Monday, July 22, 2013

2013 Heart of the Lakes Triathlon Race Report

This is my 250th blog post!







I missed beating my fastest time on this course, 2008, by 11 seconds.  I was 4 minutes faster than last year.  So, I had a very good day today.
I didn't necessarily feel like it would be such a good day.  I felt pretty regular when I got up and got going this morning.  As usual, I was up early, showered, shaved, ate my usual breakfast, and headed out for the race.  On the way there, I stopped for my coffee, donut, water, gatorade, and a banana.  We were out of bananas at home.
Along the way it rained a little bit.  Mostly intervals of big drops, not a drizzle, not a committed rain.  No more than a few minutes at a time.  The sky to south and west looked threatening.
There is a street on each side of the park, where the race starts and finish.  The street on one side is the transition area for the "short" course and the street on the other side is the transition for the "long" course.  The racks are by wave.  There is plenty of room.
Packet pickup is at the race site, in a building at the park.  Very fast and easy.  They are well organized.  Get your packet, get body marked, get your timing chip and get out.  Nice.
It was pretty cool and cloudy.  I think it was about 60.  Reported water temp was near 80.  Since it was not a USAT race, they allowed wetsuits.  I had to think about using the wetsuit.
I did a short bike warmup and talked to some people I know.  Continued to think about the wetsuit.  In the end I decide to go with it.
The sky continued to look pretty dark to the south and west.
It is a wave start.  I was in the fifth wave.  I think it was men and women, ages 30-39. All the "long" course athletes went first and then "short" course.  I started to the far side of the buoys at the front.  I took off and went to wide to start and swim a bit to get close to the buoys.  I was in good spot to stay out of traffic, but it was a longer swim.  I really need to be more aggressive in my starting position.  I am a better swimmer and should start in a better spot.  I tend to box myself out and have to work back in.  Part of it is nerves, it is easier to start outside and work my way in to the first turn.  It can also be the longest route.  Overall, the swim went well and did not feel too bad.  I was hoping my time was a little faster.  It felt faster.
I got out and had a decent transition.  The run up is a little long, and so is the run out.
It was a little chilly at first on the bike.  Probably still in the 60s.  The bike went well, I thought I was slower.  I just wanted to be over 21MPH, I was so happy to see I was over 22MPH.  The weather was good out on the ride.  When you turned into the headwind, it was pretty tough.  I didn't realize it was so windy until I got out on the bike.  The bike has a nice mix of hills and flats.  It must be the best bike course for me, it is still my fastest average speed for a triathlon, in 2008, and I always average 22MPH. It never rained during the bike and the it alternated cloudy to sunny.
I got off the bike and felt pretty decent.  This run course is tough for a couple of reasons, it is not flat and there is almost no shade.  The hills are a mix of some short and steeper, and some long slow.  The last two times out on this course the heat was killer.  This time it was just about perfect.  It was overcast, sun came out occasionally, and the temperature was reasonable.  It still hurt.  I took some water, both in my mouth and poured on myself, at each stop.  Some of the stops had sponges, which I love, and I took those at each chance.  I felt ok coming in.  It was not an easy run by any means.
My time was much, much better than last year.  Almost as fast as 2008.  This was also the first race this year I ran under and 8 min/mi pace, and it was over a 3 mile run.  I am really happy with this,
I joked on Facebook that I attribute my good results to the fact that I had pizza and beer for dinner on both Friday and Saturday night, not to the weather or training.  I am sure the weather had something to do with my performance.  Maybe having two weeks off since my last race and getting a good mix of training and rest in helped.
Not being drained on the bike and run by intense heat helps a lot.  At the finish there are showers, houses hung on a wooden frame, and typically people are using them.  Not this year.  It was not hot enough.
I got done had some water and watermelon, chatted with some people, and packed up.
It was a really good day.
Next two races are Chisago Lakes Sprint, which has another run that kills me, and Graniteman Big Lake which will be my first time doing that race.


2013 Heart of the Lakes Triathlon Results
Swim (880yards) - 15:23 (1:44/100yds)
T1 - 3:09
Bike (21miles) - 55:58 (22.5MPH)
T2 - 1:28
Run (5.3miles) - 41:03 (7:45/mi, see my run from '12, this was MUCH better.  Close to '08!)
Total - 1:57:01
Overall - 75/260
AG - 5/12
Pace - 4:22/mi

2012 Heart of the Lakes Triathlon Results
Swim (880yards) - 14:42 (1:40/100yds)
T1 - 3:00
Bike (21miles) - 55:37 (22.7MPH)
T2 - 1:40
Run (5.3miles) - 46:07 (8:42/mi, see my run from '08.  This run was slow.)
Total - 2:01:03
Overall - 102/292
AG - 7/17
Pace - 4:31/mi

2008 Heart of the Lakes Triathlon Results
Swim (880yards) - 16:42 (1:54/100yds)
T1 - 2:57
Bike (21miles) - 54:13 (23.2MPH, fastest average in a triathlon)
T2 - 2:02
Run (5.3miles) - 40:58 (7:44/mi)
Total - 1:56:50
Overall - 151/460
AG - 14/39
Pace - 4:22/mi

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