Hola, mis amigos! After four days, thirty five hours of driving, one triathlon and a mouthful of stitches later, I'm back. The stitches are not due to the triathlon but instead to this guy, to whom I have given many thousands of dollars over the years.
The triathlon was, on the whole, successful. I placed 54th out of 91 contestants, which is by far my best showing at a multi-sport race. I had strong swim and bike legs, but the run leg nearly killed me. The course description did not make the run look difficult, and at five miles it was well within my range. I assume that the hot (85 degrees), dry (seven percent humidity) and high (6300 feet) conditions were the culprit. Fortunately for me, everybody else dogged on the run as well, so I didn't lose much (if any) ground.
As for Arizona, the state looks fantastic. After a number of drought years, this winter was wet. As a result, green grass and standing water are everywhere.
My home state, God bless it, is a little bit redneck. It's a land of ATVs, no helmet laws, trucks and mustaches. Lord, how Arizonans love mustaches. Granted, I only spent time in rural Arizona, so Phoenix and Tucson may be different, but one out of every three or four guys sported a mustache. Here in SF, I can't remember the last time I saw a guy with a mustache, even ironic and/or cop fetish ones. My roommate tells me that a number of guys at his gym have them, but I don't believe him.

Official Race Results Here