Gators and the Silver Lake

The Great Floridian is exactly 2 months away, and I'm starting to get prepared. I'm focused, and the plan is coming together. My parents are driving down there so they can take my bike and other stuff, and I just booked my flight so I don't have to spend 2 days in a car right before an ironman. After the race, I'm going to Disney World and I'm going to lay on the beach and do nothing. I can't wait.

This week I start a tough 3 week training block. 18 hours this week. 20 next week and 22 the following week. By far the most hours I've ever logged in a 3 week period. I'm a little nervous about it because it's going to be very challenging and I can tell from my last 3 week block that it's time for me to focus again on stretching and my strengthening/core work. I've been neglecting that and I'm feeling those aches and pains that turn into injuries when I neglect those things. It sounds easy to stretch for 15 minutes, but when you're working out 20 hours in a week you don't feel like spending 15 minutes stretching when you could be sleeping on the couch. But it needs to be done. I pay the price when I neglect those things.

The joke has been that I'm going to get eaten by an alligator on the swim, until I pointed out that it specifically says on the website that I won't encounter a gator in the water. So Matt sent me a picture his parents took on their bike ride this weekend...



It didn't occur to me until now that I might encounter a gator on the bike. He's 6 feet. I'm 6 feet. It could be a good fight, but a wise man would put his money on the gator.

The Silver Lake Triathlon

Saturday was the third annual Silver Lake sprint tri in Portage. I've raced this one every year and it's a lot of fun so I was really looking forward to doing a short, fun race. I took 4th overall, first in my age group, last year so I was hoping for 3rd overall or better.

The Swim - The swim was great. I felt fast in the water and got on some fast feet and got a good draft. I pushed hard and didn't have any problems other than sighting the finish due to the sun. But I made it okay and didn't lose too much time searching for the beach. I got out of the water in 6:36, the 4th fastest swim of the day (big surprise)...most likely due to my new schnazzy white goggles. They're PRO. [last year I was out of the water in 5:50, but the swim was shorter last year]

T1 was good. 1:08, one second slower than last year.

The Bike - I've been feeling good on the bike this year so I wanted to push really hard. I averaged 24.2 mph last year and was hoping to break 25 this year. I thought I could do it with a 300+ watt average, but I could tell early on that I didn't have the legs to hold 300 watts. I backed off to 280 and held that (compared to 265 last year). Unfortunately, this year we had a slight crosswind and that slowed the bike portion down a bit. I put out more watts, but only improved my time by 2 seconds over last year and still finished with a 24.2 mph average - but it was the 3rd fastest bike split so I'm happy with that.

T2 - good again. 28 seconds, one second slower than last year.

If you've noticed, my transitions were a total of 2 seconds slower than last year, and my bike was 2 seconds faster so other than the swim I'm dead even with last year. And it's hard to compare the swim from year to year because I don't think the buoys are ever in the exact same spot.

The Run - I've been working on my running a lot and hoped to run really well. I could tell immediately into the run that I wasn't used to short, intense workouts. My side ached and my calves were cramping up. Shortly into the run, Tim Petrie (the eventual winner - for the third year in a row - he has a great streak going) passed me and pulled away quickly. About a half mile into the run my legs loosened up and my side ache went away and I was able to pick up the pace. From that point on, I felt pretty good, but not fast. I haven't been working on my 5K speed this year, but I was hoping it had improved along with my improved long distance speed/endurance. Nope. I ran the exact same time as last year. 20:16. I'm happy with it, but I really wanted to go sub 20.

I finished in 1:08:00 for third overall and first in my age group. I improved upon last year and had a lot of fun so I'm really happy with the race. As usual, the organizers did an awesome job. What a great event.

Even though this was a short race, and I'm training for an ironman I'm really glad I did this race. It was a good break from my long workouts, and I think the intensity was good. But mostly, it was lots of fun and now I feel more focused on my ironman than before. If I go too long without racing, I lose a little focus so this was really good for me.

Now I just need to focus on nailing this 3 week training block and figuring out how I'm going to fend off a gator in the middle of a 112 mile bike ride.

The Great Gay Grand Floridian

I'm not sure why, but I did it. I signed up for the Great Floridian Triathlon next October. When I told Dennis, I expected him to tell me I was stupid or a slow learner or something like that. What I got was something a little different.

"Well, that sounds gay."

"Gay?"

"Yeah. So instead of saying you're an Ironman when you cross the finish line do they say 'Congratulations, you're a Grand Floridian."

"No, it's Great Floridian."

"Oh....still sounds a little gay."

Great. So now when I train for this I'll have that in the back of my mind. Instead of 10 months of hard work so I can call myself an Ironman, I get 10 months of hard work so I can claim to be a Great Gay Grand Floridian....not that there's anything wrong with that.

Race Report: Silver Lake Triathlon

We got a little lucky with the weather this morning, as there was a 50% chance of thunderstorms. We got rained on a bit on the way there, but then it cleared up and the sun came out before the end of the race and it's turning into a really nice day. Aside from a few wet spots, the roads were dry so the rain wasn't really an issue.

This was the first triathlon Cheri and I have done together so that was fun, and our parents came to watch so we had some spectators. This was essentially the first triathlon that my parents would see me do so I really wanted to do well. They showed up for the Janesville Tri last year, but I didn't do a good job giving them instructions on where to go so they never actually saw me race.

This is only the second year for the Silver Lake Triathlon, and I've been really impressed both years. Last year, I expected a few problems being their first year, but it was really smooth. This year was even better as they made a few minor changes, mainly to the transition area, which worked out really well.

Cheri hasn't been able to run much lately due to her knee pain (I believe it's partially because she's running in stability shoes when she should be in neutral shoes or flats) so she was getting pretty nervous last night and feeling unprepared. Then I packed up my wetsuit and made things worse. She doesn't have a wetsuit and assumed I wouldn't be wearing mine since the swim was only a 1/4 mile. As soon as she saw my wetsuit..."Why do you need your wetsuit? I didn't think you would need a wetsuit. I'm going to die."

After my wetsuit experiment at the aquathons, I'm always wearing a wetsuit. My wetsuit makes me a lot faster and I can get out of that thing in a matter of seconds so the time saved on the swim is well worth it. I told her I was only wearing it for speed, and that we'll have to get her a wetsuit for next year.

Anyway, on to the race report....

The swim: Last year - 8:45 This year - 5:50

Silver Lake is a great lake for a triathlon...clean, calm waters, nice soft sand on the beach. It's great. The only difference on the swim this year is that they changed the direction so we basically swam the course backwards from last year. It worked out better for transition so I think it was a good move. As for my time, I'd love to say all of that increased speed was due to hard training, but it's not. Most of it was, but I didn't have a wetsuit yet this time last year. Wetsuits really do make a big difference and I'm really glad I wore mine because I can now check off my goal of breaking 6:30 at a sprint tri this summer. I think the wetsuit may have saved me roughly a minute...that's really significant for a swim that short.

T1 - Last year - 1:30 This year - 1:07

Bike: Last year - 43:26 This year - 39:39

I'm really happy with my bike split this year. Some of that increased speed is my Cannondale, but I've put a lot of work into my cycling this year so it's really encouraging to see that pay off... and this is my fastest average speed at a multisport event ever - 24.2 mph. The only time I've topped that average is one of my Tuesday Time Trials and the Bong Park 40K TT...but there's no running after a time trial or swimming before so you can't really compare them. I set the third fastest bike split for the day and moved into the lead in my age group on the bike. Once I moved into the lead I really started to hammer the bike because I knew I had guys like Ryan G behind me who are strong runners and could outrun me so I needed to open a gap, and hopefully a big enough gap to discourage them from even trying to run me down.

Here's where I got stupid: Coming into T2, I got out of my shoes (way too early, which probably cost me a few seconds*) and was ready to do a side saddle dismount and run into transition. It's downhill coming into transition so you're going at a good pace. I forgot they moved the dismount line up the road from last year so I was riding into the dismount line side saddle doing about 20+mph. They yelled at me to get off my bike and I grabbed the brakes hard, stepped off my bike and started running. I stumbled a bit and my shoes hit the ground and the back of my bike kicked pretty hard, but mainly I really pounded the bottom of my feet getting off my bike going that fast. What a stupid mistake 2 weeks from Ironman. I should've kept going until I was slowed down enough and just accepted a penalty if they wanted to give me one - which I doubt they would've since this isn't USAT sanctioned and it's just a fun, local tri.

T2- Last year: :53 This year: :27

Run- Last year: 23:46 This year: 20:16

My feet stung pretty bad for the first half from coming off my bike so hard and I kept thinking about how I could've easily broken a foot or toe or injured myself somehow. The run course is decent, although they have you run a loop by the airport on grass and I don't like running on grass. They also don't have the miles marked, which isn't that big of a deal for a sprint tri but it would be nice because I like to see how my speed is at the first mile marker. I kept an eye on my competition at the turn around points and saw each time that I had a decent gap so I felt confident that I could hold on and win my age group. I was hoping to break 20 minutes, but I just didn't have it in me today.

Overall- Last year: 1:18:18 This year: 1:07:18

Last year: 15th overall, 3rd age group - first age group medal at a triathlon
This year: 4th overall*, 1st age group - first age group win at a triathlon

As I'm sure you can guess, I really like the Silver Lake Triathlon. It's fun, it's well-run, and I've done well both years. And the families come out and watch which is always great.

Then there's Cheri.... she told everyone not to expect much and that her knees hurt and she won't do well..... whatever.

Since she refuses to write race reports for my blog, I guess I'll have to do it....

Swim: 7:10

She really needs a wetsuit. It's not that 7:10 is a bad time, don't get me wrong. It's that Cheri is a better swimmer than I am and with a wetsuit and little more time in the pool she could be out there setting some of the fastest overall swim times.

T1 - 1:28

My T1 time from last year was 1:30 which means Cheri puts socks on 2 seconds faster than I do. I no longer wear socks during tris, and one of these days I'll get her to ditch the socks as well.

Bike - 48:05

I figured she would have a good bike split, but this was a little faster than I expected...a 19.96 mph average. We'll round that up to an even 20 since it looks better. The bike is an out and back so I was watching for her on the bike and counting women. Her age group was the first female wave, and when I saw her she was in 4th place so I yelled, "You're the 4th female!" I figured if she knew she was that close to the front, she would dig deep and keep pushing through the pain. She set the 9th fastest bike split among females. I've said it before, but one of these days she's going to need a tri bike....and an aero helmet.

T2 - :41

Run - 28:28

Very impressive considering how little running she's been doing the past few weeks. Her running has improved a lot in the past year, and I think once she gets this knee pain figured out and she can start running consistently again she's going to be able to knock a lot of time off her run splits.

Overall - 1:25:49

68th overall, 3rd age group - first age group medal at a triathlon

Silver Lake is good to us.

When I look at her results and think about how few base miles she has in her legs - cycling and running - I think about how fast her times could be if she really trained hard and put in a lot of hours. I think she could compete for overall female wins and finish high enough in the overall standings to make the top guys take her seriously as a competitor. Combine her lifetime cycling and running miles, and I think I did more miles from January to July just on the bike this year. I really believe she has the potential to be one of the top local female triathletes if she ever decides that's what she wants.

But I don't push her to train hard because she doesn't have to. It has to come from her.

Anyway, it was a good day...good results...lots of fun...can't wait for next year.


* Only 4 seconds behind 3rd and it's killing me....motivation for the trainer this winter

Race Report: Spirit of Racine Half Ironman

The morning started off with a threat of thunderstorms, high humidity, thick fog (which delayed the start by an hour) and a water temperature of 55 degrees (and my new Rudy Project glasses broke). Not ideal race conditions, but the rain held off and the skies cleared up and then it got downright hot.


Here I am setting up transition and getting the lowdown on the bike course. There's really not much to say about the course. It's flat, very flat. Actually, a little too flat. I would've like a few more hills to separate the riders and give you a chance to get out of the saddle.




The swim is a point to point swim, so you have to walk a mile down the beach to get to the swim start.




The fog was so thick they had to delay the start until visibility was better. It looks like I'm talking to this guy about how cold the water is, but I'm probably just standing there peeing all over myself. Apparently, cold water makes me pee. This would be my last pee until 4 pm (not a good sign).




Can you say crazy (allow me to remind you the water temp was 55)?



Where's Waldo...



The Swim: (Goal = sub 35)

They pulled the buoys in so we didn't swim that far from shore (I think they did that because of the water temp and fog). I'm not sure they lengthened the swim to adjust for pulling the buoys in, so I think it was a little short. There's not much to say about the swim. It was a little crazy at first, but then everyone settled in and it was mostly uneventful from there on out. There were a couple of morons in front of me that kept swimming into each other and I was boxed in so I couldn't swim around them so I swam right over the top of both of them. It was by far the most aggressive move I've ever done on the swim. They didn't want to quit swimming and let me through so I had to plow my way through.



Results aren't posted yet (I'll add them when they're posted) and I decided not to swim with a watch so I don't know my official time. Cheri said it was a sub 30 minute swim, but that's because the swim was a little short. I heard a few people say their swim time was about 5 minutes fast so I think I would've hit my 35 minute goal.

Update: Official Time = 29:38



The Bike: (Goal = 2:30)....Let the stupidity begin....

Every time I do a long brick, I make a nutrition cheat sheet and tape it to my aerobars. I didn't do that today, because I figured I knew what and when to eat.

This course is so flat and fast that I never wanted to get out of my aerobars because it seemed like everyone was going really fast. There was nothing to separate the riders. I only hit one rest stop, and at that one I threw away a half bottle of gatorade for a bottle of Heed that I never touched. I also didn't start out my bike nutrition with Newtons like I always do. I figured Perpeteum and a few gels would do the trick, and they may have had I finished my Perpeteum and taken more than one gel. I took in about half the number of calories I should have and drank one bottle of water. Yep, you read that right. On a hot humid day, I drank less than one bottle of water on the bike (this includes the half bottle of Gatorade).

To top it all off, I'm convinced I'm getting a penalty on the bike, which will really piss me off because I worked hard not to draft, unlike a lot of riders out there. I got passed by a 10 bike paceline about the 40 mile mark. Toward the end of the bike I got caught in a group and I was trying to get around them. I never sat on anyone's wheel, but I think I took too long to pass one of the riders because we were going up a gradual hill and I didn't want to increase my power too much. As this was happening, I noticed one of the USAT officials riding next to me. I guess it doesn't really matter if I get a penalty, but it will upset me because I tried hard not to draft and that can be tough sometimes when you have so many riders on the road. I hope they caught the paceline and hit those guys with some penalties.

My bike computer had my time at 2:30:43, a 22.5 mph average.

Update: Official time = 2:30:05 (no penalties)

Coming into transition after the bike



Heading out of T2 for the run

The Run: (Goal = 1:45)

The beginning of the run was tough. My legs were tired, and I started thinking about how I haven't done any long tempo rides recently and I just did a 56 mile tempo ride. I should've trained a little better for this. All of my long rides recently have been in my Endurance power zone (IM pacing). The run course is really flat except for 2 hills toward the beginning (it's a 2 lap course so you hit those hills twice). My legs were tired and my side hurt so I walked the second hill. My first mile pace was 8:30.

From there my legs loosened up and I felt better. I continued to ignore my gels and I grabbed water in every aid station, but I dumped it on my head instead of drinking it. I didn't drink any water for the first 4 miles (you can probably see where this is going). By this time the skies had cleared and the temp was in the mid 80s.

My next few miles were decent, an 8:01, 7:57, 8:13, 8:13...



I was feeling pretty good by the start of the second loop. I took a gel with a little water and planned on increasing my pace hoping for a sub 8 average.

It's amazing how quickly things can turn. I went from feeling strong to nothing in a matter of minutes. My next 2 miles were an 8:36 and 8:43. Not too bad, but definitely the wrong direction. I had no energy and from here on out I had to walk all of the aid stations drinking as much Heed and water as I could get my hands on. 8:50, 8:54, 9:12.

I was getting passed a lot - and by a lot of people I didn't think should be running faster than me - and my trips through the aid stations were getting longer and longer. My right thigh was cramping a little and I was having a hard time breathing. My chest felt really tight and I couldn't get a good deep breathe. I swore off half ironmans for good and wondered how I'll get to the finish line at Ironman Wisconsin if I'm struggling this much at a half.

9:21, 9:14, 9:32..

Time according to my Garmin: 1:54:15, an 8:43 pace.

Update: Official time = 1:54:19

Overall time: 4:57:20



Post race was horrible. I was disapointed in my run, but mostly I was completely depleted. I sat in the shade and drank some Endurox, a Coke, some water and contemplated going to the med tent. I was dizzy and felt very sick. Eventually I came around enough to go grab my bike and head home. Cheri had a big ol M&M cookie waiting for me at the car, which actually helped a lot. I felt a lot better after eating that cookie. As Seinfeld says, "Look to the cookie."

I'm a little disappointed in my run, but mostly I'm disappointed in how I handled my nutrition. I had about half the calories I should have on the bike and only 2 gels on the run. I drank one bottle of water on the bike and I didn't drink anything for the first 4 miles of the run. By the time I realized I was dehydrated, it was way too late. I know better, and that's what's so frustrating.

Even though this race didn't go as planned, I did learn from it... 1. Always follow your nutrition plan. 2. Don't wait until you're dehydrated to drink 3. I need to do more bricks with tempo work on the bike and long runs if I'm going to make it through the Ironman 4. Look to the cookie.

And I did get through my first half ironman and 5 hours is a pretty good time so I can't complain. I'll be sure to follow my nutrition plan at Ironman, that's a guarantee.

Here's a picture of Bob on the run. Always smiling...he makes it look easy...




This is Brinkley, the cutest pup at the races...



This picture is for Abby (it's where the cookie came from)...


I'll update this with official times when they post the results.

Race Report: Verona Triterium

Whew. Three triathlons in 3 weeks, and I'm exhausted. As much as I love racing, I'm ready for a break to focus on the Spirit of Racine Half Ironman and Ironman Wisconsin. These triathlons were a lot of fun and were great training, but now I need to focus on volume. I still have some races coming up, but they're really just training events such as the Aquathons, a 5K in Janesville Saturday, and I think I might do the Open Water Challenge in Pleasant Prairie on the 28th. Otherwise it's all about the Spirit of Racine right now, and then my focus will switch to the Ironman for the rest of the summer.

Yesterday I ran the Verona Triterium Olympic Triathlon at Fireman's Park in Verona - only 5 minutes from my house. It was raining in the morning with a chance of thunderstorms all day so I thought it was going to be a crappy day for racing, but a little while before the race started the skies cleared up and the sun came out for the rest of the day. It turned out to be a good day, except the transition area was pretty muddy from the rain last week. But considering the weather we've been having, I can't complain.

The Swim: Mark wanted me to attack the swim and focus solely on the swim since this was a "C" race for me and I was going into it tired and really just using it for training. The quarry at Fireman's Park is pretty small so the Olympic swim is a 3 lap swim - a little different, but kind of fun.

I didn't do as well as I'd hoped, but I definitely approached the swim a little different and it went much better so I made progress. In most triathlons, I just try to get back to the beach so I can get on the bike. This time I focused on the swim and tried to vary my pace throughout the race rather swim one pace the whole time. I tried to be more aware of what was going on in the water - who was where, who was fast, who was slow, who was fading... I searched for feet to draft off and drafted a lot more than usual - although I don't know how much it helped since I kept picking guys that couldn't hold a line.

I was hoping for a better time, so I'm a little disappointed but I'm also happy that I swam faster than last week (by about 2 minutes) and felt like I raced the swim more than survived it. Rather than focus on not setting as fast a time as I would've liked, I'm going to look at this as a step in the right direction, a confidence builder. I raced the swim for the first time and it felt good. Thursday is the second aquathon (assuming they open the beaches by then) and I'm going to attack the swim with everything I have, even if that means I'm so friggin tired I have to walk the run. I think that will be good training for the Spirit of Racine.

Lap 1...



Lap 2...



Coming out of the water...I didn't try to trap my goggles in the sleeve of my wetsuit this time. I've had enough of that trick.



Speaking of wetsuits, I called QR and found out why mine is tearing...it's me. I've been putting it on by pulling on the outside of the suit rather than the inside and I've been tearing it. I patched it and took it easy when I put it on Sunday and no tears. So if you have a wetsuit, learn from my mistake. Pull from the inside and take your time putting it on.

Swim Time: 27:07

T1: 1:41




Bike: The bike course followed a little bit of the Ironman route and then did a loop I used as Horribly Hilly training last year, except the triathlon did the loop the opposite way so it was a little easier but still plenty hilly. I felt like I ran out of gas a little on the run last week so I mixed up some perpeteum (which Cheri says tastes like waffle mix) for the bike so I could get some calories in before the run.

There were some spectators on the bike route this time which was great. It helps a lot when there are a few small groups of people in the corners cheering you on. Plus the dude playing the bagpipes on the top of Observatory was cool.

Bike Time: 1:16:24

Coming into T2...




T2: 0:43


The run: The run was a 3 lap route that came back by the transition area each lap. I wasn't sure if I would like doing laps, but it was great. It gives spectators a chance to see the racers more, and it's definitely encouraging to see Cheri cheering me on a few times during the run. I'd like to see more triathlons go to a format like that. You could do the same for the bike so family members could see how you're doing in the middle of the bike.

The run wasn't as painful as it was last week and I think drinking the perpeteum on the bike helped a lot, although there was a short, steep hill at the beginning of each loop that was brutal. Overall I feel pretty good about the run. I wish I could have had the energy to attack the course more rather than just hold on, but that will come with more run training. It takes a long time to become a good runner.

Lap 1...





Lap 2...




The finish....



Run Time: 44;54


Overall: 2:30:48 (23rd overall, 5th age group)


Here's a picture of a friend of our's. He finished in 2:55 and took 2nd in the 55-59 age group. Bob's an animal.





Here's another picture of a friend of ours, Jason. This was only his second triathlon, and he opted for the Olympic distance rather than the sprint. He did really well and finished in 3:17. He's doing another Olympic tri in 2 weeks...that's a tough start to a tri career, but I'm confident he'll do well.




Luckily, this is a recovery week so I get to take it easy and relax a bit before getting in a few weeks of tough training for the Spirit of Racine Half Ironman.

Race Report: Capital View Triathlon

Today was the Capital View Triathlon, my first olympic distance tri. It was a 1500 meter swim (about .9 miles), 24.8 mile bike, 10K run (6.2 miles). The weather was great. Hot and humid, the way I like it. The high was 87.

It was also windy, really windy, which made the bike tough...again, the way I like it.





When I put my wetsuit on, I noticed it has 3 more tears in it. I figured the original one was probably from my fingernail when I put it on, but there's no way these are from my fingernails (I don't even have fingernails). I don't know what's going on with that thing and why it's falling apart, but I'm starting to get really frustrated with it. I've worn it less than 10 times. I bought it for the Ironman and now I'm not sure it's going to last that long. It's always something.

I ran into an ex co-worker while I was getting warmed up and waiting for my wave to go. In the background you can see one of the sprint tri waves finishing up. The water was so shallow some of them walked the majority of the swim.

The Swim:

(note to race director: orange swim caps don't work well with orange buoys)

I was pretty nervous for the swim. This was my longest swim (in competition) and I ran into my swim coach before the race. It's not like he expected me to dominate the swim after one lesson, but I didn't want to post a really slow swim time either.






You can't tell from that picture, but the water was really choppy. It was fine on the way out to the first buoy, but after that it was rough and choppy and I had a really hard time spotting the buoys. I ended up way off course a few times, and it wouldn't surprise me if I swam 2000 meters. But I felt pretty good, and I even incorporated some of the changes Mark made in my swimming stroke about 50% of the time. Not too bad.



I tried trapping my goggles and swim cap in the sleeve of my wetsuit again, and like last week they fell out. I wasn't lucky enough to find them this week, so Cheri and I headed to Endurance House after the race to pick up another pair - by the way, I've been really impressed with Endurance House lately. Those guys are great.

Swim Time: 28:58 (rank 64/296)

T1: 1:32 (rank 29/296)

The choppy water made me a little dizzy. Not real bad, but enough that I had to hang on to my bike while I put my shoes on.



The Bike: The bike went well. It was really windy - mainly a cross wind - and kind of hilly. It was a pretty tough course, mainly due to the wind. I tried to keep my power a little on the low side so I would have plenty left for the run. In retrospect, I probably should have hammered the bike and gone all out. I don't think it would have mattered much.



Bike Time: 1:10:27 (rank 18/296 21.3 mph average)

T2: 0:41 (rank 14/296 - not bad since I took time to give Cheri a smooch before heading out for the run)




The Run: What a horrible run course. It was a trail run, and the worst kind. Hilly and boring. Most of it was in an open field and there were a ton of switchbacks. If you're going to make us run trails, at least give us something interesting. Running in an open field sucks.

And the hills were a killer. I don't think I've ever suffered this much on a run. I didn't want to do it, but I had to walk through the second aid station. I had a terrible side ache and I needed to get my heartrate down (I talked to the guy who posted the 5th fastest run time and he had to walk too...wow, tough course).

I didn't think the run would ever end. The course was terrible, confusing, muddy, and they didn't mark the miles. You never knew where you were, where you needed to go or how much distance you had left. And with no mile markers, I had no idea what my pace was, not that it mattered that much. The hills took their toll and I don't think I could've picked up my pace if I wanted to.



Run Time: 51:22 (rank 44/296 - 8:15 pace)

Overall Time: 2:32:56 24/296 (3rd in age group)

I was really surprised I did as well as I did in the standings. I felt like I was out on the run forever. It was never ending, and I didn't enjoy any aspect of it, which was really disappointing because I typically enjoy running. But trail running isn't my thing, and now I have to wash my Zoots... again. And I got a few nasty blisters so my feet were hurting for the last 3 miles or so.

After finding out I had an award coming, we decided to wait for the awards ceremony that never came. We waited....and waited...and waited...and they finally announced they would have to mail the awards because they couldn't figure out the results. Come on. I'm willing to cut them a little slack since this was their first year, but I expected more being a USAT sanctioned events. You can screw up a few things, but you can't screw up the results. And with chip timing I would think you could get the final results posted in a reasonable time.

(note to self: take sunblock next week)

Race Report: Lake Mills Triathlon

What a beautiful day for the first triathlon of the year. Blue skies, little to no wind and highs in the upper 70s.

The race started at 7, so I set the alarm clock for 4 but woke up at 3 ready to go. I think I was a little nervous for this one. It's the first tri of the year, so I wanted to do well and show that all the hard work is paying off. Plus, Lake Mills gets a good turn out and plenty of tough competition. I have to give Cheri a lot of credit here. I told her I wanted to leave at 4:30 (not exactly the time she likes to get up on Sundays), and she was ready to go at exactly 4:30. I was ready at 4:32.

After signing in and going through body marking, I set up my transition area and headed out for a short bike warm up. Then it was time to get out the wetsuit and get in the water.


(Looks like someone needs to get some sun.)

I stayed in the water as long as I could to get used to the temp before heading over for the start - wave 4, men's 25-35.





The Swim: I started up front hoping to get a good draft off someone faster who could pull me to the finish. The plan worked great for the first 50 feet, and then I lost the draft and couldn't get back in line so I spent the whole time on the outside swimming on my own. It was a pretty good swim for me, and I came out of the water around the 6:40 mark I think. There's a long run from the lake to transition so my official swim time is...

Swim Time: 7:20

Swim Highlights: The wetsuit repair worked. The goggles are awesome (Aqua Sphere if you're wondering which brand). No panic attack. I wore earplugs to try and avoid vertigo and it worked. I was going to stuff the ear plugs in my pocket after the swim, but when I went to take them out I noticed one fell out when I took my cap off so I pulled the other one out and threw it...right at someone...sorry.



T1: 1:20

The Bike: The bike went really well, although they started my wave after the novices so I had a ton of bikes to pass...mountain bikes, comforts, you name it... Before the race I was afraid that might affect my bike time trying to pass a lot of riders but I don't think it did. Had I known they had an elite wave I would've signed up for that so I would've been in the first wave, but it all worked out in the end. I'm happy with my time and speed, but once again my power was lower than I thought it would be. I averaged 276 watts for an hour at the TT 2 weeks ago, but today I could only muster a 260 average. Not bad, but I would like to see a bigger number. Either way, I averaged 23.6 mph and set the 12th fastest bike time. I'm happy with it.

Bike Time: 38:07

T2: :41



Here I am giving Cheri a thumbs up as I come out of transition and start the run. "Thumbs up" for "I'm in a lot of pain, but I didn't die in the water."

Run: The run hurt, as it should. I felt like I was running slow until the first mile marker when I saw I ran a 6:20. At that point, I was hoping to hold that pace because I knew it would be a sub 20 5K, which was my goal.


Run Time: 19:43 (a 6:20 pace...how's that for consistent?)

Total Time: 1:07:09

Overall: 19/648
Age Group: 3/42

After the race I went back to transition to grab some of my stuff and discovered that my swim cap and new goggles fell out of the sleeve of my wetsuit when I was running from the water to transition. $20 on goggles for one swim. Such a waste. I really liked those goggles, easily the best ones I've ever owned.




After that, we checked the results, saw I had an award coming and then wandered over to the food table. On the way, guess what we saw...



What a great day! Great weather. Great race. I got my goggles back. I didn't die on the swim. I got a award. And to top it all off, Cheri and I are heading out for a bike ride in a few minutes. It doesn't get much better than this (although winning the lottery would easily top all that...maybe I should buy a ticket today).