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. 

2015 Lake Minnetonka Triathlon Race Report (110th Multi-Sport Race Since 2006)

Completion of this race brings me to 110 (32 duathlons, 78 triathlons) individual multi-sport race finishes since 2006.  If you included the 3 relays I have done, 2 duathlons and a triathlon, that brings the total to 113.  I have started 115, I have two DNFs, one for a flat tire, and one intentional.  I quit after the run because of a stress fracture.  By the end of this season I will have completed over 80 individual triathlons.

Surprise! Kind of.  Early morning thunderstorms turned the triathlon into a duathlon.

Morning started out as normal.  Usual breakfast, packing up, and driving to race.  I could see lighting on the way to the race.  As I was parking it started to rain, rain hard.  I sat in the car for almost half an hour, and then decided to head down and get my packet and check the situation.  The rain started to taper off and actually, by the time I got my bike down to transition it stopped.  About an hour before the race started, it was announced that it would be a duathlon.  We probably could have swam, but would have delayed the start by an hour, or more.  So, a duathlon it would be. 
It was pretty funny, we were all standing in front of the bandshell as the race director was finished announcing the changes, about to head back to transition to get ready for the start, and all of sudden it started pouring rain.  We started almost on time, a little late, but not bad all things considered.

The run would be 1 mile, and the rest of the race was the same.  I was feeling tight and sluggish, and my first mile showed it.  I was surprised at how slow it was, which worried me a little going into the bike and second run.  The first part of the bike goes south, and there was a pretty nasty headwind.  Turning the first corner was a welcome relief.  The bike went surprisingly well, I started to feel better, loosen up.  It wasn't my slowest time here, better than I thought.

I think one of the mistakes I make when I have slower run times, is not getting out of T2 and running fast.  I got out and ran fast, it hurt at first, as it should.  This run is pretty flat, the only up and down is in the first half mile, and then last half mile.  I was very surprised to see my time.  I was shooting to go under 24, and that would have made me happy, going under 23 delighted me.  Especially, considering how I felt to start out the day.

One of things I like about this race, besides the course, is that there is pizza at the end of the race.  At 9AM, after a sprint triathlon, pizza tastes pretty damn good.

The day started pretty crappy, and could have been worse.  In the end, it turned out to be a great day, both in terms of the weather and how the race went.  I was very happy with my results.

I have some pictures before the race, and one after the race, typical pictures.  The picture with sun out.  The same guy who took my picture at Buffalo was here, his wife was racing again, and he got a couple of pictures of me.  One picture, into the finish, I was trying to smile.

 

 

2015 Lake Minnetonka Duathlon Results
Run (1mi) - 8:10 (8:10/mi)
T1 - 1:59
Bike (14.5mi) - 41:25 (21MPH)
T2 - 0:55
Run (3mi) - 22:44 (7:35/mi)
Total - 1:15:12
Overall - 66/373
AG - 10/30
Pace - 4:04

2014 Lake Minnetonka Triathlon Results
Swim (880 yards) - 12:44 (1:27/100 yards)
T1 - 2:27
Bike (14.5mi) - 39:36 (22MPH) - Fastest bike split on this course
T2 - 1:34
Run (3mi) - 22:32 (7:31/mile) - Fastest run split on this course
Total - 1:18:51
Overall - 62/476
AG - 13/45
Pace - 4:23 min/mi

2012 Lake Minnetonka Triathlon Results
Swim (880 yards) - 13:04 (1:29/100 yards)
T1 - 2:02
Bike (14.5mi) - 41:13 (21.1MPH)
T2 - 0:59 (Two weeks, to T2s under a minute, almost 30 seconds faster than 2010 T2)
Run (3mi) - 22:49 (7:37/mile)
Total - 1:20:06
Overall - 72/466
AG - 7/44
Pace - 4:27 min/mi

2010 Lake Minnetonka Triathlon Results
Swim (880 yards) - 13:27 (1:32/100 yards)
T1 - 1:51
Bike (14.5mi) - 41:58 (20.7MPH)
T2 - 1:28
Run (3mi) - 23:20 (7:47/mile)
Total - 1:22:01
Overall - 85/452
AG - 13/42
Pace - 4:27 min/mi

2015 Buffalo Olympic Distance Triathlon Race Report

Second year in a row for Buffalo Olympic.  Last year, the race was delayed about 20-30 minutes do to thunderstorms, the race was relatively rain free, and then rained at the end.  The temperatures were not too bad.

This year, the weather was much different, as you can see in the pictures below. 
As usual, I got up had my usual breakfast and headed out to the race.  Uneventful, as always, just how I like it.

Got there, found a nice spot at the end of a rack, got my number, chip, body marking, etc.  There was supposed to be construction, so the run course was changed.  The construction had not been started, so the change was unnecessary, but happened anyway.  The new run course was a bit of an unknown, though I would get to preview a bit of it on the bike. 

I will get to the race, not much happened beforehand.  It was a little windy, and the water was choppy, and a little chilly, colder than I expected.  There was a lot of bumping into people during the entire swim, which resulted in a very unfortunate mishap for me.  At the merge between the Sprint and Olympic distance swims, I got kicked in the hand and my wedding band came off.  I could feel it slip off my finger, to never return.  It wasn't particularly expensive, but it was my wedding band.  Losing it made me a little sad and angry.  I thought about it most of the race.  Before the race started I thought about taking it off.  When I got in the water, before the start, I thought of taking it off, because of how cold it was, but I thought it would be fine, since I raced all last year with it on.  Immediately after the race I called our jeweler and left a message that I needed a replacement.  I should be getting a new one soon. 

Back to the race. My swim split was about 10 seconds slower this year.  That is nothing over an Olympic distance.  Course could be slightly longer, my path could have been a little more zig-zag, etc. 

The run to T1, for Olympic is a little long, uphill with some grass and pavement.  T1 was not too bad, except we had to exit to the bike at the same point as the Sprint, which meant we had to run up and down grass hills in transition. 

The bike was mostly uneventful.  About a mile or two into the bike I lost my water bottle, so I had no hydration during the bike.  That was unpleasant.  The bottle bounced out as I was going over some rumble strips.  It was sunny, and windy.  There is a decent amount of hills, and at times the wind felt challenging, but it was mostly uneventful.  I did not feel too bad coming off the bike.  According to their map, the bike was 0.8 miles shorter this year than last, not sure that is correct, not sure where the 0.8 miles was taken out.  The course seemed the same.  My average bike speed, based on the assumption the course was shorter this year than last, was the same as last year.

Out of T2 I was fast.   I think part of my slow run at St. Anthony's was how slow I came out of T2.  Here, I came out of T2 faster.  The new course has you going uphill, short and steep, initially, then a little flat, and the hills.  The run course is short and long hills.  Tough run, especially in the sun with no shade.  I think this new run is tougher than the old run.  I was 40 seconds slower this year, over last year.  Again, this run is harder than the old one.  I was worried about the run going into this race.  My performance, all around, alleviated some\most of my fears.  I had such a bad swim and run at St. Anthony's, especially compared to the previous year, I was worried I was too out of shape, or something was wrong.  I feel much better after my performance at Buffalo.

If the bike course distance was actually the same from this year to last year, then I actually had a faster day this year than last year, which would be surprising.  Either way, it was a perfect weather day for racing and I am very happy with my performance.

Below are some pictures.  One of me working hard on the run, taken by Terence Lee.  The rest of the pictures are my usual pictures.

2015 Buffalo Olympic Distance Triathlon
Swim (1640 yards) = 27:47 (1:42/100 yards)
T1 = 3:06
Bike (23.8 miles) = 1:07:18 (21.2MPH)
T2 = 1:17
Run (6.2 miles) = 50:13 (8:06/mi)
Total = 2:29:40
Overall = 85/260
AG = 13/38
Overall Pace = 4:50/mi

2014 Buffalo Olympic Distance Triathlon
Swim (1640 yards) = 27:37 (1:41/100 yards)
T1 = 2:47
Bike (24.6 miles) = 1:09:28 (21.2 MPH)
T2 = 1:36
Run (6.2 miles) = 49:33 (7:59/mi)!
Total = 2:30:59
Overall = 77/253
AG = 11/31
Overall Pace = 4:46/mi

2007 Buffalo Sprint Triathlon
Swim (440 yards) = 10:02 (2:15/100 yards)
T1 = 4:38
Bike (13 miles) = 39:13 (19.9MPH)
T2 = 2:08
Run (3 miles) = 23:14 (7:45/mi)
Total = 1:19:13
Overall = 214/731
AG = 73/178
Overall Pace = 4:53/mi

May 2015 Racing and Training Summary

I did two Tuesday Night Time Trials and the Gear West Duathlon in May.
GW Du went fine, I did a race report on it.
The two Tuesday Night Time Trials were ok.  Nothing fantastic.  Kind of slow starts for the year.  Both were on a different course than previous years.  They changed the course from last year for the first race, slightly longer.  The second race of the year, the course was changed back to the old out and back course, the original course, except slightly shorter.  The course was changed due to construction and the race director is not sure when we will go back to the longer course.  The first night was windy and cool and felt tough.  The second night felt better, but I was no faster.  It was the Tuesday, after the Sunday, that I did the GW Du.  Might have been the reason for my historically slow time (as I write this I have already done my 3rd TT of the year and it was faster than my first two and closer to my historical average) .  Hopefully, my slower times on the TT course are not reflected in my bike times in triathlons.
First two TTs of the year
5/5/2015 - 13.72mi = 39:25 (20.9MPH)
5/19/2015 - 10mi = 29:04 (20.6MPH)

Kind of an average month compared to the last few years.  About the same total time as last year, more than 2013, vacation in Hawaii in 2013, and about the same as 2012.  2011 and back further I had a lot more training time in the month of May.  I did go over 2 million total yards swimming since 2007.  That is something of an accomplishment.  I crossed over 100 total hours, which I think is a slower than last year.

June is two TTs and three triathlons.  Busy.

Below are the usual tables.

Comparison of May from Year-to-Year

Totals and Averages Since 2007

Year-to-Date Totals and Since 2007

 

Gear West Duathlon 2015 Race Report

After years of bad weather, cold and rain, cold and\or rain, last year was nearly perfect, this year, not so much.  Back came the rain, and the wind.  Constant wind, with gusting.  Course was muddy, not as muddy as 3 years ago.  Wind on bike was tough.  Very tough.

Gear West Du is my first MN race of the year, as it has been since I started doing St. Anthony's Triathlon in 2008, in FL.  Gear West was my first multi-sport race in 2006, since then I have done it every year, except 2009 when I had a stress fracture and volunteered.  As always, the race is well setup, and registration is fast and easy.  Plenty of room in transition.  No issues.  Now run by Final Stretch instead of Gear West, still has the Gear West name.
 
I had my usual breakfast, OJ, yogurt with fruit and granola, and a banana.  Then coffee, water, and donut (2) on the way.  Had some water and Gatorade while waiting for the start.

Because of weather, wind, and on and off rain before start, I did not warm up on bike. I did do a little bit of warm up run before the start. 
I have said it before, and will say it again, this is probably one of the most challenging races around, even when the weather is nice.  The run is tough, pavement, grass, dirt, woodchip, packed gravel.  There is every surface to run on and a variety of hills.  Even with this year's smaller field, the race is still very competitive. 

I would say I had a decent race, for me, not a great race.  About 3 minutes off last year, but not my worst.  I thought my time would have been better.  It was painful, but the pain on the run and bike was "good" pain.  I actually thought I was faster than last year.
The final run is always, always painful.  I think that is the case with any duathlon, but this one even more so.  It is basically the same run as the first.  Out of transition it is flat and then a little downhill, then it is hills, grass, and trails, and pain.  Typically, I get passed at or near the finish, because I don't think it is worth my while to sprint to the finish.  I just keep the same pace.  I got passed by two guys about, probably, less than a quarter mile from finish, and another guy was gaining.  I did push it a little at the end, the finish is on an uphill, so as not to get passed right at the finish.  Not that it matters that much to me, because I finish far enough back, but getting passed by three people near the finish is a little silly.  I shouldn't let that happen.

On last year's post I said I would continue to do this race until I cannot.  That statement still holds true.

Below some pictures, are the all my previous results.

2015 Results
Run (2.8mi) - 24:12 (8:39/mi)
T1 - 0:59
Bike (16.6mi) - 48:22 (20.03MPH)
T2 - 0:45
Run (2.8mi) - 24:42 (8:50/mi)
Total - 1:38:57
Overall - 44/110
AG - 8/12
Pace - 4:28

2014 Results
Run (2.8mi) - 23:20 (8:19/mi)
T1 - 0:57
Bike (16.6mi) - 47:43 (20.9MPH)
T2 - 0:41
Run (2.8mi) - 24:03 (8:35/mi)
Total - 1:36:42
Overall - 72/181
AG - 9/20
Pace - 4:22

2013 Results
Run (2.8mi) - 24:17 (8:41min/mi)
T1 - 1:34
Bike (16.6mi) - 48:07 (20.7MPH)
T2 - 0:51
Run (2.8mi) - 25:30  (9:07min/mi)
Total - 1:40:19
Overall - 107/249
AG - 20/31
Pace - 4:31

2012 Results
Run (2.8mi) - 22:18 (7:53min/mi)
T1 - 1:21
Bike (17mi) - 48:53 (20.9MPH)
T2 - 0:51
Run (2.5mi) - 20:16 (8:05min/mi)
Total - 1:33:42
Overall - 99/263
AG - 16/27
Pace - 4:12
Convert first run to 3.1 miles to compare to 2006 - 2008, and 2010 and total time = 1:36:04, which is 1:18 faster than 2011 and 2:20 faster than 2008, previous fastest.

2011 Results
Run (2.8mi) - 22:33 (7:59min/mi)
T1 - 1:12
Bike (17mi) - 48:52 (20.9MPH)
T2 - 1:06
Run (2.5mi) - 21:16 (8:29min/mi)
Total - 1:34:58
Overall - 129/321
AG - 14/31
Pace - 4:16

2010 Results - Taking it slow due to recovery from stress fracture
Run (3.1mi) - 27:57 (9:19min/mi)
T1 - 1:15
Bike (17mi) - 48:41 (21MPH)
T2 - 1:47
Run (2.5mi) - 25:42 (9:42min/mi)
Total - 1:45:19
Overall - 200/380
AG - 38/63
Pace - 4:40

2009 I volunteered, did not race due to stress fracture

2008 Results
Run (3.1mi) - 23:58 (7:44min/mi)
T1 - 1:15
Bike (17mi) - 49:40 (20.5MPH)
T2 - 1:16
Run (2.5mi) - 22:17 (8:54min/mi)
Total - 1:38:24
Overall - 151/410
AG - 26/44
Pace - 4:22

2007 Results
Run (3.1mi) - 24:29 (7:54min/mi)
T1 - 1:42
Bike (17mi) - 53:56 (19MPH)
T2 - 1:29
Run (2.5mi) - 23:15 (9:18min/mi)
Total - 1:44:29
Overall - 201/342
AG - 39/45
Pace - 4:38

2006 Results-First Duathlon Ever
Run (3.1mi) - 27:49 (8:58min/mi)
T1 - 3:18
Bike (17mi) - 1:00:37 (16.8MPH) - Road bike with clip-on aerobars
T2 - 2:25
Run (2.5mi) - 26:59 (10:47min/mi)
Total - 2:01:08
Overall - 315/353
AG - 43/44
Pace - 5:23

Product Review 28 - Castelli One-Piece Tri Kit

I am starting my 10th season of multi-sport racing.  My first season was 2006 and I did 5 duathlons, all of them in bicycle shorts and a bike jersey.  Dumb.
In 2007, when I started doing triathlons, I got smarter and went with a two piece tri kit, Sugoi. I used the two piece for a many years.  After that, I tried a Speedo Fastskin for a little while.  Then for a few years, went to a Sugoi one piece kit.  All of these purchased at Gear West.  Last year, Gear West switched to Castelli, and I got one of these to try out.  The Castelli kit is by far the best tri kit I have ever raced in, these are great.
Initially, as you put it on, it feels too tight in the waist.  It turns out that it is ok.  The fit is nearly perfect, at least for me.  Not too tight or too loose.  One of the problems with the Sugoi one piece, I had two of them, was that they would rub on my armpits and occasionally the neck.  The fabric around the arm openings in the Castelli is much flatter, smoother, and doesn't rub or slip.  The padding in the crouch is decent, not too much so it is bulky, not so thin that it does nothing.  The elastic around the leg openings, is thin and wide and fits comfortably.