Graniteman Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Guess I am a dolt because I found myself drifting away from teh buoy line more often than necessary. Got a swift punch to the face early on, dislodging my goggles including my contact lens for a few blurry seconds. Thankfully that righted itself and I kept on. Later got a good whack to my forearm. It took me a while to get warmed up, but this was an overall easy swim. Wish I had more natural talent :)

Stayed closer to the line so I could sight better and hopefully swim straight and not waste time.

Got my wet suit off really fast. They had a carpeted area down the row, which was GREAT, so I just took my own space and stepped on each leg to yank it off. This went really fast and I cannot help but notice that my transitions saved me several places overall. Cool!

Passed a bunch of people as usual. This was going really well and my average was sneaking up towards 20 mph and then at 7 I hit a headwind. After that it was very windy and I never really found much speed. If it hadn't been so flat it would have been really ugly. Fortunately everyone else seemed affected by the wind, so we all were fighting the battle. I don't know why I had myself convinced that this was 13 miles and I was so bummed when I realized it wasn't going to end! Oh well. Got in some good speed for those last 2 miles. It was nice being in the second wave because the course wasn't as crowded.

Keep working on the bike so a little wind doesn't slow me down as much. I have an aero bike and I'm not that big, so I should have a relatively easier time. Need to work on my muscles I guess.

Hard to tell where the dismount line was, so I screeched to a halt and jumped off probably too soon. Tiny little T area and I was right by the bike in, so this was easy. Quick shoe change and I was off.

Hustle a bit more, I could have done this in 10-20 secs less I think. But again, I was faster than the majority of the group and this helped my overall standings quite a bit.

This was actually a good solid run for me. I am always happy to finish a run that 1) didn't make me feel like quitting, and 2) was under 10 m/m. Mission accomplished. I got passed a LOT and only passed about 2 folks. How does these people have so much energy at the end? The only complaint about this run was the bugs. Little black bugs in swarms, more than one person finished with them stuck to their foreheads. Eww.

Talked to m55morris and paddle2paddle and other friends, then packed up and cleaned up. Decided to stay for the awards in hopes of winning the raffle, but no dice. Wish we had left right away because it got really sunny and hot, and then on our ride home we hit major traffic. There was an accident on 94 by Albertville and they had to close Eastbound 94 in Monticello. Too bad we were about 10 miles from Monticello then with no alternative, so inched our way to the exit. Withouth any directions to follow, fortunately we knew we could get to Buffalo easily and then take 55 home, so we did. Long, long, drive home for a short race.


Nice race. The venue has a serious bug problem, and the run was boring... but the bike course was nice and the race was handled smoothly overall. I love the swim format and the rugs in transition rocked. Not sure if it was worth the drive, but I felt like trying something different and I'm glad I went.