Lake Minnetonka Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Excelsior, Minnesota
United States
Tri Minnesota Triathlon Racing Series
65F / 18C
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 17m 28s
Overall Rank = 50/466
Age Group = M 45 - 49
Age Group Rank = 5/47
Pre-race routine:

Normal breakfast of waffles, butter, syrup, banana, coffee, juice and water. Verified all gear checked off and loaded and headed out to Exclesior. Got a good parking spot. Had trouble filling the front tire through my valve extender, so ended up going with whatever was still in from the night before - maybe 80 lbs. Checked the Excel bike tent and they could not get it filled either and said the presta valve must have vibrated closed. Will try again when it is defalted as I had no trouble the night before the race. Got same tran spot as last year.
Event warmup:

My son Jason wanted to accompany me, so this race was extra special. We went for about a mile walk/jog/run for warmup. Swam maybe 50 yards or so pre swim. He went for his run (5 miler at 7:30 pace) while I biked.
Swim
  • 13m 1s
  • 880 yards
  • 01m 29s / 100 yards
Comments:

Not a very good swim for me. Although only 21 seconds slower than last year, I placed much lower in both AG and overall. Start was rough as the race director was chatting on and on and only gave us a 5 second count down, and I did not even have my goggles on yet. I thought sighting was very tough in the rain and I think my swim cap was partially blocking my right eye. Slow start behind 2 big guys due to pausing a second or two to get my goggles on at the start. This and bad sighting easily wasted 30 seconds. The actual swimming went well and I pushed it nice and steady. Last half went much better than first half.


What would you do differently?:

Follow my plan which was to go out hard and get ahead of most of the wave. I might need new goggles as these are getting old and are pretty scratched adding to the sighting difficulty.
Transition 1
  • 01m 39s
Comments:

Good tran. Ran in pretty hard and no real delay in grabbing bike. Only delay was a few seconds spent wiping the rain from my sunglasses. 10 seconds slower than last year.
What would you do differently?:

Have some clear bike glasses and cover them with a towel during the swim in case of rain.
Bike
  • 40m 19s
  • 14.5 miles
  • 21.58 mile/hr
Comments:

One word: rain. I had a hard time seeing with my wet sunglasses and they kept steaming up too. Also had a bit of a hard time getting my right foot in my shoe, but was cruising at 18 - 20 while struggling, so no real delay. I pushed it hard on the straights and cornered with care. I was only 14 seconds slower than last year, so solid riding considering the steady rain. The low air in my front tire did not seem to bother me.


What would you do differently?:

Nothing really, except chant rain, rain , go away at the start.
Transition 2
  • 00m 46s
Comments:

Maybe the best tran 2 ever for me. Just went in hard, got shoes on fast then ran hard out. I had almost the same spot on the rack as last year but was 23 seconds faster, despite the very wet conditions.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Run
  • 21m 46s
  • 3 miles
  • 07m 16s  min/mile
Comments:

Good run for me at 14 seconds better than a pretty solid performance last year, despite the wet conditions which made the trail a bit slow I’d say. I went out hard and then relaxed a bit before running a negative split. I did not see a mile marker, which kind of sucked as I had no pace info until the turnaround.
What would you do differently?:

I wished they had had a mile marker so I had a clue of my pacing prior to the turnaround, but I did not have much left in the tank, so ran a solid race.
Post race
Warm down:

Met Jason, walked around, got some water and waited for a calf massage which felt great. Checked results and then we pretty much took off as we were getting chilled. Too bad it was raining as it would have been nice to hang out for a bit and enjoy the atmosphere.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Rain and a poor swim start. Was pretty well trained I thought.

Event comments:

Rain was disappointing as it is such a nice venue and it would have been fun to hang out longer. Good race overall for me. I guess I am destined to finish in 5th place or so every time.




Last updated: 2011-10-05 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:13:01 | 880 yards | 01m 29s / 100yards
Age Group: 8/47
Overall: 71/466
Performance: Below average
Suit: Neosport sleeveless
Course: Point-to-point clockwise around Excelsior park.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 01:39
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:40:19 | 14.5 miles | 21.58 mile/hr
Age Group: 5/47
Overall: 49/466
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Out and back with some rollers and one bigger hill.
Road: Smooth Wet Cadence: 90
Turns: Below average Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:46
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:21:46 | 03 miles | 07m 16s  min/mile
Age Group: 5/47
Overall: 50/466
Performance: Good
Course: Out and back, flat and a bit soggy on the trail portion.
Keeping cool Good Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 5