Waconia Tri '08 report

I woke up in the middle of the night before to the sound of thunderclaps and strong wind. I thought to myself, "Well, I might as well sleep in. The race will be cancelled."

But the weather subsided in the morning, and I headed out the door @ 5:55am. Only to find that my local caribou didn't open for another 5 minutes. "No worries, I know a caribou on the way. I'll stop there." That place didn't open until 6:30am, WTF? So I got coffee at a gas station.

By the time I was standing on the beach for the race meeting, the gloomy skies had cleared, but most conspicuously-- the wind was blowing @ 20mph out of the North, and the lake was whitecapped.

A time trial format was used this year, where everyone goes individually at 3 second intervals. Starting order was determined by age --old people first. This did stem congestion in the water to some extent, but that didn't change the fact that I was tossed around by head-on waves so high that I couldn't see the buoys.

Swim: 15:05, 1:43/min Let's just say I stayed "well hydrated" during the swim. This was the most difficult swim I've done, including the Minnetonka Tri a couple years ago(there were over 70 DNF's yesterday) Just waiting in line I watched alot of people turning around & walking out of the water. The race director had about 3 times as many boats as you usually see on a swim course.

I found it helpful to time sighting at the crests of big waves and breathe right after.

Once I made the turn, the waves were pushing you along, but I zig-zagged that half of the course since the sun blinded the swim exit.

I swam faster than everyone in my age group.

T1: 1:26 I need to figure out how to get that wetsuit off my legs faster.

Bike: 22.5mph avg. A crosswind for about 90% of the course, and about 4 miles of spinning out 53x11 with a tailwind. That was the best part of the race.

Perhaps worth noting is that since the time trial start had me as the 471st person on the course, I had lots of people to pass on the bike & run. I think having someone in my sights to pass all the time helped me focus on a hard effort.

Nearly killing myself last week at hill ride also may be culpable for a decent bike split.

T2: 1:36. I'm going to try running without socks for my next race.

Run: 29:04, 7:16/mile. This was the fastest I've ever ran. I did feel a little bonking going on about halfway up the last hill a mile or so out from the finish, but the long downhill helped me compose for the last bit to the finish.

Finish 1:51:06

Overall Place 62/431
Age Group 6/28

The worst part of the day was drinking crap coffee & a touch of sunburn. Damned Norwegian skin.