Square Lake Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Stillwater, MN, Minnesota
United States
Vacation Sports
55F / 13C
Precipitation
Total Time = 6h 42m 40s
Overall Rank = 123/138
Age Group = 30-35
Age Group Rank = 13/14
Pre-race routine:

We went up to Stillwater on friday night with the family (wife, daughter Alexa - 3 years old, and son Caden - 18 months) and met up with some friends and their kids for dinner. On Saturday our friend Gregg was racing the sprint the day before, so we cheered for him and then headed back to the hotel for a dip in the pool and the Iowa game. Things got interesting once we got back to the hotel room. When my daughter woke up from her nap, she sat up and was trying to re-adjust herself on the bed and then fell off right on top of her head. She started screaming immediately and then started throwing up, so we freaked out and rushed her to the emergency room. They checked her out and wanted to do a CT to make sure she was ok. I took my son out of the room so he could move around a bit, and my wife was given the daunting task of sitting with my 3 year old for the CT. She was screaming so loud that we could here her in the lobby! Long story short, everything was OK, and we spoiled her the rest of the weekend. Moving on...
Got up around 4.30 race morning, ate a clif bar, banana, and some gatorade. Loaded up the car and headed to the lake. It was cold and cloudy.
Event warmup:

Not much, just a little swimming.
Swim
  • 48m 42s
  • 2110 yards
  • 02m 19s / 100 yards
Comments:

The swim was awful for me. I had problems finding the buoys (really only 4 total), which kept drifting around. On the last turn around I was swimming towards a buoy that seemed way out of place and by the time I got there a girl on a kayak pulled it about 25 yards or further in, so I knew I was swimming further than expected.
What would you do differently?:

Usually I'm a much better swimmer. Not sure what I would do differenly, probably just try to relax. I could never get into a groove. I'd only been swimming once per week for the last 2 months. Between the family, work, and class I knew I needed to cut back on one and it was the swim. Oh well.
Transition 1
  • 04m 45s
Comments:

This included the run/walk/crawl up the steps to T1. My legs were pretty tight by the time I got there so I took my sweet time. Very disoriented from my slow swim.
What would you do differently?:

Pick up the pace.
Bike
  • 3h 17m 18s
  • 56 miles
  • 17.03 mile/hr
Comments:

The bike is usually my strong suit, but I was really hurting today. We started out with a tailwind which was deceiving. Once we made the first turn there was a good crosswind, then a turn into the wind, which just kicked my ass. I had done all of my long rides at 4.30 in the morning where the wind was non-existant. I just don't think my legs were prepared for the wind. The hills felt fine and had no problems with that. The bike got real lonely at the end as there wasn't anyone within a mile in front or behind me, so I was alone with my thoughts, which started to become negative. About this time the rain started to mist a bit harder and I was praying it wouldn't pour because my shoes were uncovered in transition. When I finally got to T2 I was soooo happy, but confused. My wife and kids weren't there and I was hoping for a little support. More on that later.
What would you do differently?:

Not much, more time on the bike in training, but nothing this day.
Transition 2
  • 04m 10s
Comments:

I actually had my shoes on pretty quickly, but I went to the bathroom. No one was in line, but it was "occupied" for 3 of the 4 minutes in T2.
What would you do differently?:

Just go to the bathroom on the course.
Run
  • 2h 27m 48s
  • 13.2 miles
  • 11m 12s  min/mile
Comments:

Felt pretty good the first 7 miles, under 11 min miles. Although it was a little disheartening to see virtually everyone running the other direction. I only passed 2 people, and that was solely because they were walking. After mile 7 my quads started to cramp up a bit... so I walked the aid stations and chugged some water. Also popped in a few endurolytes. The rain became pretty steady around mile 9 so the last 4 were pretty cold and wet. For the last 3 I couldnt see anyone in front or behind me which was weird. If it wasn't for the aid stations it wouldn't have felt like a race. At mile 12 I got rejuvenated and ran the last mile around 8 minutes. I couldn't stop smiling. My wife and daughter were standing waiting for me about 200 yards from the finish, I gave them a kiss and sprinted to the finish.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, in fact I ran the pace and time that I had hoped for. I'm not a great long distance runner and had never run further than 11 miles before so I was very happy.
Post race
Warm down:

Just walked back to my wife and daughter.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Probably a little more time on the back, and definitely more time in the pool.

Event comments:

I mentioned earlier that my family wasn't there in T2 when I got off the bike. After the race I looked in my car at my sleeping son only to find a giant 1 1/2 inch gash in his head. During the bike they had gone to a park to pass the time and he tripped and hit his head on a bench splitting his head wide open. Luckily we had friends with us, so my wife had help, but blood was pouring out of his little head and they rushed him to the emergency room. Finishing the race seemed like such a small task now. My wife had now spent the last 2 days in the emergency room with our frightened little kids. The last couple of days following the race I have been kicking myself for dragging the family to all of these races for my own selfishness. In fact I thought of hanging them up. But I have the greatest wife who said that she supports my racing and would never want me to quit something I love and wouldn't want to put up with me being a crab ass :). In fact despite my soreness (ankles and feet are still sore today), I plan on another 1/2 next year to better my time and erase some of the memories from last weekend.




Last updated: 2006-03-28 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:48:42 | 2110 yards | 02m 19s / 100yards
Age Group: 11/14
Overall: 107/138
Performance: Bad
Suit: Promotion Sleeveless
Course: 2 loop rectangle.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 04:45
Performance: Bad
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
03:17:18 | 56 miles | 17.03 mile/hr
Age Group: 12/14
Overall: 114/138
Performance: Below average
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: 2 loop course with rolling hills and a couple of large/long hills at the end of the ride.
Road: Rough Wet Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 04:10
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Average
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Bad
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
02:27:48 | 13.2 miles | 11m 12s  min/mile
Age Group: 12/14
Overall: 125/138
Performance: Good
Course: Out and back course with a few hills, a couple pretty good sized.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? No
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3