A 2-fer

Races the past 2 weekends. June 21st and 29th.

Lake Minnetonka Sprint, June 21st.
race report
Sunny, 70's, NW wind 10 mph. Water temp. approx. 68-70 deg. F.
Nearly ideal weather for a race.

My plan was to just go strong and steady with some hard efforts to push my heart rate to threshold and use this race as a speed workout.



Beautiful sunrise over the bay and everyone had a smile on. Oh sure, there were a few nervous smiles, but smiling none the less.

The Swim course was a point to point in an arc shape with 6 big red buoys marking the course. Since the water temp was decent, I opted for no wetsuit.
Elite wave went off at 7:30 AM.
My wave, 3rd, was held up a few minutes because the first 2 waves were off course and were cutting the 2nd buoy. I had a little shiver going while waiting on shore. Dang, should have wore the wetsuit.
After the first buoy, a minor right turn headed the swimmers directly into the sun and spotting the second buoy was impossible. The race director radioed out to the support boats and kayaks to re-direct the swimmers back on course.
Having the advantage of watching the "sheep effect" from shore helped to plan a little strategy.
The blast off from shore was good. I was able to hang with the leaders of my wave until that second buoy (into the sun) and then settle into a steady pace to the exit.
0.5 mile swim time 13:33 (1:32 per 100 yd.)

T1 was good and then out to the 15 mile, rolling hills, bike route.
A minor uphill exit was no big deal but a couple guys passed me until I got my feet into my shoes. Then I hammered and passed them before the first mile and settled into a slightly uncomfortable pace to push myself. By the halfway, I was getting that slightly heavy and stinging feeling in my legs so I backed off ever so slightly to flush that out a bit. A couple minutes is all it took and I settled back in. With the few small hill climbs that were on the course, I decided to stand and push until I could feel the ache and then keep it there until the crest of the hill before sitting and easing off a tad.
Only one minor mistake occurred when I caught a little cross wind that pushed me over to where a seem/crack on the road met the curb and my tires got sucked into that crack. A quick pucker of my butt and a reflex back to my mountain biking days...grab the bars and hop out of the crevice.
Whew! back on course.
15 mile time 41:57 (21.46 mph ave).

T2 was quick and clean.
My legs were a little heavy as usual and my weakest event was beginning. I've never been a quick runner so I wanted to see what would happen if I pushed close to my threshold. It kinda hurt for the first mile and I started getting a side stitch so I had to back off a bit. A few minutes later, the stitch released so I kept it as steady as I could. I took a quick water gulp at the last turn and tried to pick it up a bit for the last half mile to the finish.
"Picking it up a bit" for me is an 8 minute mile (it's all relative).
3 mile run time 24:16 (8:05 per mile ave).

Pleased with the results. No mistakes and recovered quickly.
Bar-B-Q and yard games all afternoon. Sweet.


Lake Waconia Tri. June 29th.
Sunny, 70 deg. F. Northwest wind 18-20. Rough water. white caps 1-2 feet.

Elite and Relay teams went off as first 2 waves. Time-trial start every 3 seconds for the rest of us.

The swim was uphill, upstream, against the current.
No kidding. The wind was steady from the NW at 18-20 mph and the first 1/4 mile of the swim was straight into it. The whitecaps were breaking on shore at least 2 feet high.
The roughest swim I've had so far.
The race director even made a cautionary announcement to "not so strong swimmers" that the water was very rough and to be prepared to get knocked around and "use the rescue boats if needed".
I was stoked. I love the swim and I was really excited for this challenge.

3----2----1----Blast Off!
I sprinted into the water and dove through the waves.
Sprint for 20 strokes and attempted to site the course buoys.
I picked up my head and saw a 2 foot wave about to jam itself down my throat.
I ducked and then looked up again...on course so far. Dig in and swim.
Long strokes with any attempt at gliding was not effective.
I shortened my stoke to more of a jab-and-chop style to cut through the waves like Kuia Chang Kane thrusting his finger-tips into bags of rice.
That was working but then I had to time breathing with the troughs of the waves so I wouldn't over hydrate with lake water. Yuk.
The first turn buoy wouldn't come fast enough.
Right turn and waves were coming from my left and washing over my back. Breathing to the right was the only way to keep from drowning.
50 yards to the next buoy and then a right turn.
Thank goodness for that final right turn. Now it was back to the shore going with the waves and wind.
Changing my stroke again to glide and kick more during the wave trough gave a bit of a body surfing effect. Sweet.
I felt my heart rate and breathing settle down and by the time I hit shore, I was slightly recovered and feeling good.
0.5 mile uphill swim, 15:58, 30th out of 431.

T1 was a little slow cuz I had some tangle with stripping my wetsuit. No biggie.
Bike out with that bloody 20 mph. crosswind for 2 miles. Then strait into the wind for another few miles and then a crosswind again until mile 12. Can I get a break here?
Turned south and got the tailwind. This was awesome.
I ran out of gears and was flying along at 30 mph. for 4 miles. Yeehaw!
Then a left turn put a stop to that and the crosswind took over again.
Back through town with a few high-speed zig-zags and hills and then back to transition.
24 mile bike, 1:09. 20.7 mph. ave.

T2 was on par and then onto the run. Again, my weakest event was ahead of me.

Rolling hills out and back.
Within the first mile. There's an uphill passed a Cemetery.
Great, just what I need for a positive mental boost...not.
I managed to keep a steady pace and was happy to finish.
4 mile run, 34:40. 8:40 pace per mile.

2:03.35. 10th in Age group. Pleased.


Held him off to the finish. Fun.