Sunday, June 23, 2013

Ready For A Relay!

Today I competed in my first RELAY sprint triathlon, Graniteman St. Cloud, with two great teammates!  I haven't done any relay races before, but I took advantage of this when the opportunity arose for a swimmer.


Ready for the race start!

My leg of the triathlon consisted of a 0.33 mile swim in downtown St.Cloud's Lake George. Mind you, the triathlon is the only time of the year people are allowed to swim in that lake.  I heard lots of stories about this "duck pond" before the race....old cars, dead bodies, etc may be lying on the bottom. However, I persevered and did not let those thoughts get the best of me. My swim time was 12:18 and I booked it to Ryan in the transition area where he took off on the bike!  After an impressive 15 mile bike in 46:55, Robin was off on the final run portion of the course.  She crossed the finish completing her 5K run in 25:05.  What an awesome, hard working, and fun team to be apart of!  Our total time including transitions was 1:25:43, which was good enough for 5th out of 17 co-ed relay teams!



Feeling good after the race!

Next race:  The Original 13 Half Marathon on the 4th of July

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Caught In Action

A received and found a few action shots from Trinona and thought I would share!


The start of my swim wave!  I am the one wearing the black wetsuit and white swim cap!  Ok, I can be a little more specific...I am to the left of the woman in the multicolor pink tank.



Getting clipped in and heading out on the bike!




The joy of the finish line!

Stay tuned for an update from Graniteman St. Cloud this Sunday!






Thursday, June 13, 2013

"Trinona: Battle For The BUFF"


Well I decided to try a new race early in the season:  Trinona!  I LOVED IT!!  The event took place in the beautiful bluffs of Winona, MN and was celebrating it's 5th year. Race day brought temps in the high 50's to low 60's, some wind, overcast skies, and rain.

The swim course was the weediest I have ever swam in.  Some triathletes did not finish the swim, due to getting tangled up in the weeds and having anxiety about them. I persevered through and on to the bike portion I went. Thankfully the rain stopped while I was racing but roads were slick and dirty.   The bike out and back course in the bluffs was followed by an out and back run along Lake Winona.

After crossing the finish line I learned I was 5th place in my age group and only 17 seconds off of 3rd place and making the podium.  Of course this is the point I think to myself:  if only that van hadn't turned in front of me on the race course causing me to slow down on the bike; maybe I shouldn't have been so cautious on the tight turns on the bike course; I could have had a smoother transition; or picked up my run pace!  Of course hind sight is always 20/20 and I have now thought about how to shave the time off for the next race!

One of the highlights of the race has to be the finishers medal--it was beautiful. However, it had a great misprint in it.  Instead of saying "Battle For The Bluff", it said "Battle For The Buff".  Definitely a 5 year commemorative medal!  :)

Next on the agenda will be Graniteman St. Cloud where I will be doing the swim portion of the relay team.

A few photos from Trinona:

Beautiful bluff country!
 
Transition area overlooking the lake and bike course in the background!
 
Two thumbs up for a great race!

The Pack represents at Trinona!

Medal misprint!  :)





Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Race Season Is Finally Here!!

The Buffalo Triathlon Sprint Course started off my race season for 2013!  Initially Buffalo was supposed to be my first olympic course race, however not getting in many OWS due to our long winter forced me to change to the sprint course.

Another unique aspect of Buffalo's 10th anniversary year is we had the opportunity to set a world record, and we did. Before the race start over 400 athletes entered the water to break the record for most individuals treading water at one time!!  I am now part of the Guiness Book of World Records!!

Despite the cold morning and 66 degree water temperature on race day, I was pleasantly surprised by my finishing results!  I placed 4th in my age group out of 45 participants--wow I didn't expect to do that well, especially so early in the season!  I also shaved about 7 minutes off my course time from past year and PR'd on my 5K run at the end!!  Nothing beats a happy triathlete!  :)

Next on the race schedule is Trinona!




Teammates waiting for race start!