Holiday Running

As it is the off-season for me, I have been simply running off and on. Basically, when the weather is not too cold and I have time I have been getting out for runs. I also have the bike on the trainer and have had a couple rides so far this winter. I even made it to the East middle school pool for a swim.

Since I have not been doing too much, I have not been blogging much either. I am only writing today since I had a running related encounter while I was out Christmas shopping. Yes, it is two days before Christmas and I am just finishing my shopping.

While I was at the Target store in Duluth this afternoon, I saw who I think was Kara Goucher shopping. I contemplated saying something, but then thought it would be best to let her (if it was her) enjoy her holiday shopping without being hassled by a random fan.

So, if it was in fact Kara, I hope she has a wonderful Christmas. I hope everyone else has a wonderful Christmas holiday season.

I hope to be back to writing about training related stuff soon. At least I better be having some training to write about as I am now signed up for two half iron races and a full iron race next season.

NMTC Roughrider Trail Run

This past Sunday 75 or so brave souls met up just off of Beck's Road to tackle the NMTC Roughrider course.  I was hopeful this year as there was little precipitation in the previous day or so.  This would allow us the best opportunity to actually try to "run" the course as opposed to survive as we were doing last year.

I brought my Contour camera with me this year to try and capture what it is like to attempt to run up the power lines.

Note in the video below the following details:

• The camera is mounted on the right side of my visor...  At eye level...  Even when it appears it is a few inches off of the ground as I climb the power line section.
• While climbing the power line section I did not have to crawl this year, I was able to walk up all slopes, no matter how close to the ground the video makes it look.
• Yes, I do realize I sound like a dirty old man with my breathing while I run.  I think I will dub music over the next video I make...

So without further ado, here is a short chunk of the run I posted to YouTube.

Off-Season

With the TC10 Mile, and with it my 2012 racing season complete, I am easing into my off-season.

Now I am heading out for runs or rides when I feel like it and not because I need to get ready for an upcoming race. This evening I headed out when I got home as the rain had stopped about an hour earlier. It had been five days since I had run and it felt great to be out on the trails at Pine Valley.

This weekend the fall trail series will be at the power lines in Jay Cooke. This course is as tough as they come when it is dry. If the course has any residual wetness from the recent rain and it will be a repeat of last years slip and slide. I am looking forward to having a fun afternoon running up and down the steepest hills I have ever seen a trail go over.

I will report back with my experience next week.

TC 10 Mile Race Report

Short Version – 1:09:04 PR by 52 seconds

Long Version

Came into this race with decent run fitness, and some up and down results throughout the summer.  No great run race results, but I have had some good results from triathlons so I was thinking I had a 50/50 shot at a PR.  The weather was decent for the race with very cool temps (30 at the start) and the wind would not be a headwind for us.

Pre-Race

Nothing special here.  Wake up and have my standard two pieces of toast and some Gatorade and water.  Head to downtown and park in a nearby ramp.  Walk over to the Dome…  Of course, seeing tailgaters for the 3:20 Vikings game already setup at 6:00 am was a little bit of a surprise. 

Once in the dome I ran into Dave and wished him luck.  Then I went to look for a short bathroom line.  I found one where I walked right in and did my business.  Once that was over with I finalized my race wardrobe and headed to the exit.  Ran into a few other runners I knew and said hello, and then made it to the bag drop and on to the start line.  When I got to the corral I bumped into Kraig and we chatted a bit.  Wished each other luck and off to find the correct spot to start my race from.  I also took in my gel and some more Gatorade to finalize my pre-race fueling.

Off We Go

On your marks, go…  With that we all started running.  I was close to the front (12 seconds to the mat) and had no trouble with the crowd.  Quickly got into my groove and tried to not take the race out too fast as is typical for me.  Take advantage of the downhill, but don’t burn yourself up is all I was thinking.  As we were going through the second mile I started to peel my outer shirt I was wearing just for that purpose.  I wanted to be ready at the aid station to ditch it.  Up the steep hill to the bridge I simply concentrated on keeping the feet turning over and soon enough I was on the bridge heading to the water stop at mile 3.  Ditched the shirt and grabbed a water making good time.  Knowing what was ahead I wanted to work on staying smooth on mile 4 and then really stay strong and not slow down too much on the hills.  When I hit the halfway mark I saw 34:XX on my watch and was pleased.  I had a little in the bank, but I did not want to waste it on the hills. 

Through the three miles of uphill I worked hard on staying strong and was glad to see my slowest mile was 7:10 in this section.  Exactly what I wanted to do.  When I got to the flat area at the top I tried to put in a little push as I was feeling good probably due to the cool temperatures.  My last three mile splits were all good and led me to a negative split for the race. 

Finish

I knew I would have a PR as I was approaching the finish line so I was very happy.  When I saw how close I came to 1:08 I wished I had a little more somewhere, but overall a great race for me.

Post Race

Right at the finish I saw Dave again and he said he did a 1:04 and was very pleased with his race.  Roger was right behind me at the finish and we all congratulated each other on a strong race.  With the temps still being chilly, I went off to get my dry clothes and needed to bail out so I did not freeze.  I went and caught a bus back to the start line and back to the hotel for a shower.  Overall, a great day at the races…

Details

Here are the mile splits.  Overall, I was very pleased with my pacing for the race.  I came through the five mile mark in 34:47 official time so 17 seconds of the extra 28 belongs spread out in the first five and the other 11 gets split up over the last five mile splits.  Bottom line, I managed a well paced negative split effort.

6:41 – mile 1 adrenaline and a little bit of a downhill.

6:40 – solid downhill mile, try not too go out too fast now.

7:13 – toughest single hill on the course getting up to the Franklin Ave. Bridge.

6:52 – nice flat mile to get back to pace before the hills start.

7:04 – start of the hills.

7:10 – work on staying strong as there is another mile of these hills.

7:01 – last mile with real hills in it.

6:44 – course flattens out, time to get back to pace.

6:45 – hold the pace because I know mile 10 is downhill and quick.

6:22 – let gravity help on the downhill, and give it everything I got.

0:28 – miscellaneous GPS time/distance.

Race Profile

How I Video Bike Rides

Any video of a bike ride I have on this site or my YouTube channel has been shot with the setup below on my tri bike.  The ContourRoam camera has some very nice mount options and I used the low profile mount and stuck it to the bottom side of my aerobar.  The sticky tape from the mount has had no problems holding throughout this season over some very rough roads and also getting doused with rain during one day of racing.

Check out the following pictures to get a feel for what it looks like.

Note the low profile mount under the left portion of the aerobar (right side in picture)

Here is a close up of the mount.

Close up with the camera mounted.

Head on look of the bike with the camera mounted.

Side view with the camera mounted.

Fall Running

NMTC Fall Trail Series

It is once again time for the weekly fall trail series put on by the Northern Minnesota Track Club.  So far, the weather has been wonderful every week with dry conditions and cool temperatures.  The schedule this year has been switched around a bit, and the races have changed a little also.

Lester Park

This year we started the series at Lester Park.  This is the longest of the fall races at 10.5k.  I had a good evening at Lester and put together a solid run.  This course did not see any changes from the last time I ran it, we still ran out and then did two loops before coming back to finish at the main park area.

Rolling Stone

With the flooding earlier this year, the start area at Spirit Mountain for the standard Rolling Stone course was washed out.  This year we started at the zoo and used a modified course.  The course started with a slight uphill to a service road that was flat.  We then took a left onto a singletrack trail.  I was lucky that on the road Connie passed me and I tucked in behind her for the singletrack section.  I simply trusted her skill as a trail runner and followed her through.  I did not have to pay attention for the flags to find the course or worry about the trees or rocks or roots.  Wherever she ran I followed.  When we popped out of the trail we were at the very bottom of Spirit Mountain and we turned right and were looking at a line of runners heading straight up the ski hill.  Great...  I was forced to walk for a portion of the hill, but was only passed by one runner.  We then headed across the hill and connected with the normal Rolling Stone course.  On the quick open downhill, I managed to pass the gentleman who passed me on the uphill and I held him off for the rest of the run.

Overall I was pleased with my run.  I kept a solid pace and did a better job on the second half of the race not slowing down too much.  Luckily I was not one of the folks to run through the bees that were a little riled up.

Brown's Point

We were back to the normal Brown's Point course that is a 2.5 mile out and back that has a series of steep up down portions that really test your climbing ability in short chunks.

Coming into Brown's Point my knee was bothering me a little and it was a little sore during the run.  This caused me a little concern, but it was not bad enough to slow down.  I just promised myself I would take a day off after the race.  The whole second half of this course I was doing everything I could to not slow down.  Each time up the short steep sections I concentrated on keeping the legs turning over.  When I would hit the flatter sections I worked on getting back up to speed quickly and then getting back into rhythm.  When we came out onto the road for the last 0.4 miles, I tried to pick up the speed as much as possible to make sure nobody would catch me.

Again I felt good overall with my run.  My knee was a little sore, but now a few days later it is fine.  I think the steep downhills were not doing it any favors.  I am now looking forward to Rock Hill next week.

Wrenshall Fall Fest 10K

I saw this race and figured it would be a good practice run prior to the TC 10 mile next weekend.  The conditions this morning were perfect for running.  With a 10:00 am start time, the sun was up and the air temps were in the low 50's.  There was a little wind, but nothing to worry about for running.  My goal was to stay sub 7:00 for all of the miles., which I talked about with Dave at the start.

I started a little quick with a 6:40 mile, but I then found my pace in the 6:50 range after that.  A lady runner that was by us at the start line stayed with me for the first mile, but then started falling back.  I was a little worried that she heard me say I was planning on running right around 7 flats and then tried to stay with me when I ran a 6:40 to start.  Good at pacing at the start has never been said about my running skill.  In the end she did not fall too far back so maybe she just runs like I do and starts too fast.

Overall I ended with a 42:30 for a 6:51 average per mile.  This was a PR for me at the 10K distance and I was very pleased. Also, my knee was fine.  It did not feel sore at all while running and throughout the day continues to be fine. Some friends I saw at the race also had good races; Dave finished just ahead of me in the low 40's, and Amanda crushed her goal of sub 1hr in her first 10k.  All in all a great last strong run prior to next weekend's 10 miler.  

Burrito Union Race Report

Pre-Race

Morning of I arrived for setup at about 10 minutes after 6:00 am.  First order of business was to grab a nice spot and a picnic table so we would have a place for 10 hours of transitioning.  I then got all of my bike gear setup so that in the case of a mechanical, I would be able to take care of it quickly.  Clint arrived shortly after I did and he had a wonderful pop-up tent the Duluth Running Company uses at events he was able to bring.  This would be key later to protect us from the intermittent showers and keep us dry.  Lou showed up next and we were ready to go. 

Left to Right, myself, Lou and Clint.

 Strategy

Going into the race our plan was to stay in our specific sport for at least the first 3-4 rounds and then decide after that.  Clint would be our swimmer, I was biking and Lou was running.  For our overall goals, we wanted to win our category, win the 10 hour overall, and therefore also win a growler of beer. 

Start

At the start of the day, all of the 10 hour teams and individuals take off 30 minutes before the 5 hour folks.  Right off the bat, Clint pulled in behind the growler teams swimmer Howie.  He drafted for most of the way.  I had to get prepped so I did not see the finish, but Clint pushed hard to be the first out of the water and into transition.  He sent me out on the first bike ahead of the field.  I wanted to push a little harder on lap 1 to make sure every other team knew we were planning on racing hard.  I was able to stay out in front for the entire ride and sent Lout out first.  On the bike, it was apparent early on that the wind was going to be an issue all day.  It was early morning and it was already blowing pretty hard.  Lou took off and ran well.  We came off the first lap with a good lead on everyone else in the 10 hour race.  So far, so good.

Note the profile and the corresponding speed profile for the first triathlon...

Lather, Rinse, Repeat…

It now became an effort in quick recovery and trying to spot your athletes.  As noted in lap 1, Clint was clearly one of the fastest swimmers here today.  On top of that, he was basically our transition athlete.  So while his event might have been the shortest in time, he was really kicking ass by hammering the transition from run to swim and from swim to bike.  We actually had me setup right at the bike mount line with one foot clipped in and he would sprint the entire way from the lake so that we could take every last second out of transition possible. 

For myself, I would be biking a lot with less than 30 minutes to recover in between.  For me it was all about staying hydrated and fueled while also not having stomach issues on the bike.  As the day went on, it really became an exercise in surviving the wind and the rain.  Talking with athletes throughout the day the wind was what all of the bikers talked about.  Considering it rained on 6 of the 9 laps, you know the wind was bad. 

Running had to be tough.  In the end Lou ran 27 plus miles.  I am not sure it would have been harder to run it back to back as cooling down for 45-50 minutes in between had to make it tough later in the day.  Factor in the cool temps and the hilly course; well I think our runner had a tough task and did well.  I was most impressed with Lou’s ability to strip in no time flat.  More than once I was coming back from the bike and he was still in his warm clothes and he had them off and was out running in no time flat. 

Video from third time through the bike course...

Finish Time

As the time started to wind down we were chatting strategy again.  As Lou was out for our 8^th run it was obvious we would have more than enough time for 9 laps.  There were only two other teams that would be allowed to start their 9^th lap.  Talking to them in transition, neither of them were going to start the 9^th lap.  So, we were guaranteed the overall win for the 10 hour race.  So, go out for 9 or not?  Clint wanted to win in style, so we decided to knock out a 9^th lap.  He hammered the swim as usual and off I went on the bike.  At this point, I had already ridden 114 miles on the day.  I have never ridden that far in a single day ever.  I now was heading out for 14 more…  It went well and I was glad we did it as there were many racers still challenging themselves on the course as the 10 hour time limit was coming. 

In the end, 9 laps was the count.  A nice bowl, and a growler of beer.  Basically a great day of racing with friends.

The Spoils of the Day

Burrito Union Prep

This weekend I will be taking another shot at the Burrito Union Triathlon.  Instead of competing as an individual like last year, I found a couple other crazies to try out the 10 hour relay event.  Our tentative plan is to race as specialists with Clint swimming, myself biking and Lou running.  We plan on having our other gear in case we get sick of our specific sport and want to switch it up.

I will be back on Sunday with a race report if I survive the Minnesota Mile in the morning.  That should be interesting, 10 hours of biking on Saturday and then waking up early to see just how fast I can run a mile on Sunday.

Superior Man II

I am officially signed up for the second annual Superior Man triathlon on 25AUG2013.  I am looking forward to see what improvements Clint and the Duluth Running Co. Team come up with.  See everyone there.

Superior Man Race Report

Superior Man Race Recap

Short Synopsis:

Slow but steady swim in 38:XX.  About what I expected.

Solid bike pace, until I got a flat (10 minutes to change) and then got stung by a wasp: 2:45.  Take away the break for changing and I am pleased with my bike time. 

Run…  Not so good.  Over two hours of run, shuffle, walk.  Problems with a side stitch right from the get go.  Need to figure this out.

Long Version:

With a 6:30 start for the first boat, it was going to be an early morning.  I rolled into transition about 5:30 am and set about getting the bike and transition spot ready.  Being indoors made this very easy as it was well lit.  It cleared out as the first boat folks went to board and I took care of the last few things and headed out to watch them jump in and get my chip. 

Swim:

I will be the first to say I was a little disappointed when they changed from a straight in swim to the rectangle arrangement.  After watching the first boat start, and then swimming it myself I will say it was a great decision overall.  From a safety perspective the kayakers and medics on the breakwall were able to watch both  of the long legs of the rectangle with ease.  Also, the spectators were able to watch everything happen right in front of them. 

Once on the Vista Fleet boat I went up top as I wanted to start DFL.  I figured since I got roped into the “faster” wave it would be better to start last in the time trial start so any of the faster folks would not have to navigate around me.  It also worked out well as myself and Adam Swank, the other guy to jump last (two jump doors…) were “allowed” to dive in.  They said for safety purposes everyone needed to jump in feet first in case there was any floating debris.  Adam coaxed Clint into letting us dive by saying after 300 other folks have gone in, it should be clear of debris.  So I gave it a good jump, and realized mid air that with the height I jumped, and the door height above the water I was going to go pretty far under.  No biggie…  It was a pretty sweet way to start.  Kudos to Clint, SuperiorMan, and the Vista Fleet for the boat start.  It was a highlight point of the race.

My swim was uneventful, as it should be.  With the time trial start for each boat load, and the two boat loads, there was very little crowd on the swim.  Of course, it was tough to catch a draft though.  The chop was a little rough for your average swim.  That really was to be expected as Lake Superior is a little larger than your average lake.  I had no problem with the chop overall, I just drank a little lake a couple times; this should test if the lake really was clean enough for us.

T1:

Once out of the water, it was a little bit of a jog to the arena door.  I made a point of running as I did not want to waste a minute of race time.  Once in the arena they were warning folks to walk as the smooth concrete floor and wet feet did not mix.  I kept rolling though.  Bottom line, in a straight line no problem.  Simply slow down when you need to turn the corner…  Saw story with the bike in hand out to start the ride. 

Bike:

The bike started simple enough.  Kept it easy on the out and back over the railroad tracks.  Continued to take it easy through the first miles in town.  Once onto London Road, I tried to get in a groove.  With the tail wind on the outbound leg, I figured I had to be careful to push but not too hard.  Take advantage of the wind while we had it. 

I was passing lots of people the entire bike ride.  I saw absolutely no drafting.  However, there were a couple guys that need to work on their position foul understanding.  I am guessing they thought since they started so late there would not be any strong bikers behind them.  Sorry guys, there is someone who swims worse than you do…

Everything was going to plan until I turned the corner at Two Harbors.  This pavement was brand new, finished only two weeks ago…  Yet for some reason my bike seemed to be bouncing a little.  I checked my tires and it appeared my rear was a little low.  I pulled off and sure enough it was probably at 50 psi and going down slowly.  Better change it…

I took my time because I still had 23 miles to go and did not want to miss some small chunk of whatever that was causing a problem.  Ten minutes later I was ready to go.  Once back on track, I really started to notice the head wind.  It was really making us work.  I paid special attention to my Quark so that I would not be frying my legs before even getting on the run. 

Things were going smoothly and I was staying smooth as I traveled down London Road again.  Just before I get to the bike trail with about 5 miles to go in the bike a wasp/hornet/bee stings me in my right leg below the knee.  A few curse words later and no mishap of bike handling later and my leg hurts like a sonofabitch…  Nothing to do here, so I keep rolling and make my way towards T2.

T2:

I made my way through T2 with my normal quickness.  Nothing good can come of sitting in a nice cool hockey arena when your run is out in the sunny 85-90 degree heat.  Total time was 1:13 in T2.  Only the relay folks were in and out faster than me.  That would be the end of things that went well for me…

Run:

Starting out my legs felt great and I headed out.  I knew the heat would be tough, but I think I started the run a little dehydrated.  Add to that the side stitches that flared up right away, and the fact that my right leg was a little numb from the knee down from the wasp/hornet/bee sting and I knew I was in for a rough afternoon. 

I tried to make the best of the run.  When the opportunity arose I chatted with other athletes.  I tried to thank the volunteers when I could, and even had the luck to be coming under the aerial lift bridge when there were big boats coming in on two of my three laps. 

Finish:

Once I finished I grabbed a cool bottle of water and laid down on the grass.  My side stitch was still pretty bad.  It was so bad I could not breathe in very deep at all.  I said hello to the family and thanked them for cheering me on.  They asked if I wanted to go out for lunch, but I was a dirty, sweaty, salty mess so I said they should just go.  I then chatted with a bunch of other athletes and had my complimentary brat from Canal Park Brewing Company.  Based on the brat alone, I cannot wait for them to be open so I can try the other food and beer they will be offering. 

Overall I will say I thought the race was well run.  Sure, there were a few things they could have done a little better; maybe some carpet for the smooth concrete floor in transition, slight tweak to the run aid station placement, improve the stairs out of the swim.  All of those things were minor issues and for transition they were adding carpets as they could and had a slew of volunteers telling us it was slippery.  For the run aid stations, on the longest hottest stretch without an aid station they had bikes and a golf cart going up and down the road handing out water on the later laps as it got warmer.  So they were doing a good job of identifying these items as they happened and doing what they could to improve them on the spot.  Kudos…

The highlights were many though:

• Swim course – starting from the boat was cool and the course was easy for safety personnel and spectators. 
• Transition – indoors was neat, but the overall organization and assigned rack spots was nice.
• The volunteers were everywhere and did a very good job overall.  People were all over in the water and on the breakwall for the swim, every corner in town had people and signs telling us where to go on the bike, and the run aid stations had smiling volunteers along with many more at the turns and areas where we would be crossing over popular tourist walkways.  If you volunteered, thanks.  I tried to thank many of you, but I know I missed many. 
• Bike – I may be an unfair opinion on the course as I rode it four or five times in its entirety prior to race day so when I say it was easy to follow, well…  I thought they had well educated volunteers telling you about the turns and the areas to take a little extra caution though…  I did see a few flats out there, but since I was starting from the back I probably saw almost all of them, along with getting one.  When you factor in there were 246 finishers, that means there were a total of 13776 miles biked on the day.  Many of those miles were on slightly more fragile tires than your average training tire.  So, I cannot say there was really a flat issue.  I am sure everyone who got one may beg to differ though…
• “Big” Time Race Feel – this is my own interpretation I guess.  The whole venue choice from the arena for transition, to using a boat to start, and having the wonderful Bayfront Festival Park for the finish had a very big time race atmosphere. 
• Logistics – ever go to a race and have no place to park?  Well, if you were willing to pay $5 you could park no more than 100 yards from the front door to transition.  If you did not want to pay, there was a lot one block away that was less than 100 yards from the finish line that was free.  Both had plenty of open spots because they were designed for events with 1000’s of people instead of 100’s of people.
• Cool finishers medal...

Overall, a good race to have as a late season goal race.  See everyone next year,.

Race Weekend Approaching

With Sunday fast approaching, and with it Superior Man, I have been trying to keep my workouts light this week. I have also been going over the bike to make sure it is ready to go also. In addition to that, I finalized the bike course preview video I had been working on (check it out below).

This evening I did the final prep on my bike and cleaned the bike and helmet.  I plan on taking it out tomorrow for the final short ride prior to race day.

The rest of my time prior to race time will be spent watching the weather so I can plan what to have for race day.  I will also be making the final nutrition decisions and having them prepped for transition setup.

Superior Man Bike Course Video

I look forward to seeing all of the inaugural Superior Man athletes at check in day on Saturday as I am volunteering.  Best of luck to anyone racing.

Duluth Triathlon Race Day

This morning I got up bright and early to volunteer at the Duluth Triathlon.  Today was the inaugural event for the Duluth Triathlon.  The day started off with wonderful weather for a triathlon.  It was in the low 50's as the racers prepped their transition areas, and they hit the mid 70's by the time the run was underway.

Pre-Race

I started my day as a body marker.  Like I said yesterday, I got to ask women to take their (long sleeve) shirts off so I could get their (race) number, and write it on them.  I am pretty sure I did not write the wrong number on anyone.  It was fun to ask people their age, USAT age no less, so I could put that on their calf.  One gentlemen did a triple take before he settled on the age I would end up writing on his calf.  Only one lady had the misfortune of having USAT age her up a little early...

Swim

As the mens wave took off, there was one lady who had the wrong color swim cap.  For some reason this seemed to cause her concern, so with about 4 minutes prior to her wave I ran back to the registration area to grab her the proper green colored cap.  I hope this helped her start her race off on the right foot.

Ladies Swim Wave Ready to Go

Once all of the swimmers were in the water I was able to relax for a little bit and watch them churn their way through the water.  Something I have never noticed before was the wonderful sound a group of swimmers makes as the take off at the start of a race.

As the swimmers made their way towards the end of lap two, I prepared to man the water/gatorade station at the swim exit.  Not the most popular aid station, in fact more than one athlete turned the water down because they had enough of Island Lake to keep hydrated.

Bike

Do you remember where you parked?

After all of the swimmers were out onto their bicycles, I headed over to help out with the bicycle turn around aid station in front of transition.  The course was a fourteen mile out and back that the athletes did twice.  As they came around the turn around, we were there to get them a fresh water bottle if they needed it.  After a few of the athletes came through, the sag truck pulled up with an athlete and her bicycle.  I headed over to see what was wrong, and the athletes rear tire was in sad shape.  A simple tube was not going to help her out.  Since I had my bike in the back of my truck, I ran and got my rear wheel and swapped it our so she could keep racing.  I was happy to see her make it in off the bike with no further problems.

Transition

As the bikers started returning to transition to head out for a run, I moved over to help manage traffic as the runners had to cross the road from transition to the run course.  Luckily this portion of volunteering went without any issues.

Run

After directing traffic for a while, I jogged out onto the run course to help man an aid station for a little while. When I got there, they had enough folks so I headed out to the turn around since there was only one volunteer there.  At the turn Sara and I got to hang out cheering the runners on as they were starting there half marathon out.  Shortly, another volunteer stopped out to tell us the last of the runners had gone by.  Once that happened, we packed up the cones and headed back in.  When I got to the finish line I helped cheer in the finishers and also helped them with removing their timing chips.

All in all, I got to see the race from a little bit of everywhere.  I had a fun time chatting with the various volunteers and athletes as the day went by.  I hope I was able to help a few athletes have a better race in some way.  I am looking forward to helping out at check in on Saturday for the Superior Man Triathlon.  Sunday will be race day, and I think I am ready to put up a solid time.

Duluth Triathlon in the Morning

Tomorrow morning I will get to ask women to take their shirts off and tell me their number.  And they will!

Race recap in the evening...

Northwoods Tri Recap

Summary

So in my pre-race post I noted the following goals:

bike - maintain a 250 watt average
run - run sub 7 min/mile pace
overall - top 10 placement

Check, check, and triple check...

Swim - 7:29 (1:42/100 yard)

The swim was about what I can expect from my swim.  Standard pace for me, and with the small number of folks in the waves minimal contact with other swimmers.  As I hit the shallow water and stood up, I had a little trouble with my wetsuit zipper.  So instead of pulling the suit off in the water I ran to my bike with it on.  Once in T1, I tried to move quickly.  Ditched the wetsuit, threw the helmet on and got my socks and bike shoes on.  Onto the bike...

Bike - 34:37 (24.3 mph)

Once on the bike I had some work to do.  I really wanted to work hard to see if I could still run solid afterwards.  I started off well with only a little trouble getting around some slower traffic in the first couple miles.  After a bit I caught up to another biker that began to leapfrog with me.  He was the only biker to physically pass me while on the bike, and even then I came into T2 before him.  Overall, the second fastest bike split and I was pleased with my effort and average of 269 watts which met my stated goal.  Into T2 I took it a little easier running in trying to make sure my shoe did not clip the ground and cause my bike to bounce around like the last couple races.  It worked and then I tried to quickly ditch the helmet and don the running shoes.  I had a bit of a slip with my left shoe, but on the second try got it and off I went.

Run - 20:32 (6:37 min/mile)

As I went out for the run I tried to count the bikes in transition, and there were not many.  This had me feeling good about the potential for a top 10.  As I hit the extremely flat run course I tried to get a good pace going and hang on from there.  The first mile marker showed a 6:3X on the watch which had me feeling good.  As I approached the turn around I had only counted 5 or 6 runners heading at me.  After that I tried to make sure I was keeping the pace up.  At the second mile marker, I once again saw a 6:3X.  So far so good...  On the last mile, one runner did catch me, but he was from the wave ahead, so no loss of placement if I could keep running strong.  I did start feeling a little bit of a side stitch in the last half mile, but I made it to the finish with no issues.  As I approached the finish line I could see it would be close to come in under 1:05 for a total time.  So I put on a little extra push and hit the line in 1:04:59.  Personal best overall finish time on this course for me.

Overall - 1:04:59 (4th overall, 3rd age group)

Yup, I was in the fast age group.  Fourth overall and barely snagged an age group award...  Overall I was very pleased with the race.  I set a new bar for how hard I can really push on the bike and still be able to run strong for a sprint type event.  Now, I need to put in a few last good workouts prior to Superior Man and nail my taper.

Northwoods Triathlon Pre-Race

Tomorrow morning is the tenth edition of the Northwoods Triathlon in Nevis, MN.  It is a sprint distance triathlon with 1/4 mile swim, 14 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run.  I am currently sitting in my hotel room in Park Rapids relaxing as I make final preparations for the morning.

As with last week, it looks like it will be a cool morning.  Low to mid 50's for pre-race prep, and low to mid 60's for race time.  I am sure it will be a little cool on the bike, but that is great run weather.

My goal for tomorrow will be to see just how hard I can push on the bike portion; I am planning on a minimum of a 250 watt average.  Then follow it up with a sub 7:00 pace on the run if all goes well.  If I can pull that off, I think I might have a chance at an age group top three.

After racing on Saturday morning, I will be getting a run in later in the day.  Sunday my plan is to ride the Superior Man course one last time prior to race day followed by one or two laps of the run course.  Then I will start easing back over the last two weeks prior to race day.

Brewhouse Race Report

So I have not posted in a little while, and I thought writing up a race report for the Brewhouse Triathlon would be the perfect return post.

Ready for the race in the morning.

Synopsis

A real quick run down: cut your foot, swim slowly, fight the wind and rough roads, run like you are being chased, and relax with a smooth root beer...

Details

I woke up early so that I could get to the race site right at 6:30 am to get a good transition spot.  Based on my recon on Saturday at packet pick up, there are better spots even though everyone is assigned a group of racks by number.  It is nice that they group you by numbers to a rack, but it would be better if they had put the same number of bikes on each group of racks.  On Saturday I looked through transition and found that each row was four racks with a sign for which numbers should rack there.  Some rows has 20 numbers assigned, while others (including my row) had 30 numbers assigned.  So, since it would be crowded I figured I should get there early and get a good spot on the rack.

Once I had everything setup in the transition area, it was time to wait.  With the short and long course sharing the same course, they had the short course race start first and then had a very long gap before the long course got going.  The race starts at 8:30, and my wave did not take off until 9:06 or so.  With the cool weather we were having, I basically shed my warm ups and then put my wetsuit on to stay warm as I sat on the beach watching the short course waves start, and even finish the swim portion.

It was fun hanging out on the beach chatting with other long course athletes waiting for our start.  I chatted with a couple and another young lady.  Both of the ladies were competing in their first long course triathlon.  I don't think any of us was a good swimmer and we all were discussing our plan for making our way out of the lake.  The urge to empty my bladder came over me so I decided to wish them all good luck and that a warm up swim was in order.  Emphasize the warm up...  Once that was taken care of it was getting close to the long course wave starts so I stayed in the water waiting.  While waiting I was chatting with another athlete.  Right as the elite wave left he commented that he just missed his wife start.  Turns out they were on their second race of the weekend and his wife had won at Graniteman the day before.  We wished each other luck as our wave was getting ready to go and we both found our spot on the start line.

Swim: 24:46 (74th)

Once the count down was over and we started, I took one step and my right foot found a very sharp rock or zebra mussel and I was immediately swimming...  On the outbound leg of the new swim course we were swimming directly into the waves and wind.  With my poor form, this does not really affect me other than that I took in quite a few mouthfulls of Pike Lake when I would happen to breathe right as a wave was cresting in my face.  When we turned left at the far end of the outbound leg, we turned into the sun and the field immediately spread out searching for the next buoy.  Being the lazy ass that I am, I took a second to sight the next buoy and picked my line and it was way left of the majority of the field.  After the next buoy, we turned left towards the beach and now the waves were coming over our left shoulder and rolling us a little.  Soon enough I was able to stand up and I yanked the wetsuit off and jogged to my bike.

After effects of stepping on a rock/zebra mussel.

Transition was a little hectic as long course athletes were running one way to their bikes, and the short course athletes were running the other way with their bikes or out on the run.  When I got to my bike I quickly sat down to put my socks and shoes on after putting my helmet on.  I then flipped my Garmin Edge 500 and ContourRoam on and headed out.

Bike: 56:31 (10th - 241 watts, 22.6 mph)

Note the discrepancy between my swim and bike performance...  Couple that with starting in the second to last wave and not a single soul passed me on the bike.  As much as I would like to think that is because I am a great biker, I know it has a lot more to do with my slow swimming...  The new bike course was better that last years course for racer flow.  I passed a lot of bikers, both short and long course, and I never had trouble with the course being crowded or having tight turns.  The wind happened to be in our face on the section of pavement that was the smoothest.  This of course then meant that we had a tail wind on the roughest section of pavement.  All in all I was happy with how the bike section went for me.  I pushed hard and set myself up well for the run.

Coming into transition I did my standard flying dismount and for the third time this year my drive side shoe caught the pavement and popped my bike in the air as I was running to my rack.  These instances have all happened since I began using the wheelcover this year and it seems it rubs the cassette just enough to spin the crank and put the shoe closer to the ground after I jump off the bike.

Power File w/Elevation

Run: 34:07 (45th - 6:50 min/mile)

Leaving transition my plan was to run hard and see how long I could hold on.  The cooler weather had me feeling confident I could run strong the whole way.  Immediately out of transition I passed my plant manager who was having a solid race.  Once out of the AAA grounds and onto Midway road I tried to lock onto a strong pace and go.  There were a couple racers up the road that I set my sights on and went after.  They were running strong, so it worked well.  As I rounded the corner onto the old hwy 53 I saw race leader Brian Bich heading in for the win.  He was looking strong and had a big lead.  I grabbed a water at the aid station and kept running.  Mile 2 was kind of boring in a good way.  I held my pace but did not catch or get caught by anyone.  As I turned the corner and headed down to the turn around I was getting closer to the two runners ahead of me.  I managed to catch one just as I hit the turn around.  Once heading back I also saw that there were a couple runners not too far behind me.  As I powered up the hill I wanted to stay smooth and keep ahead of the runners I saw at the turn.  Once back onto the old hwy, I got back up to pace and knew I had two miles to go.  At this point I was feeling the start of a side stitch but kept pushing the pace.  I wanted to see how hard I could push it.  As I turned back onto Midway road with about a mile to go I was doing everything I could to keep the pace high.  The side stitch was starting to be noticeable, but I was confident I could handle one more mile of it.  At this point I could not catch the runner up the road, so I simply focused on running as fast and smooth as I could to the finish line.  In the end, it was about 40 seconds faster than last year on the same run course.

Overall: 1:57:46 (26th)

Once finished, I made a point to congratulate the racer who finished just behind me.  Seeing him at the turn around kept me focused on the return leg of the run and helped push me to a very solid run split.  He made a similar comment that he was trying to chase me down the whole way and it helped push him also.  I then made a beeline to the signature of the Brewhouse triathlon, the free Brewhouse Root Beer they have.  Next to a cold beer, a cold Root Beer is a great after race refreshment.

I wanders around after the race and chatted with fellow racers and familiar faces from the Tuesday night Duluth Running Company tri training nights.  I then cleaned up my gear and loaded it in my truck and headed back for awards.

All in all I am very pleased with my race.  My time was slightly better than last year with a more challenging swim and a longer bike course.  My race execution left me feeling pretty good as I look forward to Superior Man.  I really pushed on the bike and ran very well afterwards.  If I can get some solid workouts in over the next week before my taper I will be ready to roll come August 26th.

2012 Running Season Eve


I spent the day today relaxing and driving to the Twin Cities in preparation for tomorrow mornings Trail Mix run.  On the drive down I had a completely unmarked squad pass me on interstate 35.  It had no light bar, standard MN plates, and was a basic beige color.  About ten minutes later a small red car came speeding by in the left lane.  I was confident the driver would regret their fast driving soon.  Sure enough, a few miles later the unmarked squad had the small red car pulled over.

For dinner I met up with an old friend.  We caught up and had a couple beers with dinner.  Maybe I am working on my excuses already...  Then again, a few years back I had one of my best 5k times ever after a night of drinking.

I am looking forward to the run in the morning.  My training this spring has been going pretty good.  I have gotten in more 10+ mile long runs than any other season.  My main challenge for the race will be pacing myself.  Pacing is a challenge for me always, and the trails will make it even more important.  The two lap format will help as I can plan the last 7.5 miles better since I will have already seen the trail.

2012 Running Schedule

I have added a few more running events to my 2012 schedule and they are both early season events.  I registered for two trail 25k races.  They both fall prior to the Garry Bjorklund half marathon so they should help me be in great condition come race day.

I registered for the Trail Mix 25k solo run in April in the Twin Cities area at Hyland Lake Park Preserve.  I am excited to give this race a shot.  I have heard good things about it and think it will be a good early season test of my run fitness.  Also, the extra couple miles of distance and the extra difficulty trails can bring will be a fun challenge.

The other race I am registered for is the 25k trail race on the Superior Hiking Trail starting at the Lutsen resorts area.  From what I have heard about this, it is one of the tougher sections of the SHT that we run on.  This race is in mid May so it should give me a great test as to where I am less than one month prior to Garry Bjorklund race day.

So basically, my early season will be run heavy.  Then I will need to make sure I get out on my bike so I am ready for the half ironman in August.

Frozen Four - Go Gophers!

Well, it has been some time since I have posted.  Interestingly enough, it has been partially due to the fact that I have been outside running and biking in our wonderful spring weather.  I have also been watching a lot of hockey.  The Wild have been having trouble winning in the second half of the season, but the Golden Gophers have found a little life since their mid-season swoon.

This afternoon I was relegated to listening on the computer as the Gophers got a little revenge on North Dakota (sioux?).  It reminds me of 2007 (???) when the Gophers beat UND in the final five and UND beat the Gophers in the NCAA regional final.

So in two weeks time the Gophers will be in Tampa for the Frozen Four.

Winter Running

Living in a northern climate, running in the winter can bring with it some challenges.  There can be bitter cold, snow, ice, dark, biting winds; well you get the idea.

Of course, there is always the option of the treadmill if you have access to one.  I do take advantage of the treadmill when it is cold and windy and dark.  I have a hard time running more than 5 or 6 miles on the treadmill though.

So for me, having access to the Lakewalk in Duluth is a great advantage for winter running.  Even if the weather is less than ideal, you can count on the Lakewalk to be clear of snow and have good footing.  Couple that with the fact that it has very few road crossings and it makes for a great running option.

This afternoon I had a nice 9 mile long run in perfect winter running conditions.  The few inches of snow that fell early in the week were cleared so the path was perfect and radiating the sun back up at me.  So the upper 20 degree temperatures were beautiful for running.

With spring closing in, I should rarely feel the "need" to run on the treadmill anymore.  Even after work it is staying light out long enough to easily get a good run in without it being too dark.

I hope everyone else is having a wonderful start to their 2012 season preparations no matter what your goal race may be.

2012: Looking Ahead

Triathlon

As of right now, I have three races that I have signed up for.  I registered for Timberman (Grand Rapids, MN) and Northwoods (Nevis, MN) as soon as possible as they tend to fill early.  I also signed up for the new Superior Man Tri to take advantage of the early bird discount.

I will be trying to focus my training to have a solid race at Superior Man in late August.  I should be able to throw down a hard effort at Timberman also as it is in mid July, but Northwoods will be more of a fast training effort as it will be two weeks prior to Superior Man.

The rest of the race season will be made up of races as they fit into my schedule.  I will find a few that sound like fun, like the Moose Lake Tri and Burrito Union.  I will try to work on my biking this year.  I would like to put a few more miles in this season so I can put down a good bike split at Superior Man without killing my ability to run well also.

Running

I have my slot for the Garry Bjorklund already, and will try to get into the TC 10 Miler also.  I will most likely run the Park Point 5 miler, and as many of the NMTC Spring and Fall races as possible.  I am even looking at running in the spring trail 25k race.

I am trying to put a solid early effort at building my running base again.  I am following a similar progression to what I did last year as I had a season worth of PR's at almost every distance I ran.  On top of the progression of runs I will be focusing on running the majority of my early season miles easy with only one run a week having any speed at all.

2011 Wrap-Up

Swim - 31650 yards
Bike - 1502 miles
Run - 1055 miles

Those are the totals good or bad...  Pleased with my overall run mileage.  I made a concerted effort to start the year with a good run focus.  I kept this up for a good portion of the year.  Really happy about that.  During the summer I got out on the bike a good amount.  But I know if I could find a little more time for the bike I could make some improvements there.  And the swim...  It is no secret I do not like the pool at all.  So I tend to avoid swimming outside of race day.  I might need to try to hit the pool a little more this offseason to see if it helps much.

Overall I had a decent season for racing.  I had multiple PR's running: 5 mile, 10 mile, and half marathon.  And all were big improvements over previous PR's.  For my tri season, I had a lot of fun and raced well.  No new PR's, but I had some very good races that I enjoyed.

Now it is time to look forward to 2012.  I have already signed up for the new Superior Man Tri half iron distance at the end of August.  I will also be racing in Grand Rapids at the Timberman Triathlon in mid-July.  My first big race of the season is the Garry Bjorklund half marathon in June.  I am still putting together the remainder of the season, but I have a couple of big races to train for at least.

Let me know if there are any really cool/unique/fun races out there that I should take a look at while I finalize my race season.