Lifetime Fitness Triathlon: Short, but Sweet!
Last year, Lifetime Fitness Triathlon in Minneapolis was my first triathlon. It was HOT! There were ambulances all over the run course taking people to the hospital. The run was pure survival, with temperatures over 100 on parts of the course. I ran/walked my way to a 6th in age group, but I knew I could do a lot better than I did that day.
For this years Lifetime I arrived in Minneapolis on Friday for the pre-race expo and check-in. The temperature was in the 90's and they were predicting 100 for Saturday - race day... After I picked up my race numbers at the Minneapolis Convention Center, I headed down to the race head quarters at Lake Nokomis for a swim. The water temperature was 82. A little cooler than last year, but still bath tub warm. The swim buoys were out, and the course looked huge! I'm certain that it probably really was 1,500 meters but it looked very long.
On Saturday I arrived at transition a little before 7:00 and got all setup and oriented (the transition area was huge). At 7:30 the Transition area closed, and the waiting for my 9:00AM start began. Just before 8:00AM they made an announcement: Due to the extreme heat the Olympic course was being shorten by 3 miles on the bike leg and 5k on the run.
THIS WAS NOW MY RACE!
I only had one strategy: Stay with the leaders in the swim, take the lead on the bike and hold them off on the run. There would be no holding back - it was all out.
It was a time trial style start with each competitor starting 3 seconds apart. I was towards the back, starting over two minutes behind the first person in my age group. For the rest of the race, I didn't care about the time difference. I wanted the lead as soon as possible. I didn't even start my watch. There was no need for it.
I came out of the water 4th, just behind two other people. Another swimmer had started two minutes earlier and was already on the bike course. I'm glad I didn't start my watch, because if I had looked at it after the swim I would have been really upset at how long the swim took (I'm still not certain about the real distance). I knew I swam strong and pretty fast, so as it was I felt good going into the bike.
The bike leg was pretty hot, and it was really windy. At mile two of the bike I moved into third. At mile 10 I moved into second. At mile 15 I moved into 1st. From mile 9 to mile 18 the wind and slight hills took their toll on my legs, and I felt like the brakes were on. From mile 18 to the end at 21.5, there was a nice tail wind, and I cruised back to T2 at about 25 to 30 MPH (my computer showed 22.9 avg. for the total ride). When I arrived at T2 there was an amazing sight: A completely empty bike rack!
The run - it was hot. I knew I was in first place, and I also knew that two of the guys behind me were runners. Mile one sucked - probably a 9:00 mile. Mile two got better - probably sub-8:00. I knew the guys behind me must had caught up a lot in the first two miles. By the start of mile three the speed workouts kicked in and the pace went to sub-7:00. My leg turn over was good and I was getting into the run groove. At this point I knew they weren't going to catch me.
I crossed the finish line, and no one had passed me! Unofficially, I knew I had won. I turned around and waited - they weren't too far behind, but far enough. It would have been interesting if they hadn't shortened the course. I would have gained more time on the bike, and my run was getting stronger and faster at the end of the first 5k. Maybe we'll find out next year.
Since the course had been altered, two of the chip-timing check points had been eliminated. Because of this, the time splits were messed up, and it was kind of difficult to piece it all together. It took 45 minutes for the official results to be available (and the splits were still mixed up), but they confirmed the overall results:
1st in age group (out of 32 finishers)
46th overall (out of 1,015 finisher)
Short, but Sweet!
For this years Lifetime I arrived in Minneapolis on Friday for the pre-race expo and check-in. The temperature was in the 90's and they were predicting 100 for Saturday - race day... After I picked up my race numbers at the Minneapolis Convention Center, I headed down to the race head quarters at Lake Nokomis for a swim. The water temperature was 82. A little cooler than last year, but still bath tub warm. The swim buoys were out, and the course looked huge! I'm certain that it probably really was 1,500 meters but it looked very long.
On Saturday I arrived at transition a little before 7:00 and got all setup and oriented (the transition area was huge). At 7:30 the Transition area closed, and the waiting for my 9:00AM start began. Just before 8:00AM they made an announcement: Due to the extreme heat the Olympic course was being shorten by 3 miles on the bike leg and 5k on the run.
THIS WAS NOW MY RACE!
I only had one strategy: Stay with the leaders in the swim, take the lead on the bike and hold them off on the run. There would be no holding back - it was all out.
It was a time trial style start with each competitor starting 3 seconds apart. I was towards the back, starting over two minutes behind the first person in my age group. For the rest of the race, I didn't care about the time difference. I wanted the lead as soon as possible. I didn't even start my watch. There was no need for it.
I came out of the water 4th, just behind two other people. Another swimmer had started two minutes earlier and was already on the bike course. I'm glad I didn't start my watch, because if I had looked at it after the swim I would have been really upset at how long the swim took (I'm still not certain about the real distance). I knew I swam strong and pretty fast, so as it was I felt good going into the bike.
The bike leg was pretty hot, and it was really windy. At mile two of the bike I moved into third. At mile 10 I moved into second. At mile 15 I moved into 1st. From mile 9 to mile 18 the wind and slight hills took their toll on my legs, and I felt like the brakes were on. From mile 18 to the end at 21.5, there was a nice tail wind, and I cruised back to T2 at about 25 to 30 MPH (my computer showed 22.9 avg. for the total ride). When I arrived at T2 there was an amazing sight: A completely empty bike rack!
The run - it was hot. I knew I was in first place, and I also knew that two of the guys behind me were runners. Mile one sucked - probably a 9:00 mile. Mile two got better - probably sub-8:00. I knew the guys behind me must had caught up a lot in the first two miles. By the start of mile three the speed workouts kicked in and the pace went to sub-7:00. My leg turn over was good and I was getting into the run groove. At this point I knew they weren't going to catch me.
I crossed the finish line, and no one had passed me! Unofficially, I knew I had won. I turned around and waited - they weren't too far behind, but far enough. It would have been interesting if they hadn't shortened the course. I would have gained more time on the bike, and my run was getting stronger and faster at the end of the first 5k. Maybe we'll find out next year.
Since the course had been altered, two of the chip-timing check points had been eliminated. Because of this, the time splits were messed up, and it was kind of difficult to piece it all together. It took 45 minutes for the official results to be available (and the splits were still mixed up), but they confirmed the overall results:
1st in age group (out of 32 finishers)
46th overall (out of 1,015 finisher)
Short, but Sweet!
posted by Doug Johnston @ 7:04 PM
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