Graniteman Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Start was mediocre, then I had some trouble getting a rythymn going. DId much better after the turnaround, even drafted some. Still not very fast but 37 seconds faster than last year.

I can still go harder on the swim, especially a sprint. This was my first sprint of the year and I need to go harder on the swim.

No problems with my top but when I got to my bike I had not done anything with my bib. I had troubles with the heels cause I sat down for some reason, had to get back up and step on legs. Probably lost 10 seconds on this mistake.

I was still 2nd in AG only +1 sec

Get top off and remember to work on bib as well. Maybe because this the shortest water to T1 I've had this year I didn't have time or did I just forget.

I started out just behind someone from my AG and tried to stay with him but he left me early on one of the rollers and I did not see him again. I was a little disappointed because I knew Larry Stracke was a good biker but I was a bette rrunner than him. Turns out it was him. First half was really fast, 2nd half we had a little headwind. Only 15 miles so I was pushing hard counting on my run strength to hold up for only a 5k.

I drank almost my whole aero bottle of GE.

My bike handling skills are still weak. I know I'm also a little gun shy from my crash earlier this year. I got out of aero and braked on some of turns when I did not need to. I really should find someplace to practice my cornering and turn skills at race speed. 1:11 slower than last year. More wind last year but also more bike fitness at this time of year.

5th in AG +29 sec. 2 guys were really fast, most likely no bike shoes as their bike speed was mid 18s. 2nd place Larry Stracke was 11 secs faster than me.

Great run. I had a little trouble with my Garmin at start, I was hitting stop button instead of lap button. Garmin had me 6:30 pace for 3.11 miles. Mile 1 was 6:37, 2 was 6:31, 3 was 6:27 and last .11 was 5:49. I knew I needed to push to podium and my run was better than Larry Stracke or Larry Schonhardt. I passed a couple of wave 4 guys early. At about the 2 mile point I turned it up a notch, really decided to leave nothing in reserve and go hard as long as I could. I was passing tons of people. Once we got of the road back on the bike path you could see the finish and I kept pouring it on trying to pass as many as possible. Right at the end about 50 yards I saw a wave 4 guy and went all out. I passed him at the very end. In the finish shute I had a loud shout of accomplishment, pretty excited to pass a fellow AGer even if it wasn't for a podium. Turns out it was Larry Schonhardt who beat me by 4 min at RochesterFest last year, I was only 3 sec in front of him. I ended up 3rd only 27 sec behind Stracke who was 1st last year and beat me by 3:48. 1st was Pete Royer, a 50 yr old but I was only 1:11 behind him.

This was my first race this year where I improved last year's time. Only 17 sec faster but hey I'll take it. Plus I got closer to top of AG and beat someone who has beat me before.

Saw Scott, Jenny and Renee finish. Got some cookies from Renee. Scott and I got our stuff out of transition, got our food and stayed for awards. Scott went to look at results but didn't tell me anything. Andy, Jenny and I all finished 3rd in our AG, Andy was 6th overall. Scott did well for his limited training 21/44. Renee's name was drawn for HED 3 spoke front wheel but she had left....too bad.


Bike fitness is getting there but still needs time. Swim will always be my weak discipline but I need to keep working to improve.


2nd year at Graniteman, it works out well w/Scott living in St Cloud, otherwise probably would not do this one. We got hot dog and chips this year but only a towel, no t-shirt in goodie bag. Pretty low-key, non-USAT race. I do like the granite plaques instead of a medal for podium finishes. They had a the HED wheel and a mtn bike for prizes this year better than last year.

Thanks to a call from Andy we went down hy 10 instead of I94 and then headed east when 10 slowed down. It still tooks us 3:20 but it took them 5:00.