As mentioned in August, #100 had been put on hold by Mother Nature. But Tetris pieces fell into place for it to occur in Anthem, AZ.
After a quick bike fit and standard inking (although I had run out of Skratch), we called it an early night.
After getting transition set up, we checked in with Jeremy. As this was a snake swim, he allowed us to start five minutes early to minimize issues with congestion. That worked out really well, and my biggest issue in the pool was the chlorine level…
After a longer than normal T1 (as I had to put on layers since it was < 50), we headed out on the bike. It was a three loop “square” with a pigtail that had lots of hills. They weren’t steep like some of the hills from 2024, but they were long, gradual ones. As I found out later, one of those gradual hills was a full mile…
As we got further into the loops, I became more comfortable and it got “easier”. A sign of that confidence was a full tuck to Paul’s back for a portion of the downhill.
After coming off the bike, T2 took a little longer as I shed some layers in addition to changing (it had warmed up to about 60).
The run was an out-and-back that began in the park and then went along the first mile of the bike course. So this mean hills, lots and lots of hills. I will admit to pushing it too hard when we were a few hundred meters from the turnaround, which led to issues on the way back. But being almost completely downhill on the way back, I made it work.
I am extremely grateful to Paul for guiding, Jeremy for all the support, and so many others for helping to make it a successful weekend! I’ll have a more formal “100 thank you” as the next blug…
If you’re in the Phoenix or Tuscon area, please check out 4Peaks Racing’s events! Can’t say enough good things about my expereince here! 🙂
