Race Result: 2011 Lake Waconia Triathlon

Event: 2011 Lake Waconia Triathlon (USAT)
Date: Sunday, June 26, 2011
Location: Waconia, MN
Hotel: Home, sweet home
Weather: 62F; mostly cloudy; wind from SSE at 9-11 MPH; periods of showers
Official Results: Overall results

Personal Results

Goal: 1:39.54
Official Time: 01:41.02
Overall: 68th overall (315 total); 39th in Males (206 total); 3rd in 50-54 AG (24 total)

I returned to the site of my first & only DNF, the 2009 Lake Waconia triathlon, to give it another try. On that particular day, they had to fish me out of the water. I was not happy.

So I had not officially completed this course. Nor had I done my usual pre race day drive of the course to see what I might be up against. So I was going in blind. That is not something I usually do and don't recommend doing it. However I had lack of time to do so and talked with a few folks who have done this event before. The only thing that I was questioning is why everyones run times seemed so slow. Was the course long? Nope. Just hill after hill after hill. More on that later.

On this day, the weather was cloudy and cool. Low 60 F for the air temp and a reported 66 F for the water temp, but if felt much colder than that. Of course, it was still better than swimming in icy 53 F water (hats off to you Adam!). It decided to shower on us a bit on the bike, but otherwise one could not really complain about the weather conditions.

Time for the personal report.

Swim - 0.5 miles

Goal: 15:04
Official Time: 15:20; 6th in AG (24 total)

Per my eyeball assessment, I thought the course looked short. But I forgot to take into account how big of a lake this is. Trust me, the swim course was NOT short. Like the Pigman Sprint, this was a time-trial start for the age groupers. A person was sent off every three seconds. For big events, I have come to favor this. Much less congestion on the water.

The course was rectangle in nature. Long swim to first turn buoy, shorter segment to the next turn buoy, then straight in. It seemed to me that the first buoy would never come. I made the turn and navigated to the inner lane as it seemed everyone was swimming outside. So I had a nice, uneventful swim as far as traffic goes.

After making the turn for home it seemed like the beach was not getting any closer! I'd swim about a dozen strokes, take a sight, and the damn shore never seemed to get closer. I was starting to worry I'd expend all my energy just to get to T1.

Shore eventually did come and I looked down to see 15:02 on the watch. Long run to the first mat and even another long run to the bike. But I was pretty happy.

T1
Goal: 01:50
Official Time: 01:45

Despite the long run up to T1, I had a good transition. See? I'm back under two minutes and hopefully will stay there the rest of the season. My only whoops was when I realized I had forgot to put baby powder in the bike shoes. But no problem otherwise.

Bike - 20.0 miles

Goal: 54:20 (22.1 MPH)
Official Time: 54:59 (21.8 MPH); 4th in AG (24 total)

This was an ambitious goal for a course I had not seen or ridden before. And I'm still not up to snuff in bike shape after the stress fracture but my times are improving each week. Maybe I can get back into the 22's at the next event.

This bike course has a lot of good climbing initially, then turns into some rollers that continue for the rest of the way. So after five miles I was only averaging 21.4 MPH. At mile 10, I had worked that to 23.1 MPH average thanks to the tailwind and having left the big hills behind. And then we turned into the wind and by mile 15, I was down to 22.3 MPH average and dropping as a few more hills combined with the wind to scrub that speed off.

I was certain that the dreaded leg cramps would appear at some point on the bike due to the distance but they never materialized. So I came into T2 just a little over a minute off my goal. I thought I could make that up easy in the run.

T2

Goal: 01:20
Official Time: 01:29

I should have been under the goal easily. But since my feet were so blistered from the previous race I put on socks before slipping into the new LunaRacer flats. And then after taking about eight steps to the exit, I realized I forgot to grab my race number belt and had to turn around to get that.

Run - 4 miles

Goal: 27:19 (6:50 pace)
Official Time: 27:42 (6:56 pace); 4th in AG (24 total)

Yep, when was the last time you saw me not in the top three in the run? It's been a while, that's for sure. I had been duly warned about the opening hill on the course, so I had adjusted my run split to account for that. What I had not counted on was the series of rollers that followed! Climb, descend. Climb, descend. I'm not sure there was a flat component on the entire run course. Very challenging. And I have not yet started to incorporate hills into my workouts since starting up running a few weeks ago.

But I gave it the ol' college try and ran as hard as I could. I started out like I was going to run 6:20's and MC Jerry MacNeil mentioned something like, "There goes Brian Maas running like a bat out of hell." But it didn't last.

I was fortunate to hook up with a few youngin's and we helped pace each other through the course. I also got to chat briefly with Grand Master standout Neil King. 62-yo Neil is someone I know from racing in some triathlons in northwest Minnesota. I hope I can be racing as well twelve years from now. Good show Neil!

And the return on this out-and-back course I saw lots of familiar faces, including Chris Hawes who had a great race and PR'd on this course by three minutes. Chris, you were looking very strong!

No excuses for the poor run. This was the longest run I have done in training or racing since the stress fracture. It's all gravy at this point. I was able to run without pain and able to finish strong. The rest will come.

For my efforts, I placed third in the male 50-54 AG and got one of the much sought after beer mugs. To be frank, I didn't think I stood a snowballs chance in Hell that I would podium. And in looking at the results, I see 50-54 standout David Goldberg was not able to finish the race or had a problem. That certainly would have knocked me off the podium. But I also beat a few people I thought I would not be able to. That's why they just don't hand the awards out on merit.

Lake Waconia beer mug award!

Maybe I should have filled it with Guinness?

Next Event:

Jul 2 - Minneman Triathlon; Oak Grove, MN (USAT) - 0.3 Mile Swim, 13mi bike, 3 mi run. Another event that will be next to impossible for me to podium in as every stud typically shows up here.

New Race Flats

Yup, had to go shoe shopping. The Mizuno Wave Universe 3 are great shoes. Very light. 2mm heel drop. But absolutely suck for sockless wearing. The material has a fish net meshy quality to it. As result, I have seven blisters on the feet after wearing in a tri for the first time. Two blisters are very bad and I will have to spend extra seconds in transition this coming weekend to put on socks. Lets look at this shoe again.

Since lighter weight equals faster running times, then the Wave Universe 3 might be considered an unfair advantage. If your are a serious road racer then you must ask yourself if you are serious enough to don the high performance Wave Universe 3. Model Number: 410375.0010. Weight: 3.6 oz (size 9). Stack Height: Heel (18mm), Forefoot (16mm); non-removable insole.

Note - The Universe 3 is no longer made as the Universe 4 is due out in July.

So, I went shopping at Running Warehouse (thanks Mario for the suggestion) and ordered two flats.

Shoe #1: Nike LunaRacer+

I loved-loved-loved my old Luna's. They eventually blew out, literally, and the new generation of LunaRacer had a very narrow toe box and didn't feel good to me. Imagine my delight (insert girlish squeal here) when I read that due to popular demand, Nike brought back the original Lunaracer+ as the update to the Lunaracer+2. The LunaRacer+ delivers more cushioning than should be possible in this light a shoe. This is a great shoe for marathons and tempo days. Model Number: 324909-047. Weight: 6.6 oz (size 9). Stack Height: Heel (27mm), Forefoot (21mm). So a 6mm drop.

Shoe #2: Nike Streak 3

What caught my attention was the shoe was on sale for $67.88 (reg. $85).  Designed and developed by the best marathoners in the world, the Streak 3 is a versatile 5k to marathon road racing shoe. The Cushlon LT midsole and Zoom Air unit in the heel gives ample support and cushioning. Ounce for ounce, the one piece upper reduces significant weight and also allows for rapid water drainage. Model Number: 375386-800. Weight: 6.7 oz (size 9). Stack Height: Heel (28mm), Forefoot (18mm). So a 10mm drop which will give more cushion over the LunaRacers and might be my shoe of choice for half-marathons and over. Like I said, on sale so if nothing else, they will be good tempo day trainers.

Both shoes arrived in the promised 2-day free shipping. Both feel good. The Luna's are the original. Like Classic Coke, not New Coke. The toe box is just fine and the seem to have improved the tongue a bit so it is a tad longer and will be easier to slip on quickly.

The Streak's seem like a very nice shoe as well. A bit roomier, actually, in the box than the Luna's. I'll have to experiment with both and see how they feel when in action. I will provide updates on both shoes as I break them in. I would hazard a guess that the Luna's will be on my feet this coming Sunday at the Waconia Tri.

Race Photos from RochesterFest Sprint Triathlon

Photos are from Minnefota Moments.

Coming out of the water

On the bike

Heading for the finish

Across the line. Notice the hammy wrap on the right leg.

Again with the 'look of agony"!

Race Result: 2011 RochesterFest Sprint Triathlon

Event: RochesterFest Olympic & Sprint Triathlons (non-USAT)
Date: Sunday, June 19, 2011
Location: Foster Arend Park in Rochester, MN
Hotel: TownePlace Suites
Weather: 69F; mostly cloudy; wind from SE at 7 MPH
Official Results: Sprint Overall results; Olympic Overall Results

Personal Results (Sprint Triathlon)

Goal: 1:02.08
Official Time: 00:58.29
Overall: 15th overall (153 total); ? in 50-54 AG Males (for whatever reason, the race results don't list the overall summaries); 2nd in 50-54 AG (11 total)

I decided to pop into this race for a myriad of reasons. I had not seen fellow Pulitzer prize winning blogger and multi-sport budding elite masters athlete Mario Minelli since the 2009 season. I wanted to race again in the Mizuno Wave 3 Universe flats that I had been ignoring since the Apple Duathlon. And perhaps most of all, I wanted to visit Rochester without an air of gloom over me. Rochester drives an immediate association back to 2007 when I spent a lot of time at the famed Mayo medical facility trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I wanted to visit without that dark cloud over me.

Mario met me at Packet pickup and then we ate at Chipolte before heading out to view the course. I was able to get a good sense of the course and saw the 'pond' we'd be swimming in for the first time. Take a gander at the swim setup in the video below. The Oly course used every square inch of available water and required the swimmers to exit for a 20-yd run before repeating the course. The sprint course (0.25mi) was a one lap affair where we turned at the yellow triangle buoy seen in the video.



Mario is doing Ironman Moo in 12-weeks time. And he's a superb athlete. He can really hammer on the bike and his run is officially at 'stud' status. Let's watch him finish the Oly event.



Time for the personal report.

I liked the course. The little pond was ideal for the swim as it is down in a little valley. Like a cereal bowl stuck in the middle of nowhere. It drops off quickly and is surprisingly clear. The bike course had a lot of sneaky little uphill climbs going out whereby the road looked flat but you were actually climbing. Ten miles on a bike can go fast....I was just getting warmed up!

The run was your typical combination of roads (under construction) and pathways. It was getting a bit humid out there.

Swim - 0.25 miles

Goal: 07:20
Official Time: 06:27; 2nd in AG (11 total)

Per my eyeball assessment, I'm still convinced the swim was short of 0.25 miles. But I was assured it was via the race director as they used GPS equipment to set it up. I was in the 10th, and very last, wave. I swam with AG winner, Bill Baker, the entire distance. We both just pulled away from the field but ended up swimming into the tail-end of Wave 9, but it wasn't too bad. I was grinning from ear-to-ear as I glanced at the watch upon exit and almost nipped Bill at the timing mat. Best swim of the year, short course or not.


T1

Goal: 02:50
Official Time: 02:15


Despite the long run up to T1, I had a good transition. Most of the wet suit was stripped by the time I got to the bike. No issues here.
Bike - 10.0 miles

Goal: 29:51 (20.1 MPH)
Official Time: 27:48 (21.6 MPH); 3rd in AG (11 total)

I had no idea what to expect on the bike course. After conferring with Mario, looking at previous year results for my age group, and looking at the elevation map I could have gone anywhere from an estimate of 19 MPH to 21.7 MPH.

Big ol' hill seemed to loom large at the turn-around.

I like a 10-mile bike course. It is over before it even starts. Just like the earlier three weeks, my bike legs are still not quite there. Again I had a questionable start as the legs felt dead. But as with the previous races, by the time I hit the turn-around the legs were starting to heat up and the speed picked up.

T2

Goal: 01:10
Official Time: 01:16

I should have been under a minute but again paused to take a quick sip from the bike bottle. It was starting to get humid and I knew I wouldn't take any water on the run.

Run - 5K

Goal: 20:55 (6:45 pace)
Official Time: 20:45 (6:41 pace); 1st in AG (11 total)

I would have liked to be under 20-minutes but the endurance post stress fracture just isn't there yet. But the times have been dropping race-by-race. I was able to run multiple times in the week leading up to this event for the first time since the stress fracture.

I did reach for and wear the Mizuno Universe 2 flats. It will be the last time for a triathlon. This is the first time I have worn them sockless. The Mizuno's material is sort of fish net material...meshy if you will. And they rubbed severely. I opened two big blisters on the instep area and was not surprised to see bloody stains on the shoes after the race was over. So now I will have painful feet all week. Ugh!

I have ordered in two new possible flats from Running Warehouse. First pair is the Nike LunaRacer. Due to popular demand, these are the original LunaRacer. So they should fit well right out of the box and replace my worn & torn first generation model. The second pair.....on sale no less.....is the Nike Streak 3. One of these shoes will be on my feet this weekend.

Next Event:

Sunday, Jun 26 - Lake Waconia Tri (USAT), consisting of a 0.5mi swim, 20mi bike, 4mi run.

Race Result: 2011 Manitou Triathlon

Event: 22nd annual Manitou Triathlon (USAT)
Date: Sunday, June 12, 2011
Location: Ramsey County Beach, White Bear Lake, MN
Hotel: Home, sweet home
Weather: 54F; partly cloudy; wind from ESE at 7-10 MPH
Official Results: Overall results

Personal Results
Goal: 1:15.08
Official Time: 1:18.21
Overall: 45th overall (251 total); 31th in AG Males (165 total); 5th in 50-54 AG (20 total)

One way to review this race would be to simply be satisfied that I have one more race under my belt as I recover from the pelvic stress fracture. Another way to look at it is with pure disgust over so little progress.....indeed, regression....due to the lack of training I have been able to do these last few weeks. It's bad enough that I am almost thinking of just packing it in for the year and start looking at 2012.

Almost.

On top of it, I seem to be fighting some sort of stomach bug or else the stress from the Real Job has finally led to another ulcer. Hopefully it is the former and not the later.


Time for the personal report.

The day started out well enough. The sun was shining and the winds low. Then the sun went bye-bye and it got cold fast and the wind picked up a bit. I'm not sure what the water temperature was but the typical response from people entering the water for warm-up was, "Ooooh, that is cold". Definitely colder than the lake in Iowa for Pigman.


Swim - 0.5 miles

Goal: 14:04
Official Time: 15:51; 5th in AG (20 total)

Perhaps too ambitious of a goal. I was pacing my possible time off the Pigman split from the week before. So, either I swam better at Pigman OR the course was shorter OR the Manitou course was long.

What was interesting is what occurred during the elite wave that went off right before my wave. The swim course was a rectangle. Four buoy's out, three across and four back. We are watching the elites and then inexplicably, the leaders all turned at the third buoy! It wasn't until they saw they were inside the backside buoy that they realized their error. To their credit, they turned around and got back on course. I would say nearly every elite made this error. And you can notice it in their swim times.

I thought I had a good swim. I went out easier than Pigman, this race being a 0.5 mile swim. By the time we were heading for shore I was in a group of two other people and we sighted and drafted off each other. I was very surprised to see how slow I was.


T1

Goal: 02:20
Official Time: 02:53

As this was my first time at this event, I didn't realized this was another loooooooong transition. Comparable to Pigman. I did better this time in that by the time I hit T1 my upper wetsuit was off and my lower was hanging below my waist. The only sad thing, my gold chain with cross must have been snagged inside as I lost it. Funny how certain jewelry is precious to a person.


Bike - 13.5 miles

Goal: 37:19 (21.7 MPH)
Official Time: 37:45 (21.5 MPH); 4th in AG (20 total) 



The bike was so weird. I could not, for the life of me, get the legs to respond on the first five miles. Maybe I should not have done that 20-miler on Friday. Maybe the half-mile swim took more out than I thought it did. Or maybe, I'm just out of shape.

I'm upset here as I secretly thought I could easily be in the mid-22 MPH range. My legs did finally wake up shortly before the turn-around. It took me 21-minutes to go out, 16-minutes to come back. Where were those legs on the front half?

But, for the second week in a row there was no leg cramps. One positive.


T2

Goal: 01:00
Official Time: 01:19

Another long run to rack the bike, and I was hit with a surprise. There were already four bikes racked up int he male 50-54 section. Not good. Unless I had a monster run, I would not be looking at a podium finish. I then had to make a decision. Do I reach for the ol' fraying Luna Racers or the Mizuno's (Universe 3? I had laid out the Mizuno's to purposely use, and try again, for the run. But I passed and grabbed the Luna's. I went for the familiar over the unknown.


Run - 5K

Goal: 20:24 (6:34 pace)
Official Time: 20:35 (6:39 pace); 3rd in AG (20 total)

It was billed as a 3-mile run but the results are showing it as a 5K...so whatever. I ran okay. No cramps and it went fairly smooth. I had a nice kick into the finish and it was all over but the crying.  No pain from the stress fracture. Another good sign. Perhaps this coming week I can actually get out and run. In between Pigman and this event, I was able to get in one 3.5 mile workout due to the various pains in both sides.

Next Event:

Sunday, Jun 19 - HyVee Rochesterfest Sprint Triathlon, consisting of a ¼mi Swim, 10mi Bike, 5K Run. This is possible. I've not signed up yet. I might opt to take the coming weekend to simply kick-back and train. Or I may race. I'll decide my mid-week. If I have to guess, I will pass (sorry Mario). We'll see how the next few days are.

If not that event, then my next event for sure will be:

Sunday, Jun 26 - Lake Waconia Tri (USAT), consisting of a 0.5mi swim, 20mi bike, 4mi run.

Special note: I finally got to meet Greta Simpson and Tim Litzinger. Greta competed with the elites and, um, chicked me by three seconds. Great race Greta! I looked for you again when I had caught my breath to chat some more. Too many people!

Tim was a volunteer at Manitou Triathlon. He is suffering from some form of sciatica. But there he was, posting the results at 'eye level' ...if you are 6'3". Hope you get back racing soon, Tim.

And finally, huge Shout Out! to fellow tri-geek William Jenks of Ames, Iowa for his 05:06:51 at Kansas 70.3 this past Sunday. That was good enough for 6th overall in the mens 45-49 AG. And that was sans wet-suit. From William: Cool weather and rain made it wet suit legal, believe it or not.

Pictures from Pigman

Photos from IowaSportsPictures.com. Always good to see how fat I look.

Out of the water & to T1

Starting on the bike

Finishing on bike

Starting on the run

Nearing the finish

Look like I'm gonna die

 And my Par score for Apple is in: 86.89851. Combine with the January Frost "yer Fanny race in Texas (87.1597) & I am sitting at 87.02891. Up from 85.48 in '10. I'll take it. I have one to three more possible du's left in '11, so perhaps I can bump that up some more.

Race Result: 2011 Pigman Sprint Triathlon

Event: 20th annual Pigman Sprint Triathlon
Date: Sunday, June 5, 2011
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA
Hotel: Cedar Rapids Marriott
Weather: 81F; partly cloudy; wind from ENE at 7-9 MPH
Official Results: Overall results

Personal Results

Official Time: 1:18.15
Overall: 66th overall (648 total); 50th in AG Males (387 total); 7th in 50-54 AG (35 total)

This will be somewhat shorter than my usual race reports. I'm looking at a stressful week at work, the Boy® is out of school after Wednesday, and my parents will be in town as he is 'graduating' from elementary. Next year, middle school. Where does the time go?

I finished off the podium but in many ways this event was more satisfying than the Apple Duathlon when I won the 50-54 age group. I was pleased with my performance in all three elements. Keeping in mind I've only been training for a couple of weeks now, I came away really happy and the confidence is building that perhaps I can salvage something of this season after all.

I felt really solid in the water. I had zero leg cramps on the bike. And save for a little lingering calf soreness from the Apple Du, my run felt good. So the run legs are getting back under me and the bike, while still a little off, is coming around.

Pigman had Time-Trial start to the swim, as athletes lined up according to their respective age group wave and then one person started every 3 seconds by crossing over the chip timing mat on the beach before entering the water. I was in wave 5, so it was a somewhat slow process to eventually get to us. But I enjoyed having much more room to maneuver in the water.

How it looked this past Sunday at the TT swim start

There was a downside to the time trial start though. I had a false sense of doing well. I was not passed in the water and felt like I passed dozens and dozens of people. I was only passed once on the bike (by a chick...albeit a fast one, Jenny Saylor) and passed scores and scores of people. I was not passed on the run at all....and again, picked off person after person. So I crossed the line thinking, "Hey, I did pretty good."

Um, no. You got creamed.

But after that brief downer of seeing my name in 7th for the age group, I realized that A) you are just 13-weeks removed from a pelvic stress fracture, B) you have had a total of 8 training runs, C) you have the whole season in front of you yet. I had predicted I would finish in 1:18.00. I ended up in 1:18.15. There is nothing there to be mad about.

So, I will continue on my plan to race as much as possible through early July and then see if I can get back to being competitive. I expect to get creamed again during these June/early July events, but as long as I am making personal progress I'll be sated.

Time for the personal report.

301 miles one-way to Cedar Rapids. You know what? That starts to wear on a old man who doesn't have much of an ass to sit on any more. I think in the future I will be sticking closer and closer to home!

Plus on this trip I forgot my toothpaste and I forgot my CarboPro. So I had zero fuel for race day morning and had stinky breath. I made do with some Starbucks VIA packets and a couple of Stinger waffles. I also used a total of five Stinger energy chews during the event. I might have to try that combo again considering I had no muscle cramp issues.


Swim -  0.5K (547 yards)

Goal: 08:30
Official Time: 08:43; 8th in AG

Water temperature was a sweet 71F. It was my first time at this event, so I had no idea what it would be like. The water clarity was a bit murky but it has a nice sandy beach. Simple out (buoys on right....I hate that!) and back.

How the lake looked the night before the event

I warmed up for about 10-minutes. Peed in the wet suit about seventeen times (Starbucks, remember?). Lined up for the time trial starts and BOOM! I'm off. I had a nice clear swim and only knocked into a person once (why do people think they can just stop swimming!?!?). I felt comfortable the whole time. Got a little fatigued (oh, wait.....only Joe Mauer gets fatigued) near the end but I really was happy here.


T1

Goal: 02:50
Official Time: 03:04

 Oh, just shut-up. I know I'm slow in transition. But before you say too much, from the time one leaves the water to the time you actually reach transition has to be about 150-yards. I mean.....take a look:

See the little bit of blue in the background?

Then when you get to transition, you might have to run another 50-100 yards to reach your bike. With nearly 700 people (not counting relays) it was one ginormous transition area:

I was about midway between the two ends

So, three minutes was not necessarily all that, ahem, bad. And I was wearing my two piece DeSoto Water Rover wet suit for the first time this year and forgot how fun it is to remove the upper. It's not.

Bike - 15.5 miles

Goal: 43:14 (21.5 MPH)
Official Time: 43:43 (21:3 MPH); 7th in AG

Again, first time at this event so I was gauging off what I knew from talking to various people. The first few miles of the course are twisty-turning roads to just exit the park. Then its nice for a while. Big downhill, and flat stretches. We were required to do this funky squared turn around in the small hamlet of Palo which bit off some speed. But I was at 23.2 at this point. Then it was back towards the park, actually going past it before we turned around again to enter the park and finish up. Couple of big hills in there that took the speed off.

I kept waiting for the leg cramps to appear, but they never did and that made me very happy.


T2

Goal: 01:20
Official Time: 01:27

 Another long run to rack the bike, but no leg cramps to make me swear as I put on the flats. Oh, and I went with the ol' fraying Luna Racers. Passed on the Mizuno's. I want the legs fully recovered before I reach for those suckers again.

Run - 5K

Goal: 22:34 (7:15 pace)
Official Time: 21:20 (6:52 pace); 3rd in AG

Nice. I went out in 6:45ish for the first mile. Then we hit a couple of rollers and I lost gas fast. I had some lingering calf soreness from Apple in the right calf which bothered me a wee bit, but nothing bad. It was starting to get a bit warm as well. Again the, "You're going to have to walk this time" thought entered my head. Not sure where this is coming from, probably lack of confidence. I was running 6:03-6:05 pace in 5K's before the fracture so I'm probably reaching too hard to get back to that point and ending up bonking on the run as the mind wants to go-go-go but the legs are no-no-no.

Best of all, unlike Apple I am actually walking around. I'll be icing a bit this week on the right calf and right ham. But I think I should be good to go for the next event. Just hope I can keep improving week by week.

Next Event:


Sunday, Jun 12 - 22nd Manitou Sprint 0.5mi Swim, 13.5mi Bike, 3mi Run. Another first time event for me. That half-mile swim should be interesting.

After that, I had been looking at the Bismarck (NoDak) Sprint Triathlon on June 18, but I may end up passing on it. Bismarck is having severe flooding. The current event site is under water. So they are moving it to another lake which I don't hear good things about (ultra weedy) and the bike course is hilly. Yuck.

So, if I do something that weekend I may instead jump into the Rochesterfest Sprint Tri on June 19. I can stop by the meat store on the way down so I can grill up some good stuff for Super Mario.

Oh, almost forgot. This is cool. It is called the Midwest Multisport Series. Unlike most race series, each of the races in the Midwest Multisport Series is put on by a different race director. By completing a race in the series, points will be automatically calculated and you can track your progress throughout the series. You keep points in your five best races and any additional races earn 25 bonus points. The more races you do the more points you earn. Completing more than 5 races will earn you 25 bonus points at each of those races. Up to 125 bonus points.

Midwest Multisport Series Point System: Overall winners (male & female) receive 1,000 points. Each athlete earns points based on the percentage behind the overall winner (e.g. if time is 30% slower than overall winner, you will receive 700 points). Athletes are scored for the Series on their 5 best results. I'll be doing five the possible events this season. Take a gander at who is #5 currently in the male 50-54!

Photos from 2011 Sartell Apple Duathlon

Here are some photos from the Apple Duathlon held on May 28 in Sartell, MN. Photos are from Minnesota Moments.

Checking over the setup in transition

Start of the Mens 50 & Over and Relay Wave. Charlie Roach takes the lead.

Getting into stride in opening 400-yards

Leaving T1

Entering T2

Done!

Totals: Month Ending May 2011

General Barnicke: Are you telling me that you men finished your training on your own?
John Winger: That's the fact, Jack.

May 2011 Total Numbers

Total Workout Hours: 28:46:07
Swim Yards - 21700
Bike Miles - 351.32
Run Miles - 25.19 (7:42 per mile avg)
Days Missed to Weather, Injury or Planned Rest - 7

Compare to last year -

May 2010 Total Numbers

Total Workout Hours: 41:09:05
Swim Yards - 20000
Bike Miles - 344.85
Run Miles - 111.54 (8:00 per mile pace)
Days Missed to Weather, Injury or Planned Rest - 5

Compare to last month -

April 2011 Total Numbers

Total Workout Hours: 17:59:05
Swim Yards - 25000
Bike Miles - 175.48
Run Miles - 0
Days Missed to Weather, Injury or Planned Rest - 15