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.