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MinneMan Sprint
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MinneMan Sprint - TriathlonSprint
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 Swim
Comments: At last, a breakthrough swim for me! In my three previous races, my swims had been marked by some combination of panic, overexcitement, inexperience, and any other adjective that might contribute to generally crappy swims. But not this time. I was calm from the start, swam my own pace, stayed on course, and did the crawl the whole way. That last part was really important for me, as I've had to resort to the backstroke in every race previously. I have a tendency to drift to the right, so this time I lined up on the left side of the pack so I'd be able to keep track of the other swimmers and know if I were drifting right. But it never happened because my sighting was really good. Every time I looked up I was right where I wanted to be. This was definitely the best part of the race for me. Checking last year's result...what the heck? Last year I gasped and backstroked to a 10:42 (which was next to last in my AG), while this year I felt great (and was 12th in my AG) yet only took 40 seconds off my time?!? Something ain't right here. I'm guessing last year's course was shorter. I did hear some people claiming this course was longer than 1/3 mile. I hope it was, because that just makes my time even better! What would you do differently?: I was really cognizant of not going out too hard (something I did last month at Buffalo), and I held to my plan. I could've pushed a little harder over the last 100-200 yards, but it probably would've gotten me only 10-15 seconds.  Transition 1
Comments: As I came off the beach, giddy like a schoolgirl about my swim, I looked up to see co-worker/cube-mate/another all-around good guy and great friend Dave (and his 6-month-old son Abe) cheering me on. Two of my best friends at the race today - damn, I was excited! The layout of the transition area changed this year - last year it was only a 20 yard run from the swim exit to transition. This year, it was about a 100 yard run. I quipped to the volunteers at the transition entrance, "I thought the run was at the end." Funny stuff. I'm sure they hadn't heard that at all. My T1 was apparently awesome, because I had the third fastest time in my AG, despite the fact that I was wearing a wetsuit. How did THAT happen?!? As I was running out with my bike, I saw Eric and Dave (who had never met before) watching me from the transition area fence, about 15 feet apart from each other. Feeling obligated to introduce them (I'm a uniter, not a divider), I did the running intro as I headed out: "DAVE,ERIC-ERIC,DAVE...talk amongst yourselves!!!" What would you do differently?: I was a little slow getting my feet into my shoes on the bike, but other than that, I'm not complaining.  Bike
Comments: Lonely, lonely, lonely bike ride. I think I was passed by 5 riders, and I passed 2, if my oxygen-depleted brain was counting correctly. After the peloton-like ride at Buffalo, this felt like a training ride given my solitude. I am a bit disappointed with my time, though. My goal was to finish over 20mph, so I missed it by 35 seconds. My cadence on the flats was typically around 100, and I'd like to get it down to around 90 by pushing a bigger gear (and therefore hopefully getting more speed). What would you do differently?: Ride more. Lots more. Transition 2
Comments: As I came across the dismount line, I saw Dave cheering and tried to quickly come up with something funny to say to him. All that came out of my mouth was "Woooooo!!!!" Nice. What's next? Could I take it to the next level with a "WooHoo!!!" How about "Yahoo!!!" I'm sure the other dozen spectators there were thinking, "Geez, what a mouthbreather..." What would you do differently?: I took my feet out of my shoes too early, because I'd rather give up a few seconds on the bike than risk an embarassing, yet crowd-pleasing, dismount debacle.  Run
Comments: By the time I hit the run, the sun was out, the temperature was over 80, and the humidity was cranked. I could never get my pace up to where I wanted it to be. At the 2 mile mark, I was really trying to convince myself to push it, but something in me was holding back, as if I were afraid that I might blow up in the last mile - almost like a fear of failure. I need to be able to get through that and deal with the pain. Checking last year's time...OK, I was 72 seconds faster last year. Not that much quicker, really. This year's layout was a bit different: the run exit was on the opposite end from last year, so that added about 100 yards (and 30 seconds?). And it was definitely hotter this year. As far was nutrition/hydration goes, I took an Enervit gel right at the start of the bike, and took a couple of swigs of Gatorade/H2O around the 5 mile mark. I didn't feel thirsty at all during the rest of the race, and I didn't have any sloshing in my stomach during the run, which I've had problems with in the past. It seems that drinking/eating much later on the bike causes too many problems. What would you do differently?: Practice in the heat more. All of my training runs are in the morning, so heat is never a problem, so I was unprepared for it during the race. Post race
Warm down: Met Dave and Eric at the finish, and hung with them until they had to leave. Chatted with Sal for awhile. Packed up my gear and headed over to the awards ceremony, where I hung out with Mark. He won his novice AG (and would've finished 5th in his "normal" AG) with a blistering run (10th fastest overall of the day). What limited your ability to perform faster: After the race, I was kind of surprised/disappointed that I was only 16 seconds faster than last year. After thinking more about my performance, and why my times are what they are, I'm really happy with my race. I think the course was slower this year. Why? Because... last year, the M35-39 winner was 1:00:43 this year, the M35-39 winner was 1:06:21 (almost 6 minutes slower!) last year, the overall M winner was 55:51 (this year he ran a 1:01:07) this year, the overall M winner was 57:02 Without breaking down their splits, I can't say where the course was slower, but that's enough data to satisy me! Event comments: This is really a fun race. The park is beautiful, the lake is clean, the roads are smooth, the run is flat, and the volunteers are plentiful. But the t-shirts were ugly this year. Oh well, you can't have it all... Last updated: 2006-06-06 12:00 AM
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 2006-07-03 10:27 PM |
Regular  98  Eden Prairie, MN |  Subject: MinneMan Sprint |
| 2006-07-04 2:56 AM in reply to: #473259 |
Elite 3020  Bay Area, CA | Subject: RE: MinneMan Sprint Oh well, you'll just be forced to do it again to get a better T-shirt. Cause that's really why you do triathlons, isn't it? Great job on the race - sounded like you executed your plan. |
| 2006-07-04 6:16 AM in reply to: #473259 |
Expert 957  Reykjavik, Iceland | Subject: RE: MinneMan Sprint Great race and great race report. Sounds like you did your best and had a good time doing it. Well done |
| 2006-07-04 11:58 AM in reply to: #473259 |
molto veloce mama 9311 | Subject: RE: MinneMan Sprint great job! and i LOVE the shirt compared to last year. last year it was the big minneman logo on a bright blue shirt. i felt like a traffic sign. embrace the cool, retro looking, track bike shirt!!!! |
| 2006-07-04 3:42 PM in reply to: #473259 |
Extreme Veteran 475 Blaine, MN | Subject: RE: MinneMan Sprint nice race report.. your run was good...we were pretty close in times... |
| 2006-07-05 11:02 AM in reply to: #473259 |
Master 1506 Minnesota | Subject: RE: MinneMan Sprint Nice job on the race. It was nice to meet you. Good luck with your next one! |
| General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
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United States
MinneMan Triathlon
80F / 27C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 93/373
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 13/38
Alarm at 4:30, breakfast of egg white omelet, Clif bar, and Gatorade. At 5:00, I heard our weather radio go off upstairs due to a thunderstorm warning just to the NW of us. Its track sounded like it would miss us, but I would likely be driving through it on the way north. Left house at 5:15. Yup, drove through lightning and heavy rain around 169/394, but it tapered off by the time I hit Plymouth. Fingers crossed that that was the only storm of the morning...
Arrived at the park at 6:15 and did all the normal pre-race things that people do and therefore don't need to re-hash it all again here. Met BTers Autumn, Sal, and Some Tall Guy Whose Name I Can't Remember But May Have Been Steve But I'm Probably Very Wrong About That. Ran into an old high school acquaintance named Mark, who is in his first year of racing.
At 7:00, went back to the transition area to get my wetsuit so I could go warmup for the 7:30 start. Unfortunately, the previous crossing of the fingers resulted in nothing, as a deep rumble of thunder rolled across the park. Everyone anxiously glanced to the darkening northern sky and attempted to use their combined psychic powers to push the threatening clouds away. The race director took a more hands-on approach by calling everyone out of the water and announcing a delay to the race start. We would be getting started 30 minutes after the last audible thunder. I contemplated this turn of events over another Clif bar. At 7:30, a brief rain shower sent everyone scrambling for shelter. As it stopped, I was overjoyed to see college buddy/ex-roommate/overall good guy and great friend Eric, who drove up from St. Paul to watch the race. He also knew Mark (see previous paragraph), so our little group hung out and chatted while we waited through the weather delay. Mark was racing in the "novice" category, and for some bizarre reason his wave was given shockingly pink swim caps. Of course, this provided us a bounty of sh*t to heap on Mark: "Do you have to change into a skirt during T1?" and "Does your husband do tris, too?"
At 7:50, we were ten minutes away from the race turning into a duathlon, but miraculously the storm stayed to the north of us, and we were called to the start line just after 8:00.