Tri Season Review

Now that the triathlon season is officially over for me, I thought I would put together a little overall review of the season as a whole.  I want to preface this by saying that going into the season, my “A” races were Timberman Triathlon in early July and Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon in mid June. 

Apple Duathlon (Sartell MN)

I signed up for Apple a week or two prior to race day.  I had not gotten out for much training on the bike, but felt it would be a good jump start to the season.  I have racced here before, so I had a good feeling for the course.  On the first run I went out hard but comfortable.  My goals for the race were to have a well paced bike and to have as small of a slowdown from second to first run as possible.  When it was all said and done, my bike split was the fastest I have ever had on this course and was very even effort wise.  The runs were less than 2 minutes difference and my second run was the fastest I have had when doing the course as an individual.  Overall, very pleased with the race. 

Moose Lake Tri (Moose Lake MN)

I showed up for this small local event just to find out what it was all about.  It is a second year event that is the epitome of low key.  The cost was $25 on race morning.  There were 25 or so people there, and transition consisted of picking the best tree in the park to lean my bike against.  The swim was as simple as swim across the lake and come back.  There was a single small buoy on the far side of the lake to go around.  The bike course was an out and back on the Munger Trail with a volunteer at the turn around.  And the run was around the lake.  I really enjoyed this event. 

Timberman Triathlon (Grand Rapids MN)

The second event of the summer I was really hoping to do well at.  When we woke up race morning, it was windy and wet.  For a running race this is not a big deal, but for a tri it is interesting.  On the swim, the wind was not a big deal.  Out onto the bike, and the rain was annoying more than anything else.  The wind was a nuisance heading into it which happened to coincide with the worst roads as far as surface.  I had a hard time getting in a good rhythm into the wind.  When I hit the big hill on the second loop around the course, I was greeted with a skunk running across the road at me.  I do not know who was more surprised, him or me.  Thankfully he did not spray me and I got away clean.  Once onto the run, I ran decent.  Not my best run ever, but a good effort overall.  I was reasonably pleased with the race even though the bike was not paced very well for me. 

Chequamegon Bay Sprint Tri (Ashland WI)

Another race I got into at the last minute.  It sounded like fun with a swim in Lake Superior and a short sprint course.  When I showed up on race day, I was very disappointed with the race setup.  For the price they were charging, I expected not to see people laying bikes down on the grass.  With the extremely warm weather, Lake Superior was not even that cold.  Onto the bike and the course was decent.  The aid station hand ups were interesting.  On a short course I was not expecting them, and one of them was on a slightly downhill section of the course so we were moving extremely quick.  Luckily, I had payed attention to the course map as one of the corners coming back into town was on a downhill section with a tailwind and there was no volunteer.  I made the corner fine, but I would bet more than one person missed it.  When I got to the run course I was simply trying to survive.  The heat was really tough and even though it was only a 5k, I was happy to get through it without walking.  Overall this race has potential with a cool Lake Superior swim, but the amenities to cost ratio was not very good. 

Brewhouse Triathlon (Duluth MN)

I have done this race in the past, and swore it off due to the poor quality of the roads.  Now that I am back in town, I figured I should give the local race another try.  Also, I heard they were reworking the bike course.  I understand requiring packet pick-up the day prior with such a large race, but as a local I wish there was another method so I did not have to schlep up to Pike Lake two days in a row.  Maybe like some other races, have the packets available at a sponsor bike/tri store earlier in the week for the locals…  Race day weather was fine for a race.  No rain but clouds to keep the sun off of us.  The swim went well and I got out onto the bike fine.  The bike course was interesting.  It was a ten mile loop with 700 people on it.  Also there was multiple sections with two way race traffic and one 90 degree corner with two way traffic coming from both directions.  This corner had fencing up to separate all of the lanes of traffic and was quite tight.  And even though they re did the course, the pavement was still the roughest I raced on all year.  It is really too bad that there is no decent pavement around Pike Lake as the rest of this race course is pretty nice.  When I got to the run I took it out hard but smooth on the out leg.  After the turn around I focused on getting up the hill and then slowly picking up the pace as I could.  When I turned the corner onto Midway road I saw a few people up ahead that I figured I could try and pick off in the last mile.  When I got to the final quarter mile, there was one last guy I thought I could catch.  I passed him just before the turn into the auto club.  At this point, he decided to try and outsprint me to the finish.  So I had to see what I had left in the tank, and I managed to beat him to the line.  All in all, the race was decent, but the bike course is still less than good. 

TriStar 111 (Maple Grove MN)

This race sounded intriguing.  Bike heavy with a shortish run that should be easy to recover from.  Also, this course was on roads that I have biked on a lot when I lived in the Maple Grove area.  When I showed up to the race site on Friday night to sign in, it was nothing but a clusterf#!@%.  Sign in at one table and be told to head across the park to get my transition bags.  Get over there; nope the bags are back at the first table you were at.  Here is a chip to put on your bike, no we do not have instructions on how to do it.  Rack your bike and place your bags in the assigned spots.  Get to the racks, no they are still working on tagging the racks with the assigned spot stickers (this is with ½ hour left in check in left).  Anyway, I left my stuff and headed home for the night.  Show back up race morning, and my bike and bags are moved.  A little surprising but at least I went to find my bags prior to the race so I knew where they were. 

The swim was uneventful for me.  Out onto the bike and as we are leaving transition there is a short steep hill.  I saw it and made a point of leaving my shoes off of the bike so I would be clipped in and not fumbling with my shoes at this point.  As I am biking out, there is another biker who was fumbling with his shoes and he started veering straight left into me.  I let out a quick “on your left, watch out!”  He replied with a few well placed expletives.  Sorry buddy, but I was just alerting you to the fact that the general race direction is parallel to the road direction and not perpendicular.  He passed me a couple miles later, and then a few miles later I saw him sitting on the side of the road with a bike problem he could not fix.  I would like to think that was karma coming through…  The rest of my bike was pretty laid back.  I managed to stay on course, even though a lot of people had issues.  I ended up going a little easier than I wanted to, but that is better than going too hard.  When I hit the run it went well.  A little upset stomach, but my legs felt strong. 

Burrito Union 5 Hour Tri (Superior WI)

Another race I signed up for just for the heck of it.  This race is so unique, I figured it was worth giving it a try to see what it was all about.  The park where this race is staged is perfect for a race.  A nice small lake, outside of town so there is not too much traffic, and nice trails for the run.  Of course, see what you think of the lake the third or fourth time you have to jump in.  The first circuit of the sprint course went well, but I might have went a little too hard.  The second time around, it was really interesting getting into my wetsuit.  Other than that, it went well.  The third time through, was getting a little tougher.  I was really feeling the fatigue on the third run.  And I knew based on the time I would have one more time through the course.  On the fourth trip around the course the run course was a struggle.  The hills on the trails seemed to have grown, and the course seemed to have gotten longer.  When I finally hit the finish line, I went straight for a water and a piece of shade.  All in all, this is a race I will do in one form or another again. 

Recap

Overall I was pleased with my season.  My best races overall would be Moose Lake Tri, and Apple Duathlon.  At these events I put all three legs together and paced my race very well overall.  The race that impressed me the most (combining all factors including course, cost, setup, etc...) were Timberman, and Burrito Union.  Timberman has a nice location and a good overall setup.  Burrito Union is a very unique and fun event.  Moose Lake tri was another event that I found very fun and will be doing again for sure.