Picture of me near the finish courtesy of Kerry Yndestad
This race was last Saturday, 6/30. I am a little late getting this out.
It was a hot day, I think there are going to be a lot more race days like this the rest of the summer. I think there are going to be a lot more hot days like last Saturday, for the rest of the summers, for the rest of my life. That is a different topic.
Anyway, I had a surprisingly great race. Waconia, the weekend before, was hard on my legs, so the week before MinneMan I took it a little easier. Especially, since Waconia was on a Sunday and MinneMan was on a Saturday. I figured I could use a little extra rest.
In the past MinneMan was a Sprint only race, this year they added an Olympic distance event. They lengthened the Sprint swim, from a third of a mile to a half mile, and then doubled it for the Olympic. They doubled the bike for the Olympic, and doubled the run. The bike is longer than 40K, 40K is about 24.8 miles, this bike was about 26.7 miles, two 13.3ish mile loops. The run was two 3 mile loops, a little shorter than typical Olympic distance. Normally the Olympic distance should be a 10K, 6.2 miles. I like the two loop format, also I think it is good for spectators.
The field for the Olympic distance was about 144, less than half the number in the Sprint (300+). The Olympic distance did have some of the biggest names in female and male, Elite and Pro, triathletes in MN, some might say in the nation, participating. It made for a very cool environment.
As usual, I got there early, got setup. There was plenty of room. I did a short bike warmup, no run warmup. Chatted with a few people, made sure to hydrate, but not too much, I did not want a belly full of fluid sloshing around.
The water was reported right at 78 degress, making it just wetsuit legal. As Jerry, the announcer, said, "At 78.1, no wetsuits". The lake is shallow and I was pleasantly surprised it was wetsuit legal. The water felt good.
Getting to the race. My wave, 35-39 males, was small. Only 13 guys. The course goes counter-clockwise, bouys on your left. The course was basically a rectangle. Your first left turn and short swim across the top of the rectangle was right into the sun. After the race it became apparent that some people had issues with the sun and missing the left turn that takes you back to shore. I didn't have too much trouble. I just sighted more frequently. so I would not miss the bouy.
At the swim start I started far over on the right, I usually start wide and swim across toward the first bouy, to stay out of traffic. As usual, when the gun went off I was near the back at the start. Something surprising happened. About halfway to the first turn bouy, there was clear water in front of me. I could see one person swimming out in front of me, and it was the same color cap. I took a quick look over my right shoulder and saw one guy. I believe I was in 2nd place in my AG. I swam this position all the way to the end and into transition. Later, when checking the results, I was indeed the second fastest swim in my AG. I thought that was pretty cool. I had never swam in so much open water. I passed a number of people from waves that started before, which is typical, but swimming in so much "clean" water was nice, and different. I was worried that without people around I would swim slower, but I did not. I think I was worried about swimming slower, so I didn't swim slower.
Once out and through the long transition run, I did see that I was the second one to the bike in my AG. Excellent. I got out for the long bike. Two things I wanted to work on were, hydrating and keeping good form. I think I did a pretty good job on both. The bike course is mostly flat, with a few climbs on it, if I remember correcty. There was more wind than I expected. The last few miles of the bike loop goes through a residential neighborhood that is flat. I like this part of the course. It is a part of the course that allows you to really haul some ass. Going through the second loop I could start to feel the heat. Mostly I started to feel it coming at me from the road. The pavement was heating up and you could feel it on your legs and chest. The run was going to be hot.
The longest bike of the year, turned out to be my fastest bike split so far this year. Hooray!
Coming into T2 I felt pretty good. Got off the bike and got out on the nearly pancake flat, nearly shadeless, run course. I was worried about going out too fast in the heat and blowing up. My goal for this year is to do an Olympic distance race under 2.5 hours. I had a chance to do that today. It would be especially sweet to do it on this course, since the bike is longer than your typical Oly.
The run became just another battle in the heat. It was mostly mental, as it frequently can be. My goal was to not walk at all during the run, like the 30 second walk I took near the end of St. Anthony's this year. I did not walk. My focus became maintaining my form on the run, trying to ignore the heat and fatigue.
Through the first loop I was running in front of, next to, and behind a girl, probably high school age, who was cheering for everyone she passed and people coming the other way. It was really great and I think it helped me get through the run. She was very upbeat and I think her attitude was an example of how all triathletes should be out on the course. I saw her after the race and thanked her for her attitude.
Well, I made it through the run, of course, and my time was surprisingly good. The last mile or so I thought I was going to vomit, but once I got some water in me, and on me, and in the shade I started to feel much better. Typically, I do St. Anthony's in late April/early May and I don't do another Olympic distance race until late July or August, so having an earlier race at this distance earlier in the summer gave me a better idea of where I am at. I am happy with where I am at.
This was another OHP race. Very well run, as far as I could tell, everything went off without a hitch. My only criticisms are that the water on the course and after the race is warm/hot and the only thing to drink is water, something besides warm water would be great. Otherwise, the races they put on are extremely well executed. Full disclosure again, I am a part-time staff member at OHP.
I think the most important thing I can do when fatigued, is concentrate on form, whether it is the swim, bike, or run. Typically, not a problem on the swim. This is kind of a "duh" statement. Everyone knows how important form is to going fast. Some people can "muscle" there way through different legs of the race. I am not fast enough or enough of a natural athlete at any part of triathlon to do that. So, if I can remember, when fatigued or not fatigued, to concentrate on form, I can have really good race results.
Since this is the first year for the Minneman Olympic distance race, I put a few of my last Oly distance race results for comparison, along with my 2011 MinneMan Sprint results
2012 MinneMan Olympic Distance Triathlon Results
Swim (1760yards) - 25:53 (1:29/100 yards), 2nd fastest in AG
T1 - 2:59
Bike (26.6mi) - 1:12:41 (22.1MPH)
T2 - 1:21
Run (6mi) - 49:56 (8:20/mi), I would like this/need this to get under or around 8:00/mi
Total - 2:32:47, oh so close
Overall - 66/144
AG - 5/13, the first two guys in my AG were under or around 2:15
Pace - 4:32/mi
2011 MinneMan Sprint Distance Triathlon Results
Swim (587yards) - 8:20 (1:35/100 yards)
T1 - 2:51
Bike (13mi) - 36:15 (21.5MPH)
T2 - 1:10
Run (3mi) - 24:30 (8:30/mile)
Total - 1:13:03
Overall - 68/342
AG - 5/28
Pace - 4:29/mi
2012 (April) St. Anthony's Olympic Distance Triathlon Results
Swim (1640yards) - 29:03 (1:47/100yards)
T1 - 2:18
Bike (24.85mi) - 1:12:54 (20.4MPH)
T2 - 2:42
Run (6.2mi) - 55:04 (8:53/mi)
Total - 1:41:51
Overall - 977/2689
AG - 124/236
Pace - 5:04/mi
2011 (Sept) St. Croix Valley Olympic Distance Triathlon Results
Swim (1640yards) - 29:00 (1:46/100 yards)
T1 - 2:22
Bike (24.85mi) - 1:10:31 (21.1MPH)
T2 - 0:51
Run (6.2mi) - 49:36 (7:59/mi)
Total - 2:32:17
Overall - 40/103
AG - 12/19
Pace - 4:46/mi
2011 (August) Maple Grove Olympic Distance Triathlon Results
Swim (1640yards) - 27:26 (1:44/100 yards)
T1 - 2:26
Bike (26mi) - 1:13:32 (21.2MPH)
T2 - 1:12
Run (6.2mi) - 50:15 (8:06/mi)
Total - 2:34:49
Overall - 44/216
AG - 9/33
Pace - 4:41/mi
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