Lake Minnetonka Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Very good, very comfortable swim. I haven't swam a half mile in a race in a while, so after the initial sprint to clear the pack at the start, I just settled in to a nice and easy swim. Navigated well, not too much crashing into people, no real issues. Felt very good coming out of the water.

Nothing

For once my suit did not get stuck on the timing chip! Hurrah!

Take my wetsuit all the way off before putting shoes on. I did one leg at a time for some reason. Not sure it made any difference as far as time goes, but it looked funny, I'm sure.

I drove the bike course the day before the race and was nervous (as usual) about the hills, but it was ok. This is the best pace for me in a couple years. I know it's largely because of the downhills, but I'll take it. :) I did not pass very many people, unfortunately.

My one issue with the bike course was the mount/dismount areas. We could mount right after clearing the T fence on the way out, and didn't have to dismount until right before the fence on the way in. This is good for making shorter T times, but it made for a lot of congestion around the T area. On the way out, I probably stood for a good 15-20 seconds just waiting for some space to clear so I could mount and get going.

Gone out faster at the beginning. I need to work on this. I am always slow the first couple miles for some reason.

Not drink so much on the bike. I had the stomach slosh going for a while, and could feel a side cramp starting at about mile 10 or so.

Straightforward transition. Nothing much to say here.

Speed laces. Still.

I'm honestly astonished that I was even close to 10 mins/mile on this run. I felt like I was hopelessly dragging. I decided not to wear the Garmin because of the humidity factor--I didn't want to be obsessing about pace, but rather just go with RPE and make sure I didn't make myself overheat. Also, I was battling a side cramp right from the start, so I wanted to manage that without knowing how slow I was going.

Blessedly, the course was just about totally flat, and it was overcast which kept the temps down. (It was also only about 9:00 am at this point, so not very hot yet anyway.) I came across a friend of a friend on the way back. He was doing his first race and was walking when I caught up to him, so I dragged him along with me, telling him he could keep up with a slow poke like me. :) Of course he out sprinted me at the end. Jerk. (kidding)

Drank a bit more after the side cramp subsided. I didn't want to risk having it come back, so I didn't drink anything on the run. I poured two cups of water over my head to keep cool though. I was still absolutely raining sweat when I finished, despite the efforts to keep cool.

Found some water, talked to a few other racers, then packed up and headed home. My husband's work picnic was the same day at Valleyfair, so I had hit the road.


Lack of hill training on the bike, lack of run speed (Same story, different day :) )


I will probably race this same course again in September as part of the Best of US Citizens Race. I wanted to race it this time before registering for the Sept race. I liked it and hope I can make a better go at the hills next time!