The last two years I have done the sprint, this year I decided to do the Olympic. Hey, why not?
I felt pretty tired Sunday morning. Not so much sleepy tired, but arms, legs, body tired. The evening before I spent lounging in a pool. That might have helped me relax, but maybe not enough.
As usual, got up early, ate breakfast, stopped for coffee, donuts, water, and Gatorade, and headed to the race. This was my third year at this race, and I got there early enough that I got the exact same rack spot as the last two years. Right at the end of the rack, right by the bike in and out. Nice! Packet pick-up is in the morning and it is fast and easy. Transition setup was no hassle.
I didn't really check the weather before I left, but as I understood it, there appeared to be rain\storms on the way earlier in the morning. People were watching the weather on their phones and the weather appeared to fade as it moved into our area. It did not rain during the race. It was cloudy, cooler than normal, still a little humid, and windy. The heat did pick up as the race went on. More about the wind later.
I did a short swim warm up before the start. The water was cool, pretty nice. I was in the first wave, men and Elite. At the start I took off a little wide to avoid traffic. It was a pretty quiet swim. I felt like I was swimming alone for most of it. My time was about average for this year, which has been slower than past years. Kind of disappointing. Again, I was hoping to be about 25 minutes. Still, I came in 8th overall in the swim, in a field of 60.
Out of transition pretty quick and off on the bike. I didn't feel too bad heading out on the bike. It turned out to be a tough bike for two reasons. First, the wind, second the hills. After the sprint and Olympic courses split, there are some pretty decent hills on the Olympic course. There was some newly paved sections on the Olympic course that were really nice. Also, due to construction, we had to get off our bikes and run through gravel\dirt for about 50 yards. That kind of sucked. The wind really sucked. I didn't realize how windy it was, until out on the bike. There seemed to be a constant head wind, or nearly a headwind the whole bike. It was my slowest bike split of the year. It might have been the toughest ride of the year.
I got off the bike and had a really fast transition. I went out knowing this was going to be a tough run, because of the long hill, and then a short steep uphill, and then another less steep uphill. On the sprint, you do this run once, on the Olympic you do it twice. I knew I had to pace myself, so I went off the bike not too hard and tried to maintain a constant pace. I think I did that. The run hurt, as it should, and my pace was not to far off my 5k pace from the previous two years.
So, I won my age group! First time I have ever done that in a triathlon. Also, I have podium finished at this race all three years. Apparently, this race has competition that is right about my level. The Olympic field was small, a total of 60 people for the Olympic, which I think is smaller than previous years. I think the sprint was down this year, there might have been less than 200 people. I think there were 7 triathlons in the area this weekend, which probably contributed to the lower numbers. I would like to have gone faster, especially on the bike. That being said, I will always take a podium finish when I can get it. As I have said before, it doesn't happen often, so got to enjoy it when it does.
So far, I have done 5 Olympic distance triathlons, five 10ks, and 3 of them are right about 50 minutes, the other two are slower. The slower ones are St. Anthony's, first of the year, and Clearwater with the long bike and tough run. My run has been consistent, not fast, but consistent. I will take consistent.
A coworker and fellow triathlete, who is recovering from health issues, was there to watch a friend of his do his first Olympic distance triathlon. He took a few pictures of me, see below. Also, my usual pictures.
Next up is Maple Grove Olympic. Then after that, maybe St. Croix Valley Olympic.
2015 Lake Marion Olympic Triathlon Results
2014 Lake Marion Sprint Triathlon Results
2013 Lake Marion Sprint Triathlon Results
I felt pretty tired Sunday morning. Not so much sleepy tired, but arms, legs, body tired. The evening before I spent lounging in a pool. That might have helped me relax, but maybe not enough.
As usual, got up early, ate breakfast, stopped for coffee, donuts, water, and Gatorade, and headed to the race. This was my third year at this race, and I got there early enough that I got the exact same rack spot as the last two years. Right at the end of the rack, right by the bike in and out. Nice! Packet pick-up is in the morning and it is fast and easy. Transition setup was no hassle.
I didn't really check the weather before I left, but as I understood it, there appeared to be rain\storms on the way earlier in the morning. People were watching the weather on their phones and the weather appeared to fade as it moved into our area. It did not rain during the race. It was cloudy, cooler than normal, still a little humid, and windy. The heat did pick up as the race went on. More about the wind later.
I did a short swim warm up before the start. The water was cool, pretty nice. I was in the first wave, men and Elite. At the start I took off a little wide to avoid traffic. It was a pretty quiet swim. I felt like I was swimming alone for most of it. My time was about average for this year, which has been slower than past years. Kind of disappointing. Again, I was hoping to be about 25 minutes. Still, I came in 8th overall in the swim, in a field of 60.
Out of transition pretty quick and off on the bike. I didn't feel too bad heading out on the bike. It turned out to be a tough bike for two reasons. First, the wind, second the hills. After the sprint and Olympic courses split, there are some pretty decent hills on the Olympic course. There was some newly paved sections on the Olympic course that were really nice. Also, due to construction, we had to get off our bikes and run through gravel\dirt for about 50 yards. That kind of sucked. The wind really sucked. I didn't realize how windy it was, until out on the bike. There seemed to be a constant head wind, or nearly a headwind the whole bike. It was my slowest bike split of the year. It might have been the toughest ride of the year.
I got off the bike and had a really fast transition. I went out knowing this was going to be a tough run, because of the long hill, and then a short steep uphill, and then another less steep uphill. On the sprint, you do this run once, on the Olympic you do it twice. I knew I had to pace myself, so I went off the bike not too hard and tried to maintain a constant pace. I think I did that. The run hurt, as it should, and my pace was not to far off my 5k pace from the previous two years.
So, I won my age group! First time I have ever done that in a triathlon. Also, I have podium finished at this race all three years. Apparently, this race has competition that is right about my level. The Olympic field was small, a total of 60 people for the Olympic, which I think is smaller than previous years. I think the sprint was down this year, there might have been less than 200 people. I think there were 7 triathlons in the area this weekend, which probably contributed to the lower numbers. I would like to have gone faster, especially on the bike. That being said, I will always take a podium finish when I can get it. As I have said before, it doesn't happen often, so got to enjoy it when it does.
So far, I have done 5 Olympic distance triathlons, five 10ks, and 3 of them are right about 50 minutes, the other two are slower. The slower ones are St. Anthony's, first of the year, and Clearwater with the long bike and tough run. My run has been consistent, not fast, but consistent. I will take consistent.
A coworker and fellow triathlete, who is recovering from health issues, was there to watch a friend of his do his first Olympic distance triathlon. He took a few pictures of me, see below. Also, my usual pictures.
Next up is Maple Grove Olympic. Then after that, maybe St. Croix Valley Olympic.
2015 Lake Marion Olympic Triathlon Results
Swim (1640 yds) = 27:41 (1:42/100 yards)
T1 = 3:00
Bike (25.8mi) = 1:13:35 (20.3 MPH)
T2 = 0:41
Run (6.2mi) = 50:46 (8:12/mi)
Total = 2:35:41 (Adjusted for longer bike I go 2:32:47)
Overall = 14/60
AG = 1/8
Overall Pace = 4:44
2014 Lake Marion Sprint Triathlon Results
Swim (440 yds) = 6:22 (1:27/100yds)
T1 = 2:44
Bike (17.3mi) = 46:09 (22.5 MPH)
T2 = 0:48
Run (3.1mi) = 24:52 (8:02/mi)
Total = 1:20:52
Overall = 15/218
AG = 3/18 (Actually 4 of 19, but rolled down to 3rd due to 1st place in my AG was 2nd place overall. First podium of the year)
Overall Pace = 3:55/mi
2013 Lake Marion Sprint Triathlon Results
Swim (440 yds) = 7:15 (1:39/100yds)
T1 = 2:50
Bike (17.3mi) = 47:34 (21.8 MPH)
T2 = 0:49
Run (3.1mi, heard a rumor it was actually 3.2) = 25:06 (8:06/mi)
Total = 1:23:22
Overall = 23/282
AG = 2/27 (First podium of the year, last time I had one was 2011)
Overall Pace = 4:03/mi
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