Background:

This was my first triathlon of the 2005 season. I didn’t really expect too much out of this race. I just wanted to shake some of the rust off that had been accumulating since the off-season. I was pretty much injured for months after doing Ironman Wisconsin last year and didn’t really start training again for this season until the beginning of April. I’ve also been plagued with a couple of running injuries which has kept me from getting as many miles in as I’d have liked, so this was a nice “lets see where we’re at” race.

Pre-Race:

I was dreading that the swim was going to get cancelled and that we were going to end up with a duathlon (the swim is my strongest discipline of the three). The forecast showed scattered thunderstorms all throughout the area this morning and the sky was pretty cloudy when I left for Waconia around 6 am. As we drove to the race site, the sky did seem to brighten up a bit though which was good. The temperature was about 75 degrees with almost 90% humidity. A bit muggy, but not too bad.

I got body marked and went to go lay out all my gear in the transition area. After setting up camp, I checked the wave sheet and find out that our age group will be leaving in the 10th of 12 waves. Crap! There’s going to be a whole heck of a lot of people that I’m probably going to have to weave through on the course. Oh well. It should be a nice mental boost and make me feel like I’m going faster than I am.

The first wave heads off at 8:30 AM with each wave 3 minutes apart. I decide not to put my wetsuit on until wave 8 leaves the beach. Since the swim is my strong point, I decide not to bother warming up for it.

Swim:

Getting to the swim start late, I ended up lining up behind the pack of folks in my age group that were already there. I suppose I could have tried to elbow up to the front, but decided not to. I was tempted as I knew I’d be swimming over some of those folks, but they were there before me and it was my own fault for not showing up sooner so I just stayed in the back.

The announcer counted down from five and sent us off. As expected, the first 150 yards were a little crowded as I made may way through the pack, but after that there was a small group of us that cleared away from the rest and I had open water from there on out. I didn’t really push the pace as I had done that in my first sprint triathlon last year and felt exhausted before I even got onto the bike. I opted to focus on sighting and swimming at a nice steady, comfortable pace. I don’t recall ever going off course too badly and as I made my way around the two buoys of the triangular swim course I wasn’t too fatigued. So far so good. Heading back towards the beach, I had to weave through some folks in the waves ahead of us. Some folks were doing side stroke and I even saw one guy doing elementary backstroke! I steered left of him to avoid a boot to the face.

Before I knew it, I made landfall. I pulled off the top of my two piece wetsuit and made my way into T1. My fiance and best friend were there on the side welcoming me back and cheering me on. I thought I had only seen one other person ahead of me when I touched the beach, but I guess there were a couple more that I didn’t see. Still, it was my fastest swim of that distance in a race so I can’t really complain. Time — 12:53 (1:28/100, 4th/43 AG, 24th/425 OA).

T1:

Relatively uneventful. I glanced down at my HRM and saw that I was in the lower 170 range. Wow! That is really high for me, but my HR always seems very high out of the water. I made it to my area and saw that one of the Velcro straps come out of its loop in my bike shoes. I had some trouble getting it back in due to my vertigo from the swim. Eventually I got it through and got my bike shoes on without falling over (which was more challenging for me than it sounds!). I unracked my bike and headed out onto the bike course. Time — 2:02.

Bike:

I remember having a good bike split on the course last year, but don’t remember the course being as rolling as it was. Right out of T1, you’re faced with a bunch of shorter uphill sections but those only last for the first half mile or so. I was able to push the pace pretty well for the first section of the race. I kept my HR in the upper 160s, but after about four miles in I was starting to wonder how well I’d be able to run if I stayed at this pace. I backed off just a tad and eventually my HR settled down into the mid to upper 150s. That was probably a tad too low for me, but I didn’t want to be completely tapped out before hitting T2.

Starting as late as our wave did, the course was just packed. I wasn’t real happy about that, but there was nothing I could do. I’m guessing I spent about 90% of my time out there riding on the left as there was a constant supply of folks to pass. Better than being passed, I guess.

About five miles in, we make a left turn and head straight into a 15 MPH headwind. I slow down substantially but kept calm, telling myself that everyone had to fight through that same wind. A little further down the road, another left turn and I find myself now dealing with a cross wind that has me leaning relatively hard into it just to keep my bike going straight. The last two miles into town, the bike course and the run course took place on the same streets!! They didn’t divide the course into halves so runners were getting passed on both sides by incoming bikers! If that wasn’t a accident waiting to happen, I don’t know what was! I can’t believe they didn’t divide the street in two - one side for each. Anyway, the stats. Time — 45:56 (23.3 MPH, 7th/43 AG, 64/425 OA).

T2

Again, nothing really special here. Rack my bike. Helmet off, running shoes and hat on and I’m off! Time — 1:29.

Run:

The run is always my Achilles heel, but it didn’t help that my actual Achilles prevented me from running as much as I’d have liked these past couple of weeks. I’d just have to make due. I pass my fiance and friend on the course. They’re still cheering. They rock! :)

The first half mile of the run follows the bike and is mostly an uphill battle. I probably started out a little too fast out of T2 and those hills were starting to seem like mountains. I make it past the first half mile happy to have that out of the way. By this point, my breathing has become pretty labored but my HR is telling me to push harder. I decide to listen to my breathing and keep pace. I was hoping that my breathing would settle down and that I’d be able to start speeding up. I told myself, “Just make it to the mile marker and we’ll pick up the pace.” Mile marker comes, but am too scared to run any harder so I keep steady. “The next mile marker, I’ll make my move.” Mile marker comes… Still too scared to run hard. “Bah, just hold this pace and you can hammer the last mile home!” Mile marker comes, and I pick up the pace but barely. The finish line approaches and I’m happy that my run is coming to and end. My inability to train really had me suffering out there. I just didn’t have anything in my legs today. Time — 32:04 (8:01 pace :(, 19th/43 AG, 154/425 OA).

Summary:

Total time — 1:34:22. 10th of 43 in my age group and 78th of 425 overall. I’m pretty happy with my swim - it was my first time under 13 minutes for half a mile. I’m pretty happy with my bike - it’s my first time averaging over 23 MPH in a race. My run was just pathetic though. I’m pretty disappointed with how that turned out. I clearly have a lot of work to do in that arena.

But it was a good day overall and I’m glad I made it out there to race. Good weather and a nice little season opener. Hopefully, most of the rust is off.