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