2012 Lake Minnetonka Triathlon Report

It started out sunny and warm, by the time I got out of the water it was raining.  The bottom picture above was taken after the race.  It was like that the whole race.
That did not stop it from being a good/great race. 
I got up at my usual time and had the usual breakfast.  I got to T1 early, as usual.
I had a chance to talk to a few people, some of whom I had not seen at races yet this year.
The race start announcements started about 10 minutes earlier than expecte.  I expect the reason for this is that they had an idea ran was coming, that was not predicted when I checked the morning weather.  By the time the announcements were done and we walked to the start, the swim is point-to-point around a point, it was cloudy out.  The first wave started about 4 minutes earlier than planned.  Which was great, no reason to wait around.  My plan for the swim was to start outside and work in to the first bouy.  It is a nice swim course and I was happy with my swim.  I got out and it took me a minute to realize that it was raining out.  It was raining pretty good out, and it was that way the whole race.  I wore my sunglasses on the bike, but kept them tipped to the end of my nose so I coul easily look over them.
I got out of my wetsuit and on the bike much better than last week.  Part of that was due to going no socks, which was a really good idea for this day.  I am going the rest of the year sockless.  I was worried about running sockless, but there were no issues at all.  Going sockless is really going to help my transition times.
The only and only time I did this race was in 2010. I remembered the swim and run, but the bike I did not totally remember.  The bike is somewhat hilly, definitely more hilly than last weeks Manitou sprint.  I tried to be as aggressive as possible on the bike, and it went pretty well, even in the rain, some times coming down pretty hard.
There was a guy in my age group that was going back and forth with me on the bike.  At one point after the turn around, a guy in the 45-49 AG passed me, then the guy who was going back-and-forth passed me and got on his tail.  This was a flat part of the course with a headwind.  It appeared the guy from my AG wa drafting off the older guy.  This kind of pissed me off.  I did pass him again, then he passed me right into transistion.  He had a small lead out of transition, but I passed him on the run and he never was able to catch me.  So, poo on him.
While I was out on the bike, two fellow triathletes who were not racing that day, Suzie and Paul, were out on thier bikes and at two different points cheered for me.  That was great.  It is always good to have people you know cheering your name. 
When I came out of T2, I saw Jackie, Jen (my sister-in-law), and Jen's two boys.  It was great to hear and see them.  Jackie's two nephews are so cute and energetic. 
The run out has slight uphill and then mostly flat.  That uphill is tough at the beginning and the end.  At the top of the hill the Gunthers were cheering, which was also really nice.
Once I got out on the flat part it felt pretty good.  I had a really good rhythm.  I did have the thought that I am going to skip Tuesday Night Time Trial this coming Tuesday.  I am going to need the extra legs for Waconia next weekend.
When I finished, it was still raining, and Jackie, her sister, and her sister's boys were there to cheer me in.  I chatted with them before they left the rain.
Aside from the rain, or maybe because of the rain, it was a really good day to race, and I had a really good race.  I was faster than 2010, by 2 minutes, and that improvement was spread over the swim, bike, T2, and run.  My run pace was the same as Manitou last weekend.
I recommend the Lake Minnetonka Triathlon.  The bike course is challenging, but not long, the run course is mostly flat, and the swim course is a nice point-to-point.  It is a well run race.  The food at the end leaves a little to desire (muffin assortment, bananas, apples, and oranges), but everything else is done very well.  The volunteers were great.  Everything went very smoothly.
Next week is Lake Waconia.

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