Day Before
We drove down to Winona (4 hour drive) on Saturday
afternoon. We drove the bike course so we could see the hills before heading to
packet pickup and an athlete meeting. We didn’t know it at the time, but we
were not on the right street at all for like 8 of the first 11 miles. So much
for scouting. Then we checked into our hotel and had dinner at Green Mill. I
had a meatball sub as we had pasta for lunch. A stop for an ice cream cone and
then to bed early.
Pre-Race
We got up at 4am, took showers and were out the door about
4:45. Stopped at KwikTrip to get some coffee and breakfast for my Sherpas and I
ate my bagel in the car. Parked the car a couple of blocks from the race site,
gathered my stuff and walked to transition. The weather was good. Mid-60’s and
overcast with no wind at all.
It got crazy crowded at transition. The bike racks were marked
by wave, but they had equal sizes of space so some were totally packed and
others were nearly empty. Weird. Everyone was friendly as we claimed some space
and racked our bikes.
I did a warmup and some stretches then donned my wetsuit and
walked down to swim start. Once there I had Melissa zip me up and then I took a
dip in the lake. It was SUPER warm. Not at all what I am used to. Did a quick
warm up swim, then headed back to shore.
About 10 minutes later we did the national anthem, and
gathered in our waves for the start.
Swim
It was a mass start for the elites, but a time trial start
for everyone else. I was in wave 7 with the rest of my age group. We went in
the water in pairs. Soon it was my turn and off I went into the water. I
quickly got settled into a rhythm. I got passed by a few, and passed a few
myself, but otherwise it was pretty lonely out there. Not complaining.
After the first turn, it was difficult sighting as the next
buoy was pretty far away. So I ended up just following the herd. Can’t be all
bad doing that. The water by this point was WARM. I wanted my wetsuit off, I
was actually getting hot.
There were several weeds in this lake. They mentioned in the
athlete meeting that they have a weed harvester and they had been using it and
most of the swim course is pretty good, but I ran into a few here and there. At
one point, one got stuck on my watch so I was dragging that thing around for a
bit.
Soon we made the turn to the exit and I was glad to exit and
get my wetsuit off. My goal time was under 30:00.
Swim time 29:17, 6/15 age group, 37/105 Men
T1
I am slow in transition.
Bike
This bike course has a HUGE hill at mile 11. So I spent the
first mile getting my HR settled which it did rather quickly and then just
cruised through the rolling hills on an out/back loop. Then we made the turn
for the hill. I quickly dropped down to my lowest gear and we all settled in
for the long 1 mile climb up this steep grade.
About halfway up someone actually passed me. It startled me
a bit and I lost my balance, hit the curb and down I went. I was only going
like 3mph at the time and I landed in some grass so nothing injured with me or
the bike. Biggest problem was trying to get my other foot out of the pedal.
Now I am stuck on a steep hill and I have no idea how I am
going to get going again. I clip in one foot and try to get started, the foot
slips on the other pedal and down I go again. This time I look up and there is
a “flat” part of the road about 30 yards ahead so I push my bike to that spot,
then hop on, go across the road, get the other foot clipped in and I was back
in business. I lost TWO MINUTES with this fall.
I finished the hill climb and then I realized that I lost my
gel during the fall. I still was drinking some that I had in my bottle, but
nothing extra.
After the big climb, it was another set of rolling hills
until a big downhill. That was a bit scary, never gone 41mph on a bike before.
Once at the bottom of the hill, it got a bit technical, lots of sharp turns
bumps etc. Then we head back to the lake
and transition. My cheering section was not expecting me yet and they almost
missed me as I passed them about ¼ mile from transition.
I had set a goal of 1:25 with a stretch goal of 1:20.
Bike 1:20:47, 10/15 age group, 56/105 men (If I put the two
minutes out, then I am 6/15 age group, and 42/105 men.
Run
After racking my bike and changing my shoes and having a
discussion about the bike ride with the guy next to me in transition I was off
on the run. The first mile of the run went pretty well, not crazy fast but
quite comfortable and a 9:46 pace! I am super happy with that. I was sticking
with my planned 3:15/:45 run walk time and it was working for me. The only real
issue I had was side aches/”stitches” that I experienced. This was the second
race in a row for that.
Towards the end of the first mile a guy came up and ran next
to me. He asked me how the swim went which I thought was odd, then I realized
it was the guy I went into the water with. I didn’t recognize him without a
wetsuit and goggles. He ran off and finished a few minutes ahead of me. What I
didn’t realize until later was that he and I had the EXACT SAME tri kit on. My
wife shot some video of him later until she realized that he was just in the
same outfit.
As the second mile began my hamstrings cramped up. BOTH of
them. The next couple of miles were super painful, my pace slowed way down and
I went to a 3:00/1:00 run walk to try and rest my legs some. The pace slowed to
10:44, then 11:36 for miles two and three.
After the turnaround, the legs started to feel a little
better so I tried to pick up the pace a bit, keeping the same run/walk time but
just trying to run faster and got down to around 11:00 mile paces for miles
four and five.
But by mile 6 I was just totally out of gas. I walked more
and just willed myself to finish. Saw my family with about a half mile to go
and then ran from the final corner to the finish.
I had set a goal of 1:10 for the run, with a stretch goal to
beat my all time open 10k racing time of 1:07:34 which I set like 20 years ago.
Run 1:06:32 15/15 age group, 100/105 men
I beat it! Despite all the issues!
Overall 3:01:55 13/15 age group, 79/105 men, 97/157 overall
Conclusion
I had set a goal in this race to finish in 3:10 or less and
if I finished in 3:00 I would be totally killing it. Well I did it in 3:01, if
I hadn’t fallen during the bike it would be under 3:00 and if I didn’t cramp on
the run it would be even better. So despite my bad run, I still did pretty
well.
I appear to have some nutrition issues. I needed those extra
calories to get me all the way through the run. So I will need to do something
different, carry extra etc. I am not sure what causes the side stitches, will
have to see what I can do about those.
It took me a while to recover after the race. The powerade I
drank immediately afterwards was SOOO good. Then I had some food and some water
and started to feel a little better. Another powerade during the drive home
helped too. So that kinda reinforces my thoughts on my nutrition.
A funny comment I heard after the race was that someone said
they wondered why they did this and his friends response was “if you aren’t
saying that at least 5 times during the race, you aren’t doing it right.” I
guess that’s pretty true. I don’t feel that way during the first two legs, but
certainly during the run I do.
I really wish I could run. I am so jealous of people who can
run and who don’t get constantly injured running. I will never be remotely
middle of the pack in triathlon until I can run. I am top 40% in the swim and
bike but nonexistent in the run.
This was a hard but fun race. It was very well organized and
I would probably do it again.
