Arizona Mountain Man Triathlon started in 1984 and is one of the longest standing triathlons in the West. The race takes place at Upper Lake Mary, just a short drive from Flagstaff, at an elevation of about 7000 ft. During the swim, bike and run segments, there are beautiful views of the San Francisco Peaks, Lake Mary, and Mormon Lake!
Alastair and I spent a total of 6 days in Flagstaff, doing some hikes before the race on the AZT to the east of the city and near Snowbowl (at @ 9000′ elevation). I think having 4 days at elevation before the race helped me acclimate to the lower oxygen levels.
On our first day there, Alastair worked remotely from our hotel room, so I drove his car to Lake Mary for a practice swim and ride. Before starting my swim I decided to walk out on the boat dock and take a couple of selfies. That’s when the shit show started! While getting my phone in position for a photo, I dropped it — it bounced once on the dock, then into the water! Of course I started freaking out, and quicky walked down into the water to try to find it, thinking if I was quick enough it might still be OK. After 10 minutes of feeling around the bottom with zero visibility in the water, I sadly gave up. As I was walking out of the water I realized I still had the car’s electronic key fob in the back pocket of my tri suit. F@#$*&K!! After several minutes of stressing out about how I might ride my bike back to the hotel with the main road under construction and bike lanes closed, I tried to unlock the car and start it. The electronic fob wouldn’t unlock the car, but by removing just the key and unlocking manually I was able to get in, and fortunately was able to start the car! I took a chance that it would still start later, so I went ahead and did my practice swim and ride. I got back to the hotel in one piece and confessed my stupidity to Alastair. At the end of the day we decided to go out for food, but the car wouldn’t start. Alastair spent the better part of a half hour trying to get it to work and eventually succeeded, yay! Off we went to Whole Foods for groceries and to Majestic Marketplace for a beer. At @ 7:45pm we got back into the car and it wouldn’t start again. F@#$*&K!! again! Alastair took the fob completely apart, including the battery, which was still wet. Fortunately there was an REI nearby, so we went there for a new battery, got back to the car and realized we’d gotten the wrong battery. With just 5 minutes until closing, we both ran back to REI and exchanged it for the correct one. Then back to the car, inserted new battery, and it started! That night we took the fob apart again to let it completely dry out, and from then on we had no trouble with it. WHEW!! I won’t go into all the crazy scenarios we discussed in the event we wouldn’t have been able to start the car. Just a bit of stress that first day!
Race day went well, with morning air temperatures in the mid 70s and water temperature @ 70F. The swim was 1500 yds, the bike was 24.5 miles with @ 825′ elevation gain, and the run was a 10k with @ 350′ elevation gain (mostly all in the 1st three miles). The main differences for me between this race and Deuces Wild in June were improved transitions times (I cut those almost in half) and about a mile per hour faster on my bike. Overall, my time for this race was 10 minutes faster than Deuces. I was 2nd out of 2 in my age group, 70-74. The woman who placed 1st was also the only other participant in my age group in Deuces, but at that race I placed first, coming in just a few minutes before her. Her time was about 15 minutes faster than mine for Mountain Man. Overall, I was happy with my finish – nothing hurt during or after the race (always a plus for me!).
Alastair and I enjoyed a post race Happy Hour at Dark Sky, one of our favorite breweries in Flagstaff!
