So, I made it back again. I was a little nervous, again, but not as much as last year.
Going into this race, my feelings were different than last year. My times this year have been slower than last year, mostly my swim, and run, my bike has been ok. I just wanted to go under 2.5 hours, I did not expect that I would go faster than last year. I just didn't feel like I would.
We got to Milwaukee on Friday, went through packet pick-up (fairly fast and well organized, they could have had some signage to make finding packet pick-up easier, but it was fine. Same as last year.), and put the bike in transition.
As was the case last year, transition is amazing. Probably the largest group of the nicest bikes I have ever seen.
The first set of pictures, below, is from Friday afternoon when we dropped of my bike.
We stayed a little further away this year. Stayed just outside Racine, a little closer to Kenosha than Milwaukee, since we were going to meet up with my family on Saturday night.
Got up and ate breakfast and got ready to go. Had coffee and a donut(s) on way to race, picked up an extra yogurt breakfast bar to eat while waiting for my wave to start. There is over an hour between the start of the race and my wave, and eating something, light, while waiting was a good idea.
No issues getting to the site. Used the same parking garage as last year, which is close by and easy to get at.
Got there and I went into transition and setup. Like last year, transition is tight, but they didn't allow bags, so that helped reduce the amount of clutter. Setup went easy. Was able to take my time and relax.
The weather was strange. Started off sunny, mild, but a little humid. As the morning\day went on, it got cloudy and stayed humid, luckily it wasn't sunny. If the sun had come out, it would have been really nasty out. It was a little windy.
I hung out with Jackie, and waited, somewhat nervously, for my start time. Being that Jackie is pregnant, she had a chair to sit on this year. Thankfully. I am really glad that Jackie was there, not only to wait with me, but to have someone there to watch\cheer. My cousin Kevin, his wife, and my brother Mike, said they were going to come watch. They did get there, just after I started the swim, and I was grateful for them coming to the race. Not only to cheer for me, but to keep Jackie company.
The area around the start and transition was crowded, lots of racers, and lots of spectators. I was in the 9th wave, so we could watch some of the waves take off and some people get out of T1.
The swim is in sheltered area off the shore, there is a breakwater sheltering the swimmers from the open lake. The swim goes along the Summerfest grounds.
You stage at the top of a ramp, then they walk you down a dock next to the Discovery Museum that is next to the water. You jump in the water from a dock, and get set in the water. It is an in water start. The reported water temp was 65. It felt much colder than that.. There was 180 people in my AG, last year there was 219. This year seemed like more than last year. We have the longest wait between when our wave starts and the wave before went off, about 20 minutes. We had plenty of time to warm up in the cold water. The temperature must have been less than 65.
Like last year, the swim is crazy. Narrow area to swim in, you are almost in contact with someone the whole swim. The ramp out of the water was steep, that had 5-6 people on each side helping people out of the water. I looked at my watch and saw that I was about 27 minutes, 27:11 to be exact. Last year I was in the 25s. I wasn't happy to see that, but I still had the rest of the race to go. The run to transition is a bit of a hike. As I was running to transition, I did see, and hear, Jackie, along with my cousin, his wife, and Mike. I was glad I did see them. \
This year I remembered where I was in transition and didn't get lost, and I was 38 second faster out of T1.
The bike is mostly north-south, right along the shore. You go north, turnaround and head back the way you came, then go further south, jogging slightly west, and then back the way you came. Between our wave and the previous wave there was a 20 minute buffer, to let the racers thin out, it seemed to help. The first part of the bike, going north, was the shorter part, about 3-4 miles to turnaround. Right before the turnaround is a short, steep hill, and then back down. Once you get back where you passed transition, you go up onto the highway (794) and over a large bridge. This year, Jackie, my brother, and cousin and his wife were waiting as I passed the by start\finish\transition area and headed south. I heard them cheer as I passed, which was nice. To the bridge, steep climb. Then down the other side. The course after the bridge is flat, false flats, and a couple of short climbs, nothing too bad. It was kind of windy, and I thought I would get a bit of a tailwind at the second turnaround. At the second turnaround, like last year, it seemed like I was behind where I would like to have been, and it felt like I still had a headwind. I was trying to concentrate on maintaining my form and position on the bike and not get sloppy, and not think about my time. I got back to the base of the bridge, transition was immediately on the other side, and I realized I was ok on time. Going north over the bridge is a much longer, less steep, climb. I got back into transition, checked my watch, and thought that it might have been slightly faster than last year. Found out I was 9 seconds faster than last year, which means it was my fastest bike split on an Olympic distance course. Something to cheer about. Based on how I felt, I would not have thought I would go the same speed as last year, much less slightly faster.
I wanted to go under 2.5 hours at this race. Coming out of T2, based on how my legs felt, it was going to be tough. To go about the same time as last year, I needed to run almost the same, to go under 2.5, I was going to have to go about 50 minutes, or faster. The run was mostly flat. You run out along the lake heading north, go out to a point, turnaround and go south, then go a little west to the road along the lake, then head north again to another turnaround, and head back south to the finish. There are no hills on the run, there are false flats, long low incline portions. It was cloudy, but still warm and humid. I felt sluggish on the run. At the two mile mark, it looked like I was about 16 minutes, about 8 min/miles. Not fantastic. I was thinking too much about my time during the run, I was also thinking that I was hurting. Last year, I covered the first two miles under well under 16 minutes, so I had a pretty clear shot at going under 2.5 hours. This year, I had to really push myself to go under 2.5 hours.
In the end, I went under 2.5, 2:29:47, making it my third fastest Olympic distance triathlon. Nothing to be ashamed of. I was over 3 minutes slower than last year, mostly due to the run. It is little disappointing, but I also have to realize I cannot always PR, and that I am happy that I can compete at AG Nationals, and have my wife and family there to watch me.
It was great to have Jackie there at the finish, along with some family. I didn't get as emotional as last year, when I almost started crying. It was nice to talk to Jackie and my family and share that time with them.
As I mentioned last year, the competition was insanely good. As Jackie observed, at most triathlon you see people of the different shapes and sizes. At this triathlon, everyone looked very fit. Also, like last year, my AG was insanely fast. I was 132 out of 180, there are races in MN where I would have finished in the top 5, 10, with my time.
Below are my results for this race and then comparison to my previous best four Olympic distance triathlons for comparison, click on table to enlarge. Below all those results are some more pictures.
This might be my last time at AG Nationals, at least for some time. The race is moving to Omaha next year, and we are going to have a baby at the end of September\beginning of October. So, priorities change and I might not race at St. Anthony's next year, the USAT Regional Championship race where I have qualified for the last two years. If I do race, I cannot guarantee I will be in the same shape as I have been in the previous two years. I am very thankful that I have been able to race at AG Nationals the last two years. It has been a great experience at a great race site.
2014 USAT AG Nationals Results
Swim (1640 yards) = 25:38 (1:33/100 yards)
T1 = 4:14
Bike (24.85mi) = 1:07:16 (22.2 MPH)
T2 = 1:31
Run (6.2mi) = 47:56 (7:42/mi)
Total = 2:26:36
Overall = 1368/3061
AG = 157/219
Pace = 4:36/mi
2015 USAT AG Nationals Results
Swim (1640 yards) = 27:11 (1:39/100 yards)
T1 = 3:36
Bike (24.85mi) = 1:07:07 (22.2 MPH)
T2 = 1:28
Run (6.2mi) = 50:24 (8:06/mi)
Total = 2:29:47
Overall = 1227/2613
AG = 132/180
Pace = 4:42/mi
Going into this race, my feelings were different than last year. My times this year have been slower than last year, mostly my swim, and run, my bike has been ok. I just wanted to go under 2.5 hours, I did not expect that I would go faster than last year. I just didn't feel like I would.
We got to Milwaukee on Friday, went through packet pick-up (fairly fast and well organized, they could have had some signage to make finding packet pick-up easier, but it was fine. Same as last year.), and put the bike in transition.
As was the case last year, transition is amazing. Probably the largest group of the nicest bikes I have ever seen.
The first set of pictures, below, is from Friday afternoon when we dropped of my bike.
We stayed a little further away this year. Stayed just outside Racine, a little closer to Kenosha than Milwaukee, since we were going to meet up with my family on Saturday night.
Got up and ate breakfast and got ready to go. Had coffee and a donut(s) on way to race, picked up an extra yogurt breakfast bar to eat while waiting for my wave to start. There is over an hour between the start of the race and my wave, and eating something, light, while waiting was a good idea.
No issues getting to the site. Used the same parking garage as last year, which is close by and easy to get at.
Got there and I went into transition and setup. Like last year, transition is tight, but they didn't allow bags, so that helped reduce the amount of clutter. Setup went easy. Was able to take my time and relax.
The weather was strange. Started off sunny, mild, but a little humid. As the morning\day went on, it got cloudy and stayed humid, luckily it wasn't sunny. If the sun had come out, it would have been really nasty out. It was a little windy.
I hung out with Jackie, and waited, somewhat nervously, for my start time. Being that Jackie is pregnant, she had a chair to sit on this year. Thankfully. I am really glad that Jackie was there, not only to wait with me, but to have someone there to watch\cheer. My cousin Kevin, his wife, and my brother Mike, said they were going to come watch. They did get there, just after I started the swim, and I was grateful for them coming to the race. Not only to cheer for me, but to keep Jackie company.
The area around the start and transition was crowded, lots of racers, and lots of spectators. I was in the 9th wave, so we could watch some of the waves take off and some people get out of T1.
The swim is in sheltered area off the shore, there is a breakwater sheltering the swimmers from the open lake. The swim goes along the Summerfest grounds.
You stage at the top of a ramp, then they walk you down a dock next to the Discovery Museum that is next to the water. You jump in the water from a dock, and get set in the water. It is an in water start. The reported water temp was 65. It felt much colder than that.. There was 180 people in my AG, last year there was 219. This year seemed like more than last year. We have the longest wait between when our wave starts and the wave before went off, about 20 minutes. We had plenty of time to warm up in the cold water. The temperature must have been less than 65.
Like last year, the swim is crazy. Narrow area to swim in, you are almost in contact with someone the whole swim. The ramp out of the water was steep, that had 5-6 people on each side helping people out of the water. I looked at my watch and saw that I was about 27 minutes, 27:11 to be exact. Last year I was in the 25s. I wasn't happy to see that, but I still had the rest of the race to go. The run to transition is a bit of a hike. As I was running to transition, I did see, and hear, Jackie, along with my cousin, his wife, and Mike. I was glad I did see them. \
This year I remembered where I was in transition and didn't get lost, and I was 38 second faster out of T1.
The bike is mostly north-south, right along the shore. You go north, turnaround and head back the way you came, then go further south, jogging slightly west, and then back the way you came. Between our wave and the previous wave there was a 20 minute buffer, to let the racers thin out, it seemed to help. The first part of the bike, going north, was the shorter part, about 3-4 miles to turnaround. Right before the turnaround is a short, steep hill, and then back down. Once you get back where you passed transition, you go up onto the highway (794) and over a large bridge. This year, Jackie, my brother, and cousin and his wife were waiting as I passed the by start\finish\transition area and headed south. I heard them cheer as I passed, which was nice. To the bridge, steep climb. Then down the other side. The course after the bridge is flat, false flats, and a couple of short climbs, nothing too bad. It was kind of windy, and I thought I would get a bit of a tailwind at the second turnaround. At the second turnaround, like last year, it seemed like I was behind where I would like to have been, and it felt like I still had a headwind. I was trying to concentrate on maintaining my form and position on the bike and not get sloppy, and not think about my time. I got back to the base of the bridge, transition was immediately on the other side, and I realized I was ok on time. Going north over the bridge is a much longer, less steep, climb. I got back into transition, checked my watch, and thought that it might have been slightly faster than last year. Found out I was 9 seconds faster than last year, which means it was my fastest bike split on an Olympic distance course. Something to cheer about. Based on how I felt, I would not have thought I would go the same speed as last year, much less slightly faster.
I wanted to go under 2.5 hours at this race. Coming out of T2, based on how my legs felt, it was going to be tough. To go about the same time as last year, I needed to run almost the same, to go under 2.5, I was going to have to go about 50 minutes, or faster. The run was mostly flat. You run out along the lake heading north, go out to a point, turnaround and go south, then go a little west to the road along the lake, then head north again to another turnaround, and head back south to the finish. There are no hills on the run, there are false flats, long low incline portions. It was cloudy, but still warm and humid. I felt sluggish on the run. At the two mile mark, it looked like I was about 16 minutes, about 8 min/miles. Not fantastic. I was thinking too much about my time during the run, I was also thinking that I was hurting. Last year, I covered the first two miles under well under 16 minutes, so I had a pretty clear shot at going under 2.5 hours. This year, I had to really push myself to go under 2.5 hours.
In the end, I went under 2.5, 2:29:47, making it my third fastest Olympic distance triathlon. Nothing to be ashamed of. I was over 3 minutes slower than last year, mostly due to the run. It is little disappointing, but I also have to realize I cannot always PR, and that I am happy that I can compete at AG Nationals, and have my wife and family there to watch me.
It was great to have Jackie there at the finish, along with some family. I didn't get as emotional as last year, when I almost started crying. It was nice to talk to Jackie and my family and share that time with them.
As I mentioned last year, the competition was insanely good. As Jackie observed, at most triathlon you see people of the different shapes and sizes. At this triathlon, everyone looked very fit. Also, like last year, my AG was insanely fast. I was 132 out of 180, there are races in MN where I would have finished in the top 5, 10, with my time.
Below are my results for this race and then comparison to my previous best four Olympic distance triathlons for comparison, click on table to enlarge. Below all those results are some more pictures.
This might be my last time at AG Nationals, at least for some time. The race is moving to Omaha next year, and we are going to have a baby at the end of September\beginning of October. So, priorities change and I might not race at St. Anthony's next year, the USAT Regional Championship race where I have qualified for the last two years. If I do race, I cannot guarantee I will be in the same shape as I have been in the previous two years. I am very thankful that I have been able to race at AG Nationals the last two years. It has been a great experience at a great race site.
2014 USAT AG Nationals Results
Swim (1640 yards) = 25:38 (1:33/100 yards)
T1 = 4:14
Bike (24.85mi) = 1:07:16 (22.2 MPH)
T2 = 1:31
Run (6.2mi) = 47:56 (7:42/mi)
Total = 2:26:36
Overall = 1368/3061
AG = 157/219
Pace = 4:36/mi
2015 USAT AG Nationals Results
Swim (1640 yards) = 27:11 (1:39/100 yards)
T1 = 3:36
Bike (24.85mi) = 1:07:07 (22.2 MPH)
T2 = 1:28
Run (6.2mi) = 50:24 (8:06/mi)
Total = 2:29:47
Overall = 1227/2613
AG = 132/180
Pace = 4:42/mi
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