TBW'15

So a couple Tri buddies were talking about IM Wisconsin as a possible race road trip for 2015. These are the same guys I road tripped to Spicer MN to race the Green Lake Tri with this past summer. You know, an Olympic distance race that is about two hours of fun. Now they are talking about an Ironman...  

A little back story here, IM Wisconsin and I have a little history with each other. It is the site of my only DNF ever. It is also the site of my only puke and rally episode in a race also (my personal worst Ironman time was in this race). In over 100 Tri races, I have never failed to finish what I started except for IM Wisconsin 2009. After collecting an IV in the med tent, I pretty much swore off the race and seriously doubted I would ever try an Ironman again.  Well, since I got back on the proverbial Ironman horse last year at Lake Tahoe... Why not take another swing at IM Moo.

So, if I am going to race there I want to exact a little revenge on that course. I plan on nailing a good race, with a PR being the result. There is absolutely no reason not to go sub 12 hours. There, I said it. Well, wrote it at least. 

2014 Tri Season Review

So I should have been blogging more, but I slacked off. So, I will wrap up the entire 2014 multistory season in one blog post...

Tinman (Morris, MN; 1100 yards pool swim, 18 mile, 6.2 mile)

Good start to the season with no hiccups. 

Blaine Triathlon (Blaine, MN; 0.25 mile, 16.7 mile, 3.5 mile)

51 degree water. Enough said. 

Gear West Duathlon (Orono, MN; 5k, 28k, 5k)

Good weather and ran the second run well for a good day. 

Grand Rapids Triathlon (Grand Rapids, MI; 1.2 mile, 56 mile, 13.1 mile)

"A" race for the year. Terrible swim, solid bike and solid run for a half iron PR in 5:04:xx. Did not earn a spot to worlds in 2015, but still happy with my race. 

Lake Waconia (Waconia, MN; 0.5 mile, 20 mile, 4 mile)

Tired legs from the Garry Bjorklund the previous weekend, but still a fun day. Lost my heads up race bet with Lou, but I will get that as soon as he gives me a rematch....

Z Tri (Grand Rapids, MN; 1/3 mile, 14 mile, 3.2 mile)

Great weather and a fun way to start the Fourth of July. Really happy with my run here as biked hard and ran sub 7:00 still.

Duluth Tri (Duluth, MN; 1.2 mile, 56 mile, 13.1 mile)

For all that went right at my last half iron, it all went bad here. Could not find a good rhythm on the back half of the bike, and the heat crushed me on the run. 

Moose Lake Tri (Moose Lake, MN; 0.4 mile, 12 mile, 5 mile)

Great weather to start. Solid swim with a decent bike to follow. Ran a little slower than I wanted but ended up with my first overall win ever. 

Brewhouse Sprint (Duluth, MN; 820 yards, 12.4 mile, 3.1 mile)

Signed up the night before for the sprint as a bunch of buddies were doing it. We split into teams for a beer bet with Nick and I taking Mike and Ryan down when Ryan crashed coming into T2. Biked well and once again kept my run pace sub 7:00 to have a solid race and set my age group record. 

Green Lake Tri (Spicer, MN; 0.75 mile, 22 mile, 6 mile)

Rolled down to Spicer with Nick and Mike for Tri road trip. Kris, Skeeter and Meirs met up with us so we put together another beer bet for the day. I had an average swim, and hammered the bike.  On the run I still ran decent for a good race overall. However, Mike, Kris and Skeeter won our bet this time. Great race road trip overall. 

Superior Man Tri (bike course director...)

Completely different outlook on race day. Tiring and busy, but had a good time. 

Burrito Union (Superior, WI; 600 yards, 12.4 mile, 3 mile)

A fun race to end the multisport season with. 

Overall ten triathlons, one Duathlon and one Tri as a course director. 

Burrito Union 2014

For this years running of BU, I thought I would try the one-and-done version. One swing though the race course and get a beer to watch all of the 5&10 hour competitors still rolling.

Race morning dawned and it looked nice, although a touch cool with the temp in the upper 40's. 

I cruised over to Pattison State Park just south of Superior Wisconsin and got my stuff setup in transition. Pretty basic setup with it being a sprint course. I then figured I should check out the start of the bike course since it has changed since two years ago. I jogged through the start and saw the grassy and gravel sections we were warned of. Nothing to bad, so it was time to get going. 

Swim

63 was the stated water temp as we watched the ten hour competitors take off. I then slipped into my batman costume, aka wetsuit and waded into the lake. 

Shorter hair, and no beard but you get the idea...

A quick countdown and off we went. Things were going fine until the second buoy. There we turned directly into the sun making the next buoy impossible to see. Swim in the general direction of the woods and hope I was not too far off. Finally into the shade of the trees and I can see I took an amazingly good line. I will call it skill, you can call it luck...  Around the final buoy and out of the water. No watch and no clock so I don't have splits, but it felt ok for time. 

Bike 

Came onto the bike right behind a couple folks, so I had to be patient through the campground as they told us it was a no pass zone. Once on the road I ramped it up. Slight tail wind on the way out, so had to keep pressing hard. By the time it was done, I managed to catch all but one person from our wave.

Run

They had changed the run course since the last time I did this race also. It was still a trail run, so it was a matter a running hard and trying not to trip and fall. There are a lot of steps and a couple times I came at them a touch fast but I managed to stay upright. I ran hard, but could not catch the one guy in our wave ahead of me. 

Recap

In the end, the guy ahead of me was a 5 Hour competitor so I took home the win. It also happened to be a course record. Since I raced the Duluth Tri and the Brewhouse Sprint in addition to the Burrito Union I got a golden growler to go with my finishers pint glass and winners bowl.