Hopkins Royal Triathlon
Shady Oak Beach, Hopkins MN
Saturday, September 5, 2015
0.5 mile/ 15 mile/ 5K
This was the last race of my triathlon season. I'm on the fence as to if I should consider this summer a fail or a success. As usual, I suppose it's somewhere in the middle.
My wife, Tina, decided to try the mini-sprint at Hopkins (100 yards/ 4.5 miles/ 1.5 miles). Going into this race, we were both mailing it in. Tina had to skip out on the gym for the last week due to back pain, and I only got in one bike and two swims between Lake Marion and Hopkins (3 weeks). My excuse? School started and I was just a little burnt out. If Marion had went better, I may have tried to gear up for this entire race, but as it was I just wanted to get in a good run time. My running has been borderline embarrassing this summer. I've had a 10+ minute per mile pace in each of the last two races. I suppose there is something to be said about my foot still hurting from when I broke it in March, but I don't think that has help me back too much. My main goal this time out was to hit a 9 minute per mile pace or better.
Swim (
Goal: Around 1:40 minutes per 100 yards pace
Actual: Might have over cooked it
Friday night, the weather said no rain but hot, humid and windy. Saturday morning, it was thunder and lightning right up to the start time at 8:10am. Also, after the rain the hot, humid, windy weather was still on its way. It was a stinker of a day for a bike and a run, but at least the swim didn't get canceled. We were about thirty five minutes delayed off the start, and the swim was shortened from 0.5 to 0.4 miles. Shortening the swim seemed pretty silly to me, but at least we got in the lake.
What a lake! That was the clearest lake water in which I have ever swam. There were quite a few weeds in spots, but the water was as clear as the pool at the Y. I had though the water was going to be too warm for a wet suit due to the hot weather we have had over the last month, but the rain and a cloudy breeze made it a perfect morning for a wet suit swim. The wind kicked up a lot after the rain, but the lake was below it's surroundings. There was no chop to fight this time around.
It was a time trial start, and I went off in about position 60 out of 270 finishers. It was a short swim, so I tried to push it. It seemed like I passed quite a few folks, and I even had to slow down to work out a pass a couple times. Tina went off much later in the mini-sprint start, and she was watching from the shore. She said I went of around 60th and came in around 20th. That feels about right. I didn't leave much in the water.
Swim Time: 10:19 with a 1:28 per 100 yards pace.
Swim Rank: 41st out of 270 overall
31st out of 159 males
7th out of 26 age groupers
T1
Goal: About 2.5 minutes
Actual: Not too far off
I was pretty pumped out after the swim. I ran to the transition mat, but then walked the couple hundred feet to transition. My shoes were wet from the rain, but not too bad. The worst part was having wet sunglasses with nothing to clear off the lenses. Anyhoo, it was an uneventful T1.
T1 Time: 2:55
Position: 41st out of the water,
67th out of T1 (270 finishers)
Bike (15 miles)
Goal: 18+ mph average, hopefully closer to 19 mph
Actual: Fail
After the race, my wife and I were sitting on a bench next to another lady who also did the sprint course. The lady said, "These websites always say rolling hills; that WAS NOT rolling hills." Agreed; that was a tough bike course.
The bike was three five mile loops. About a mile into each loop, there was a bitch of a hill. I believe it's the second worst climb I've done; I only had two gears left at the top of the climb. On the first hill of the Chaska triathlon (River City Days 2014), I only had one gear left (on the small ring). Also adding to the slowness was the wet, new asphalt on the bike course. It dried up by the third lap, but I didn't hit the some of the down hill as much as I could have due to what I thought was slippery conditions. The final complaint (maybe) was that the wind was blowing about 15mph. All this (and mailing it in since Marion) lead to a season worst bike.
I don't know what to make of the bike at this race. My last two races were 17.8 and 17.5 mph averages, but they were also olympic courses. The first two races of the season were 18.8 and 18.3 mph averages on sprint courses. I guess I have plenty of things I can blame for the slow time (13mph wind), but maybe I'm just slow on the bike. I suppose I have to put in more hours on in the saddle.
I put 300 miles on the bike this year and an additional 15 hours on the trainer/stationary bike, but I suppose I can always due more. Maybe I'll be more inclined to due so when I get a new bike this winter (hopefully). Anyhoo, I doubt I could have given it much more than I did. Not much more to say. Crappy way to end the season.
Bike Time: 52:54 with a 17 mph average
Bike Rank: 106th out of 270 overall
81 out of 159 males
15th out of 26 age groupers
T2
Goal: Under 1:00
Actual: Just barely
Nothing interesting in T2. I racked the bike and took off. I grabbed a water from a volunteer, tried to drink from the cup, coughed most of it up, splashed the rest on my back and I was on my way. Is there a way I can practice grabbing a cup of water and drinking on the run?
T2 Time: 59 seconds
Position: 90th off the bike
89th out of T2 (270 finishers)
Run (5K)
Goal: Close to or break a 9:00 per mile average
Actual: Slow loser
I like to think of myself as a runner, but my results this year seem to indicate that I'm a swimmer who tries to bike and run. Again, this was a crappy way to end the season. I really wanted a time that I could be proud of, but it just wasn't going to happen this year. I suppose my broken foot and a lost six weeks in the spring cost me a little bit in my training, but that's not enough to take all the blame. I think I also fundamentally monkeyed my summer training. I did the majority of my workouts in the early morning, and avoided a lot of hot, humid afternoon runs. Next year, I think I need to get out in the heat and try to beat it. I shouldn't hide from it. Also, I just gotta get in some longer runs. Time is the problem there. Getting in a tenner is rough enough. I then also have to get through the rest of the day without crashing and burning on my family. If I can make it through winter without injuries, then maybe I can build a hefty base. Hopefully, that will help when I try to hit it up again next year.
Anyhoo, the run was almost totally flat. Mostly, it was on a hard pack trail, and the only climb was near the end where you run from the under to the over pass of a bridge. No walking this time, but that's hardly a moral victory. It was still so very slowy slow slow.
Run Time: 31:08 with a 10:03 per mile pace
Run Rank: 143rd out of 270 overall
98th out of 159 males
19th out of 26 age groupers
Total Time: 1:38:14
Position: 105 out of 270 overall
82 out of 159 males
14 our of 26 age groupers
Time Comparison
Below is a comparison of my accumulated time against the field and male averages. It seems like this was probably a race without a lot of triathlon regulars. Either that, or the wind (13 mph) really threw everyone for a loop. The average times were slow. I was actually a minute fast on the bike and only a minute slow on the run when compared to the male average. I guess I'll take it; it makes me look good.
Post-Race and Next Up
I met up with Tina after the race and found out that she broke and hour. Great Work Tina! Of course, she wasn't happy with her time, but who ever is? Anyhoo, they had a pretty nice spread comprised of the post-race regulars with hot dogs and root beer floats. They also had a pretty good band playing. It would have been fun to stick around for a bit, but we had to get back and relieve the babysitter.
Not much is on the schedule for the rest of the year. I have a charity 5K at work in a month and Surf the Murph in a couple months. Timing on both of those really doesn't matter to me and training is similarly no longer race specific from here on out. I've been reading up on heart rate training, and I may look into that this winter. Outside of that, my only goal is not to get injured through the winter. When March/April outside running comes back around, I would like to be hitting 15-20 mile weeks pretty easy on the treadmill.
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| Tina and I after the Race |
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