Woke up at 4:45 and had the customary peanut butter and sliced bananas on toast. Glanced at the thermometer at my parent's place. It was a paltry 33 degrees in the morning. I had to sit in my car and wait for the windows to defrost, all the while wondering just why I was doing a triathlon this morning. I got to the race site just as transition was opening up so I was able to snake a primo spot in transition. I got myself body marked after that. What's this? Lucky number 21. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

I jogged briefly up the trail that we were running on for about 3-4 minutes, knowing I couldn't possibly get warm enough for the water I was about to enter.

I jumped into the water about 5 minutes before the start. Oh, baby that'll wake you up in the morning that's for sure. Easily the coldest water I've been in. They said it was 59 the night before, but then it got down to mid-thirties overnight so who knows what it was at race time. I put my face in and swam a little trying to get used to it. I'm glad I wore 2 swim caps. A good neoprene one may have helped.

It was a floating start so that was kinda cool. Just a couple thousand more people and it would feel like an ironman start. Even so, this start was violent too. I got smacked around and did some smacking of my own. Things eased up once I swam a little off course. I don't know why I stray to the right so much. I need to work on that. Other than that breathing was good. I didn't get short of breath like I normally have during the start so that was good. I was hoping to be a little faster, but I didn't get into a good stroke until maybe the last 150 or so. We excited on steps and there were guys pulling us out of the water. Thanks for the lift dude!

Better sighting. Find a better way to get into a good rhythm.

I'm not sure if it was the cold swim or what but I was feeling a little disoriented. Kinda felt like a frat boy on a bender. It was a short run into transition so I was to my bike before I got ahold of the wetsuit zipper. Got that peeled down and started stepping on the legs to pull the feet out while putting on the helmet. I about fell on my azz doing that, but managed to steady myself on the rack. Took a look at the arm warmers and said screw it. Shoes on. Bike off and I was going. Crossed the mount line and hopped on the seat. Uh-oh, now I'm wobbling heading for a parked car, and next thing I know I'm on the ground. Crap! That was smooth! What a time saver too! I guess I'll just clip in and push off the old fashioned way.

Not much. Not crash, but I guess the crash time was factored into the bike portion. I had the 8th fastest T1

After the little crash I was pissed so I pedaled pretty hard out of the park. Got down in aero and was in for a surprise. During the spill I had managed to snap the left elbow rest in half. So for the entirety of the bike portion I had to ride with my left elbow on half a pad and ended up putting most of the weight on my right arm. My upper body and back actually got a little sore during the ride due to the new position. I used this as an excuse to get out of aero to climb hills. Once we got out on the roads I immediately passed a half dozen people. I could see another dozen or so up ahead on this long stretch of road and had a pretty good feel that this was probably all of the field that was ahead of me. I pushed the pace pretty hard to catch up, but it was tough. The course wasn't bad. It was a constant stream of rollers though. Hardly any real flat sections. I regretted not having the arm warmers and my feet went numb after 5 miles or so. Oh well it was more motivation to pedal fast to keep warm. Through the rest of the bike I only managed to catch a couple more people. I only got passed a couple of times until right at the very end when about 5 guys passed me. I hoped that it was the speedy old dudes from the 2nd wave.

Gee, not crash perhaps. And, if I do crash, make sure to give the bike a good once over. In particular make sure that the brake pads haven't moved. After the race I took a look at the rear wheel and yup, the pad was rubbing on the rim. Frickin A! Pretty sure that cost me a little bit of speed.

I've been practicing getting out of my shoes while on the bike with every training ride and this part went flawlessly. Hoped off the while it was still moving and ran it in. Slapped on the shoes and grabbed visor and race number belt and was off.

Nothing. 9th fastest T2 of the day and only 7 seconds slower than the fastest

Holy cow! Running with completely numb feet is just weird. It was kind of a surreal feeling like I was floating above the pavement, but I could feel the impact in every part of my legs except the feet. I passed couple of guys right away, wound through the park some and then up a nasty little climb that just was not fair considering we had just come off the bike. After a mile the feeling returned to the feet and things got a little easier. It got easier for others too. I got passed by a couple of guys that were just cruising. Grabbed some water at about the halfway point, a little surprised at just the one aid station. I was also surprised at the lack of people to run down. I was by myself for the majority of the run. Made it back into the park and managed a good sprint through the finish line. I finished in, guess what, 21st place. Weird I know. I'm hoping I get bib #1 next race ;)

Run harder, I had a lot left at the end. Despite that, I was happy. I'm running a lot faster this year

Walked around, got some some food, chatted with my parents. Once I was done exerting myself I could really feel the cold and winds blowing across the lake. Stuck around for the awards and picked up my first hardware of the season.

The crash. Other than that not much. I was pleased with the swim, given the conditions and the run.

Not bad for Minnesota in mid-May.