2011 Lake Waconia Triathlon Race Report

The day before this race I felt pretty fatigued and kind of icky.  So, I was not sure how race day would go.  I woke up on race day and felt tired, but better than the day before.  Not sure what was up with Saturday.
As always, on the way to the race I get a coffee and a donut, which I love.
Jackie was with me this morning, which was great.  She read and then went to her friend's house while I was getting ready.  She came back with her friend and her friend's kids, which was great.  Always good to have more people watching.

The weather was cool and cloudy, but not windy in away that would cause waves.  Waves have really caused issues with the swim in the past.  Not today.  It was good race weather.

There were a lot of people I knew at this race and it was great to see all of them and have some time to chat before and after.

On with the race.....
My swim was slower than expected, or would have liked, and I am not sure why.  It felt good, I did not feel like I was pushing it too hard, but I did not feel like I was taking it easy.  I like the TT start, but it does not have the same intensity as a wave start.  That being the case, I don't think I start with the same intensity and continue to swim with the same intensity.  At any rate, I had a good swim.  The water was calm and cool, the conditions could not have been better.

I was slow through T1.  Still getting used to getting out of new wetsuit, also put on my socks.

The bike course is rolling (read somewhat hilly).  I did not remember this.  No biggie.  I was a tenth of mph faster than last year.  There was some tailwind out and some headwind on the way in.  It rained a little along the way.  Aside from the wind, the conditions were good.  The road conditions were good and there were plenty of volunteers (Thank You).

I was pretty decent getting out of T2, no flying dismount.  Did not feel comfortable.

This run is tough, basically the first 3/4 mile is uphill, and then the run rolls up and down the rest of the way.  The good thing is the last mile is mostly downhill, except that slight uphill coming in.  In my previous two attempts on this course I could not go under 8 min/mi, this day I was able to.  Hooray!

I was extremely happy with my results for this race and felt really good afterwards.  I dropped 3 minutes from my previous best in 2008 and I did it on the run, which is a really good sign for me.  It means I might be getting my run speed back.  Also, I had the run speed, while still getting a good bike split out of it.

The picture of me below is courtesy of Nick Morales

2008 Lake Waconia Results
Swim (880 yards) - 24:33 (2:48/100 yards), very wavy, catastrophically bad swim
T1 - 2:34
Bike (24mi, not distance in 2010 and 2011) - 1:07:57 (21.2MPH)
T2 - 1:35
Run (4mi) - 32:09 (8:03/mi)
Total - 2:08:45
Overall - 188/431
AG - 22/38
Overall Pace - 4:31/mi (total time/total distance)

Injured in 2009, Jackie and I volunteered and did traffic control on top of cemetary hill

2010 Lake Waconia Results
Swim (880 yards) - 15:04 (1:43/100 yards)
T1 - 1:43
Bike (20mi, shortened from 2008) - 54:20 (22.1 MPH)
T2 - 1:46
Run (4mi) - 34:21 (8:36/mi)
Total - 1:47:10
Overall - 129/361
AG - 12/30
Pace - 4:22/mi

2011 Lake Waconia Results
Swim (880 yards) - 15:11 (1:44/100 yards)
T1 - 2:15
Bike (20mi) - 54:02 (22.2 MPH)
T2 - 1:07
Run (4mi) - 31:35 (7:54/mi) - Hooray! under 8min/mi!
Total - 1:44:09
Overall - 90/315
AG - 11/26