2015 Chisago Lake Sprint Triathlon Race Report

This was my 6th time at Chisago sprint.

The day before I had spent staining the fence.  It was really hot and humid while staining the fence.  I went to bed with sore hips and back and generally tired. I got up with sore hips and back, and somewhat tired.  I did not sleep too bad.  I was a little worried about how I would race. I didn't really want to fight through soreness and fatigue.

I did the usual routine for breakfast and on the way there got the usual donuts, water, Gatorade and coffee.  It was warm before sunrise. About 73 and humid.  Thankfully, it ended up being cloudy during the race.  Still warm and muggy, but could have been worse.  It has been worse out on this course.

I get setup no problem.  Had plenty of time to hangout and do a little swim warm up. 
The stated water temperature was 77.  It felt really warm.  There were 5 waves of half-IM and I was in the first sprint wave, along with many of the best elite male and female athletes in the state\country.  I made a decision I was going to go into the swim with them.  I knew I couldn't keep up, but I thought I could get a nice opening and a pull.  Bad idea.  I blew up about the time I got to the first bouy, and paid for it the rest of the swim.  Mostly I overheated, and had to stop\slow way down. I then got on my back and kicked on my back.  I alternated kind of sidestroke and back until I cooled off a bit.  I was able to swim about the last third.  I was kind of pissed at myself.  It was my worst swim in a long time.  It was dumb of me to go out like that. 

I walked\half jogged to my bike, and went a little slow through T1.  Partly out of frustration.

I hammered away at the bike and it turned out pretty good.  I ended up with barely my second fastest time on this course.  There were two half-IM bikers that I kept going back and forth with, pretty annoying.  I was glad at the course split.  The course is mild rollers and flats.  There was some new pavement, which was really nice.  I actually felt pretty good on the bike and I am pretty happy with my bike, especially after the swim I had.  It was the fastest bike split of this year.

I got off the bike pretty quick and went out on the run hard.  It is a tough run.  Pretty steep uphill out of park, steep uphill on road out, then long shallow uphill to turnaround.  I never have a great run here.  The time I had today was pretty average.  Ok.

Besides the swim, which was disappointing, I was pretty happy with how things went.  I don't think staining the day before in the heat had too bad an effect on me.  I think mostly my dumbness had an affect on my performance.

When I was in transition, before the race, I noticed a little frog perched on my tire.  It was gone before I left transition.  Picture below.  Also, got a picture of a rainbow.  Then the usual pictures of transition and my bike, and then my previous results.

 

 

 

2015 Chisago Lakes Sprint Triathlon
Swim (440 yards) - 10:46 (2:27/100 yards)
T1 - 2:23
Bike (22.5 miles) - 58:06 (22.7 MPH)
T2 - 0:59:11
Run (3.1 miles) - 25:15 (8:09/mi)
Total - 1:37:29
Overall - 67/344
AG - 7/23
Pace - 3:46/mi

2013 Chisago Lakes Sprint Triathlon
Swim (440 yards) - 8:09 (1:52/100yards, fastest swim at this race)
T1 - 2:42 (slow)
Bike (22.5 miles) - 1:02:55 (21.5MPH, second slowest average speed at this race)
T2 - 1:22
Run (3.1 miles) - 24:26 (8:09/miles, much better than last year)
Total - 1:39:35
Overall - 82/590
AG - 13/36
Pace - 3:51/mile (same as 2010)

2012 Chisago Lakes Sprint Triathlon
Swim (440 yards) - 8:30 (1:56/100yards)
T1 - 1:59
Bike (22.5 miles) - 57:55 (22.8MPH, fastest average speed of the year)
T2 - 1:17
Run (3.1 miles) - 26:17 (8:29/miles, slow....)
Total - 1:35:59
Overall - 89/647
AG - 15/45
Pace - 3:47/mile

2010 Chisago Lakes Sprint Triathlon
Swim (440 yards) - 8:44 (1:59/100yards)
T1 - 1:59
Bike (21 miles) - 56:23 (22.3MPH)
T2 - 1:40
Run (3.1 miles) - 25:03 (8:04/mile)
Total - 1:33:49
Overall - 59/808
AG - 5/57
Pace - 3:51/mile

2008 Chisago Lakes Sprint Triathlon
Swim (440 yards) - 9:18 (2:19/mile)
T1 - 1:54
Bike (17 miles) - 45:39 (22.3MPH)
T2 - 1:09
Run (3.1 miles) - 24:25 (7:52/mile, fastest run at Chisago also shortest bike before)
Total - 1:22:25
Overall - 68/779
AG - 7/51
Pace - 4:03/mile

2007 Chisago Lakes Sprint Triathlon
Swim (440 yards) - 11:47 (2:41/mile)
T1 - 2:56
Bike (20.1 miles) - 57:16 (21.1MPH)
T2 - 1:27
Run (3.1 miles) - 25:37 (8:16/mile)
Total - 1:39:02
Overall - 142/801
AG - 17/55
Pace - 4:09/mile

2015 Graniteman Clearwater (Olympic) Race Report - 80th Triathlon Completed Since 2007

With the completion of this race, I have completed 80 individual triathlons since 2007.  Hooray!

This was the first year for an Olympic distance race at this triathlon.  I did the sprint last year, so I thought I would give the Olympic a try this year.  It was challenging.  Not just because it was a nearly 29 mile bike instead of the usual bike that is under 25. 

It was a normal morning, get up, eat the usual breakfast, head out and stop along the way for water, coffee, donut(s), and Gatorade.

I got there about 15 minutes after transition opened and about the time they were going to start handing out numbers and body marking, about 6:15AM.  Last year, you could park in the park right by start\finish and transition, and it was super close and easy.  This year, no parking in the park, and by the time I got there I was about a 10+ minute walk away.  No biggie, just surprising.

Setting up in transition, get my race packet, and getting body marked was easy.  No issues.
Had some time to wander around and chat.  Wanted to make sure I drank water and Gatorade, not too much, but more because it was hot and humid.  More on that later.

The walk to the start is about a half mile on course gravel.  Last year I went barefoot.  That was a mistake.  At the swim start they have a shoe drop, so I smartly wore my Keens to the start and dropped them off.  Much better than walking barefoot.

The sprint swim is straight across the lake.  The Olympic, would be swimming in box shape loop back to the start, and the swimming straight across.  The water temperature was nice, maybe a bit warm.  Brett Lovaas, a local elite who I know, was doing this race and is a very fast swimmer.  I thought I might get on his feet at the start and get a small boost, not a chance.  At the gun, he was off, and I was left behind.  I was in the open and alone on the swim for most of it.  I was going back and forth with a guy for a bit, and then there was traffic from the spring coming into the finish.  The swim was, as usual mostly uneventful.  My time, a little slower than I would like, but ok.

I did slip on the rubber mat they put down at the swim finish, I as still in the water.  As I tried to stand up I got a bad hamstring cramp on the right side.  That gave me pause.  The run up to transition is pretty decent, and I think that was a good thing.  It allowed me to workout the cramp a little before getting on the bike.

The bike is pretty flat.  Probably one of the faster bike courses around.  The Olympic is two laps of the sprint course.  You could feel the heat and humidity on the bike.  It was pretty nasty.  At about the 6 mile mark of the first loop, you turn into a pretty decent headwind and you have to deal with that for probably a good 5 miles or so.  That headwind felt really, really, hard on the second loop of the bike.  I felt pretty decent for the first 20 miles or so.  Then my back started getting uncomfortable, I started getting a little bit of side ache\cramp on the right side, this might have been related to dehydration and\or my breathing.  I was starting to feel it out there.  I think I was averaging over 22MPH up until about the 22 mile mark, and then I started to fade a bit.  I drank more fluid than usual on the bike, not surprising.  I also started to feel a little nausea from the warm water\Gatorade mix in my bottle.

Ugh.  The run.  A little less than the first mile, is up and down through the woods.  Then out onto an open road that has some decent\difficult hills and no shade.  After you get up the first big hill, it is flat with nothing.  Just flat, for probably more than a half mile.  Coming up to the turnaround is a long somewhat steep hill.  Tough.  It did cloud up a little on the run, that did not make it any less humid and it was still pretty warm.  I started to get a little bit of side cramp, which is unusual.  My time to the turnaround was not that bad, I think I was averaging just over 8min/mile.  I died around the 4 mile mark.  It became one of those races where I was trying to finish without walking.  Which I did, so I was happy about that. 

It ended up being one of those races that I was happy to finish.  It was tough.  I could not cool down after finishing and eventually had to go the first aid tent, after another racer who I knew advised me to do so, and get an ice pack. I was hungry all day, and ate everything in front of me.  I think it took a couple of days to get rehydrated. 

The extra long bike took some out of my legs.  3-4 extra miles on the bike, especially in the heat and humidity, will take it out of you for the run.  I suppose if I did my bike training regularly in the 1.5 hour plus range, instead of the 45 minute to 1.25 hour range it would help me out in these situations. 

I would like to do this race again soon.  I like the course, flat fast bike and challenging run.  If I do it next year, I might try to get in some more bike time to help me out with the slightly longer bike course.  Overall, pretty happy with how things went.

2015 Graniteman Clearwater Race Results
Swim (1640 yards) = 26:25 (1:40/100 yards)
T1 = 2:13
Bike (28.7 miles) = 1:19:24 (21.7 MPH)
T2 = 1:14
Run (6.2 miles) = 53:23 (8:37/mi)
Total = 2:42:38
Overall = 26/105
AG = 7/12
Pace = 4:32/mi

2014 Graniteman Clearwater Race Results
Swim (774 yards) = 11:41 (1:27/100 yds)
T1 = 2:19
Bike (14.3 miles) = 38:20 (22.4 MPH)
T2 = 1:08
Run (3.1 miles) = 24:54 (8:04/mi)
Total = 1:18:20
Overall = 39/250
AG = 4/14
Pace = 4:24/mi

2015 Lake Waconia Triathlon Race Report

Seventh year at Waconia.  Very good weather.

Usual morning. Got up, ate breakfast, packed up, and drove to Waconia.  Got there early, so it was easy to get race packet and get setup.  Had plenty of time to hang out and chat.  That was nice.  Got to see a few people I had not seen in awhile.

Typically, no matter how nice the weather, the water here is choppy.  Not today, smooth as glass. It leads me to wonder why my swim time was slow.  I think the swim course might have been long, my swim felt pretty good, pretty fast. 

Aside from my swim time, I came out feeling pretty good, and I got out on the bike without issue.  I took it kind of easy going up the hill that is the majority of the first mile.  The bike was pretty uneventful. It was the first time riding on my disk wheel this year, no issues.  There was some wind, head wind\cross wind, when we were biking along the north side of the lake.  The only real issue on the bike was that I lost my water bottle in the first three miles.  This is the second race this year I have lost a water bottle early in the race.  It sucks.  Especially when hot out.  I have to work on my bottle holding situation.  The bottle holder between the aero bars holds it tight, almost too tight.  When you hit some sharp bumps, the holder gets jarred and almost shoots the bottle straight up.  I put rubber bands on the front of the bottle, but it still doesn't help.  Need to figure something else out.  Either go back to a frame cage or a different cage between bars.

Anyway, they made some slight changes to the bike course to get around construction and it might have been a tenth of a mile, or less shorter, so my bike time is probably about the same as last year. 

I came out of T2 as fast as I could.  Again not feeling too bad.  First obstacle was getting up that hill that is most of the first mile.  This is a tough run course for a sprint, probably one of the toughest runs in the area.  That first mile is part of the reason it is such a tough run course, another reason, it is usually sunny, and warm, and there is not a lot of shade.  The run felt hard, as always, but it was one of those days where it felt especially hard. That being said, I was surprised to see that I was a hair faster this year than last year.  Not that I race to get a podium finish, it was interesting to look at the race results and see that going into the run I was in 3rd place in my AG, and I fell to seventh on the run.  That is pretty typical for me.  I typically lose more spots than I gain on the run.    

 

Aside from the swim, all things being equal, I had a good race this year. I was very happy with it.   The weather was unbelievably good.  If my swim split was as fast as last year, again, it could have been long, I would have gone faster than last year, which is surprising.

2015 Lake Waconia Results
Swim (880 yards) = 15:46 (1:48/100 yards)
T1 = 1:58
Bike (20 miles) = 55:12 (21.7MPH)
T2 = 1:04
Run (4 miles) = 32:30 (8:08/mi)
Total = 1:46:28
Overall = 59/215
AG = 7/17
Pace = 4:21/mi

2014 Lake Waconia Results
Swim (880 yards) - 14:32 (1:39/100 yards)
T1 = 2:09
Bike (20 miles) - 55:35 (21.6MPH)
T2 = 1:15
Run (4 miles) - 32:49 (8:13/mi)
Total = 1:46:17
Overall = 51/169
AG = 8/13
Pace = 4:20/mile


2013 Lake Waconia Results
Swim (880 yards) - 16:04 (1:49/100 yards)
T1 = 2:16
Bike (20 miles) - 58:02 (20.7MPH)
T2 = 1:12
Run (4 miles) - 33:13 (8:18/mile)
Total = 1:50:45
Overall = 111/263, same place as 2012.  Strange.....
AG = 12/26
Pace = 4:31/mile

2012 Lake Waconia Results
Swim (880 yards) - 15:07 (1:43/100 yards)
T1 = 1:49
Bike (20 miles) - 57:40 (20.8MPH)
T2 = 1:25
Run (4 miles) - 34:07 (8:32/mile)
Total = 1:50:06
Overall = 111/317
AG = 11/29, 6 minutes slower than 2011, same place in AG
Pace = 4:30/mile

2011 Lake Waconia Results
Swim (880 yards) - 15:11 (1:44/100 yards)
T1 = 2:15
Bike (20 miles) - 54:02 (22.2MPH, fastest bike split at Waconia)
T2 = 1:07
Run (4 miles) - 31:35 (7:54/mile, fastest run split at Waconia)
Total = 1:44:09
Overall = 90/315
AG = 11/26
Pace = 4:15/mile

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

In 2009, Jackie and I volunteered on the bike course with my leg in a cast due to my stress fracture.

2008 Lake Waconia Results
Swim (880 yards, windy and choppy, miserable swim, ick) - 24:33 (2:48/100 yards)
T1 = 2:34
Bike (24 miles, bike lengthened due to construction) - 1:07:57 (21.2MPH)
T2 = 1:35
Run (4 miles) - 32:09 (8:03/mile)
Total = 2:08:45
Overall = 188/431
AG = 22/38
Pace = 4:31/mile

June 2015 Racing and Training Summary, with Weight Update

My training time for this month is a little lower than I would have liked.  I do think I got the intensity in that I am looking, especially with the completion of two triathlons, a duathlon, and three TTs. 

The three TTs went ok.  One of them was my fastest so far this year, the other two were pretty similar.  I would really like the one that is the fastest so far this year, to not be my fastest of the year.  It would be nice to get over 22.5MPH this year.
6/2/15 - 10 miles = 27:32 (22.2 MPH)
6/16/15 - 10 miles = 28:08 (21.8 MPH)
6/30/15 - 10 miles = 27:57 (21.9 MPH)
Average of first 5 races = 21.48MPH


I was pretty happy with the results from the two triathlons (Buffalo Oly and Lake Waconia.  Lake Waconia race report coming soon) and the one duathlon (Lake Minnetonka). 

I am not sure why I was down from my training averages this month.  Maybe I am taking more rest after, and before, races.  I am getting older, I do need a little more recovery, especially when racing more.  I do need to get some good workouts in July, in preparation for AG Nationals on August 8th.  At the moment, I have one Olympic Distance tri (Graniteman Clearwater), and I may sign up for Chisago (Toughman) Sprint.  I also have two TTs in July.

Below my usual training and race data tables, I have my weight data.  I usual put out something with my weight at the end of the year and in June, basically every 6 months.

Year-to- Year June Comparison

Since 2007 Totals and Averages

YTD Totals and Since 2007

Weight Graph

Last year I had a pretty significant drop in my weight.  My average in 2013 was about 194, and my average in 2014 was 184.  So, I dropped about 10 pounds.  This year, so far I have averaged about 185.5ish, with my weight going up and down a lot more than last year.  Not sure why.  I think I am eating about the same, I don't think I am eating much more or worse.  I am working out a little less, not sure if that has anything to do with it or not.  In July, I am going to try to be a little more aware of what I am eating and try to watch it.  I would like to go down a few pounds before AG Nationals.  I can use all the help I can get.