Monday, August 4, 2008

Duluth Area and Brewhouse Triathlon







The area around Duluth has to be one of the most beautiful areas in the Midwest.  I could not a get a hotel in Duluth because of the big boat show, not really that many boats, not really that big.
Ate lunch at Hell's Kitchen in downtown Duluth, pretty cool place.  I had the BLT with the addition of a nicely breaded piece of walleye in the sandwich.  The side was sweet potato fries. Very good.
Anyway, I had to stay in Silver Bay, which turned out to be pretty cool.  The drive up there is amazing.  Stayed in probably the nicest AmericInn in the midwest.  It was right on the lake.  I didn't have a view, but still beautiful.  I got up and left about sunrise, so the drive was really cool, getting to see the sunrise over Superior is awesome.  
Race went well.  Swim was good, overshot a couple of the turns going into the swim, but no biggy.  The road for the bike is the worst road I have ever biked on.  Worse than Lakeshore drive, worse then some of the streets in Minneapolis during Lifetime.  Road is buckled, potholed, and just plain rough.  First half of run is almost all uphill, which is harsh, but that means that going back is downhill.  Hooray.  The weather was nearly perfect, cloudy during the run kept it cool.  Did not rain until during the awards.  Nice.  Into my 3rd year of racing and I yet to race in the rain.  Cold and wind, but no rain.  
The drive back from Duluth was terrible, only bad part of the day.  I think every single family in the Cities goes north for the weekend and comes back on Sunday afternoon down 35.  Ick.
Swim (1408 yards) - 25:39 (1:44 min/100 yards)
T1 - 2:55
Bike (20.6 miles) - 57:27 (21.5 MPH)
T2 - 2:39 (you get to run a little circle around the transition)
Run - 38:53 (7:47 min/mi)
Total - 2:07:29
Overall - 86/188
Age Group - 14/23 (Tough competition)
Another race that has over a 5K run, under 8 min/mi.  I like that. 
Oh yeah, I should complain about the running pain in my side and abdomen.  Not too bad.
As usual, it was another great day, except for the drive.