Heart of the Lakes Triathlon - TriathlonLong Course


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Annandale, Minnesota
United States
70F / 21C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 25m 13s
Overall Rank = 395/460
Age Group = F35-39
Age Group Rank = 22/32
Pre-race routine:

Up at 4 am to drive the 100 miles to Annandale. It didn't take the full 2 hours I was allowing (just in case), so at 6:10 I was getting out of my car at the race site. Had almost 2 full hours to go until race start.

I was plenty early enough to get a spot on the end of a rack so I set up all my stuff and then drank my sport shake and propel. Talked with the BT crew a bit--Emily, Bob, Bryan, Kelly, Ben, Joe, Pattie, Jeremy.
Event warmup:

I was very low energy before the race and was tired so I sort of lulled myself halfway to sleep while waiting for the race to start. I should have to gone for a bike ride to keep moving and get the blood flowing, but I didn't. I did eventually get in the water for a short warmup swim, but not much.

Upon getting in the water, I immediately regretted the choice of the shaded goggles. It was overcast and I could barely see anything with those shaded goggles on. I meant to also bring my clear goggles but got distracted while packing my bag the night before and forgot them. :(
Swim
  • 15m 13s
  • 880 yards
  • 01m 44s / 100 yards
Comments:

This swim was ok. Navigation was an issue because I couldn't see very well. I actually did some decent drafting off a woman who swam right along side me all the way out. She got ahead of me at the turn around since she had an inside line around the buoys, so I stayed right on her feet almost the whole way in. She had a bright yellow tri suit on, so I could actually see her pretty well in the water. Once we were about 50 yards out from shore, I thought "thanks for the draft!" and swam by her to the beach. :)
What would you do differently?:

Wear different goggles so I could actually see the buoys. Go out harder. Like last year, I head back too much on this swim for fear of the bike and run ahead. I managed to swim about 8 seconds faster than last year, but that's it.
Transition 1
  • 02m 52s
Comments:

Pretty uneventful transition. It's quite a long run from the beach to the T area so that makes for a long transition. No real issues with anything; just got the wetsuit off, but shoes, suglasses, and helmet on, and off I went.

Turns out the lady in the yellow tri suit (who ran right by me on the way to T1, of course :) ) was racked right next to me.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Bike
  • 1h 08m 43s
  • 21 miles
  • 18.34 mile/hr
Comments:

I believe this is the first time I've ever averaged above 18 mph on the bike, so I'm happy about that. I know this is a fast course and everyone probably had a good day on the bike with the lack of wind, but still, I'm happy. :)

Again, nothing remarkable here. I managed to not drop my water bottle at the beginning of the ride like I did last year, so that was good. ha ha I just pedalled on my merry way, getting passed by people all the time, as usual. I tried to focus on my own goal rather than getting flustered by getting passed. I saw that I was creeping up on 18 mph average during the first half of the ride, so my goal was to keep that for the rest of the way. I did it, but I was pushing hard at the end to do it in the slower, bike-and-runner-congested sections. I was afraid I'd pay for that on the run. Overall this ride was about five minutes faster than last year's.
What would you do differently?:

Not drink so much before the race. I had to go to the bathroom before the race even started, but by midway through the bike, I *really* had to go.
Transition 2
  • 01m 57s
Comments:

My plan was to rack the bike and helmet, change the shoes, and hit the port-a-john on the way out of T2. The first part went fine, but I just couldn't bring myself to take the time to use the port-a-john. So I ran right by it and headed out on the run. Not smart.

I also decdied that since it had been overcast all morning to not wear my hat or sunglasses on the run. No need to restrict any air flow around my broiling head if not necessary. In hindsight, also not smart.
What would you do differently?:

Use that port-a-john!! All I could think about on the run is how badly I had to go to the bathroom. And bring at least the sunglasses, if not the hat.

On the bright side, this was 37 seconds faster than last year's T2. I think my rack was in pretty close to the same spot as last year, so that is a nice improvement.
Run
  • 56m 30s
  • 5.3 miles
  • 10m 40s  min/mile
Comments:

Well, this pretty much blew. My legs were tired and I really needed to use the bathroom. And of course, about a half mile or so into the run, the sun came out. Natch. So I was all distracted, squinty, and crabby. (I was a regular ray of sunshine at this race, as was accurately pointed out by JoeR. :) ) And at about the 4.5 mile mark, the IT band decided to join the fun-fest. Yippee! I slogged my way through, and tried to finish strong, but the IT band was very unhappy at that point. This run was about a minute slower than last year's.
What would you do differently?:

The bathroom, the sunglasses, and the hat, for starters. And growing some new legs would help too.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked, water, watermelon, stretched, watermelon (love that stuff!), gatorade.

Brought my stuff to the car and grabbed my cooler o' potato salad for the BT picnic. Lots of yummy food and good company with the crew.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not nearly enough sleep, low energy start, the bathroom thing, the IT band thing. Oh, and of course, my weight. :)

Event comments:

This is such an nice race with fantastic give aways. I really like the course and this was about a 4.5 minute improvement over last year's time. And it's always nice when there is a good BT turnout. :)




Last updated: 2008-06-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:15:13 | 880 yards | 01m 44s / 100yards
Age Group: 4/32
Overall: 120/460
Performance: Average
Suit: ProMotion sleeveless
Course: Out and back rectangle
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Average Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:52
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:08:43 | 21 miles | 18.34 mile/hr
Age Group: 22/32
Overall: 403/460
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Rolling hills around the lake
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:57
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:56:30 | 05.3 miles | 10m 40s  min/mile
Age Group: 29/32
Overall: 432/460
Performance: Below average
Course: Big loop around the lake
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5