Deuces Wild Race Report

by GEC Elite Sylvain:

Located in the southern Navajo county at an elevation of nearly 6500 feet, Show Low is the perfect escape from Tucson in the summer with temperature in the 70s-80s. The race takes place at the fool hollow lake recreation area, which is one of the most beautiful race venues I’ve had the chance to compete in. TriSports puts on a great racing week end with an Olympic, half ironman and X-Terra race, not to mention an insane raffle. Clearly, if you live in Arizona, this one is a must-do. This course is perfect for supporters to cheer you on all along.

This was my third time racing Show Low at the Olympic distance. I’ve done my first Olympic tri in 2008 there and remembered how much the high elevation made this race extra challenging. Going too hard too soon on this course can quickly turn into a painful experience. Last year, due to the combination of heat and elevation, many people including myself suffered badly on the run. This year, my goal was to go under 2hr20min.

SWIM (1500m):
Swim was a 1 triangular loop. Water temperature is usually high 50s to low 60s, so wetsuits are encouraged! There are only 2 waves, men first then women 4 min later, so it makes for a rather crowded start. It took me 30-40s to break from the mass and find a “quiet” spot in the crowd. After that, I tried to swim conservatively for the first 2/3 of the swim. Once again, I had to rely on swimmers around me to navigate the course as I couldn’t see the buoys in the far distance. After the last turn, heading back towards the boat ramp, we had some waves making it harder to breathe in. Out of the water, I ran towards the “strippers”, lie down to let them do what they do best: 2 seconds later, I was free of my wetsuit and was running to get my bike.

BIKE (40K):
The bike leg is a one loop with the first half being mostly downhill. However, as soon as we turned onto Highway77, we had strong head winds with some long hills coming up. This is what most people complained about after the race: strong head winds on long hills! The pace quickly dropped to a mere 9-10mph. Once back in Show Low, the ride back to the lake and the transition area was easier.

RUN(10K):
The run is a 1 loop that takes you first on a trail, going around the lake, then through the campground. After that comes a long dirt road and finally back on the road for the last mile. As I was unable to keep up a fast pace last year, I decided to start easy this year with quick short strides. The critical part of the run comes half way when you are running uphill on that long dirt road, at the end of which the turn around point is. At this point, you get a clear idea where you are within the race: who’s in front and who’s behind. Feeling pretty good about my run, I started to pick up the pace. The last mile has a nice little hill that will make you want to slow down but the finish line being less than half a mile away, I tried my best to keep up the pace. I crossed the finish line in 2:19:40, 8th OA and 2nd in my age group. A tough but beautiful race, and having so many friends and people from Tucson doing that race makes it one of my favorite Olympic race.