and then retracing your path back up the hill to the finish. I overtook 4th place within the fist 1/4 mile. My foot turn over was fast and I felt good. I saw 1st place and knew that he was out of reach. 2nd was a relay team so I wasn’t too worried about them. 3rd was a possibility but it would be tough. I was gaining a little time on him and had him within view but ran out of space. I crossed the line in 3rd overall with a time of 1:06:40. The awards were nice “crystal” trophies and were handed out by the base commander.

Now I have 2 weeks remaining in a 3 week mid-season break then the build up for Ironman Arizona begins.