Sunrise: 7:06 a.m.
Sunset: 5:22 p.m.
Moonrise: 11:46 a.m.
Moonset: 10:36 p.m.
The late sunrise means that the pros will start in twilight and the age groupers before dawn. I will be swimming into the sun, which is nothing new, but kind of annoying since you can't see where you are going. If I swim into the south shore of Tempe Town Lake, I know that I am off course.
I have no hope of finishing before sunset or even moonset, but I hope to finish the bike portion before the sunset, otherwise I am toast and I won't be able to continue to the run.
Running in the dark will be strange, but I probably won't be alone, at least on the first lap of the run. I suspect it will be the darkest part of the race both figuratively and literally, but I think if I make it to run I will be happy anyway because it means I have a chance to finish.
When you are racing a ironman time both weighs on you and disappears. It disappears because you are so into the moment trying to keep going that you aren't aware of the passage of time. You are too busy thinking about swim mechanics, bike cadence, nutrition, how your body is doing that time flys by. At the same time, if you are slow, you are acutely aware of the time cut-offs. Since I am a slow swimmer AND a slow bike rider, my times are tight. I have to rush through transition after the swim and hope my bike fitness has improved enough that I can beat the cut-offs and go onto the run. The run is an unknown. It's where some people slow down if they have trashed themselves on the bike or shine is their pacing was right. The race can fall apart or come together for racers. Some people stagger through, some people actually run. I don't know how well I will run, but at least if I beat the bike cut-off, it will be one barrier down to finishing.
So hopefully, I will be riding into the sun before it disappears into the earth.
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