Off to the Races

Well race season is officially underway for me. This past Saturday was the Chain of Lakes Triathlon. It was a sprint distance race (600 meter swim, 13 mile bike, and 3 mile run). Almost all of my races this year will be sprints, though the distances vary for each race. I’m pretty much sure the sprints vary the distances based on the location amenities, support of the town in which the race is being held, amount of volunteers they can round up, and probably on the race series or crowd of racers they are after. Anyway this race is part of the tri Minnesota series, the Queen series in the state (the King being the Midwest Multisport series). Here’s how the race played out.

We spent the night in Alexandria, MN at the high class Super 8. They allowed the dog which was really cool and pretty much the deciding factor on where we stayed. I got up around 6:00 on Saturday, walked the dog, and then made my way down to the continental breakfast. We loaded up the Jeep and headed to the race. Man it was effing cold out. A grey, cold and windy morning perfect for jumping back into bed and bagging the race. Once we got to the race site I checked in, set up my transition area and then started warming up. I went for a brisk 15 minute ride and came back freezing. This was with a fleece, hat, and pants on. I couldn’t wait to be soaking wet on the bike during the race. I racked the bike and then went on a run. I did about 1.5 mile with some speed work and was feeling great. I fixed up the transition area and headed into the gym. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that this was a pool swim. I will NEVER do a pool swim triathlon again. I’ve said this after every pool swim race that I’ve done, and have somehow managed to find them back on my race calendar. This will be the end. By the time I was done warming up, it was like 8:15. My heat didn’t get into the pool till 10:45, so much for warming up. Once the race starts the transition area is closed so my shoes and bike were off limits. Sitting in the bleachers for 2.5 hours watching others start racing really starts to wear on you. By the time we were set to go off my motivation was shot. Oh well here we go. We had four people in each lane and I was somehow elected to lead our group out. There’s nothing worse than starting out a swim with three other dudes right on your heels. It ended up making me start out way too fast and totally threw my rhythm off. G was at the end of the lane counting laps for me so it was cool to have her involved in the race and that close up. I estimated my swim time at 12:00 minutes and ended up with a 10:30. I ran out of the building and headed to my bike.

T1 was pretty quick, 54 seconds. By the time our heat was on the bikes the sun had come out and warmed things up considerably. I eased into the bike until the first slight downhill and then started to really hammer. The wind was with me for the first half of the race so I tired to take advantage of it as much as possible. The course was pretty flat and well marked, though I almost missed a turn. Low oxygen supply to the brain makes you feel like you are at about the intelligence level of a 5 year old. Once I turned into the wind I put my head down and hammered as best I could. With about a mile to go I let up and started spinning to loosen my legs up for the run. I racked the bike, put on my shoes and race belt and headed out. T2, 30 seconds, average bike speed 21.6 mph.
I started the run and my legs felt like lead. It took till about mile 1 to get them turning over with some ease. I started to push it a little, though we were going into the wind again, then thought to myself “I have no idea what type of pace I have going here.” At one point some dude said to me “Man you are cruising” which gave me the motivation to crank it up a little more. Before the race started I checked the run course and set a point where I would put it all out there and go for broke till the finish. I hit my checkpoint feeling good so I let it fly. There was an uphill finish and my legs were feeling it. I knew I had finished the run faster than I expected because G was not ready for me and I crossed the line before she could get the camera out. I finished the run with a pace of 6:52 per mile. Unofficial time was 1:08:54, fast enough for 20th overall and 6 of 35 in my age group. Overall I was real happy with my results. Before the race I set a goal of a bike speed of 19 mph or more and a run of 7:15 or less. I reached those goals pretty handily. My next race is May 21st in Albert Lea. It has a lake swim so I really need to get out in the water. Man, not really looking forward to that. I hope the wetsuit still fits and the beers over the winter haven’t done too much damage.