New Bri Tri Recap 2016

Thank god, race season is finally here!

I did the New Bri Tri (0.5 miles/ 14 miles/ 3 miles) as a warm-up race for Liberty 70.3.  The two races are a week apart.  I had never actually tried doing a race where I cared more about staying healthy that posting a good time, but this went pretty well.

The weather was predicted to be thunderstorms for much of the week. If the swim had gotten canceled, I would have skipped the race.  I had no interest in doing a wet bike/run like in Minnetonka last year.  As it worked out, race morning was a little chilly, but there was no rain in the morning forecast.  The sun poked out while I was in the lake, and the bike and the run were quite pleasant for temperature.  There wind never kicked up throughout the race.

Swim 0.5 miles
Goal: Don't get hurt, and less than 1:50 per 100 yds average
Actual: Nailed it.

The lake was cold, but my wet suit kept my body plenty warm.  My head was a different story.  I had some issues adjusting to the cold on my face and head. I was in the water before the race started, but that didn't help the shock once I got to my wave start.  In the first two hundred yards, I almost went to my back because my freak-out was making me breath like a maniac. After a while, I decided I just had to slow down. After I paced myself a bit, things fell into place.  I got into a nice rhythm and started to breath easy.  By the half way point I passed some folks from the heat that went off before us. I set my watch for a ten minute reminder before the race, and when that went off I could see that I was on pace for a pretty reasonable time. It seemed like this swim was mapped out pretty well.  My watch had it at 0.52 miles, which is closer than most races.

Swim Time:  14:54, a 1:42 per 100 yards pace
Swim Rank:  52 out of 164 finishers
                       40 out of 105 males
                       5 out of 17 age groupers

My time is noted in green.

Swim Exit

T1
Goal:  Don't break my bike cleats
Actual:  Good enough
I'm still not really sure how I want to run transition with my new bike.  I'm not wild about the idea of running with my cleats on, but I'm also not confident in a start where I hop on my bike with my shoes already on the pedals. I'll have to get in a little practice before next week at Liberty.  As it was, I walked out of transition with my shoes on and started my bike time slowly. A lot of folks passed me in T1. There were 13 people who I beat out of the water that then passed me in T1, and I never got close to them again.

T1 Time:  2:33
Positions:  52 out of the water
                   66 out of T1 (164 finishers)


Bike (14 miles  about 12.5 miles)
Goal:  Don't get hurt, 18 or 19 mph
Actual:  Nailed it.

I screwed up my watch at the start of the swim. I wanted to use the setting that times the race as a multisport event, but I started it as just a swim. I figured this out once I got on the bike.  So, I coasted the first minute of the bike while I jacked around with my watch trying to get things right. After that, I was off like a shot.
It was a pretty flat course; I got a fair amount of practice on the aero bars. I slowed down quite a bit to cross the railroad tracks 3 or 4 times, but the volunteers and cops did a great job at the intersections to keep my speed up the rest of the way. There wasn't much wind, and only a couple drops of rain. I had a drafting pair/team pass me at about 10 miles which seemed pretty silly. If you don't care or know about the sport's rules, I guess that's your problem.
The race is billed as a 14 mile bike, but there is no way that is true.  Using the gps on my watch, I estimate the bike course at about 12.5 miles.  There's no chance that I cut a mile and a half on tight corners. The results sheet had the averages based on 14 miles, so the speeds are all inflated.  I only captured about 12.4 miles on my watch after all my troubles.  For those 12.4 miles I clocked in at 18.9 mph.  With the added length and the time from the race sheet I dropped about half a mph.  I also recalculated the speed numbers for everyone using a 12.5 mile bike. One lady was still at 32mph after the adjustment; the second fastest bike time was 25.5 mph.  I assume the 32 mph is a tech error or a cheat. Either way, I threw her out of my results.

Bike Time:  41:22 with an 18.3 mph average
Bike Rank:  79 out of 164 finishers
                      64 out of 105 males
                      11 out of 17 age groupers

T2
Goal:  Don't fall of the bike or break my cleats.
Actual:  Nailed it.
The "it" that I nailed was a tent set up over the "bike in" mat at T2.  I guess it's made for short people because I nailed my head on the canopy.  Luckily, I was still wearing my helmet. Anyhoo, T2 was otherwise uneventful. I dismounted at the line, walked into T2, changed shoes and was on my way.  I only drank a little Gatorade on the bike, so I had one more hit before the run.  My total transition was about 30 seconds slower than the average total.  I'll take that.  I can try to speed it up a little next week, but I'll take a 30 second deficit all day.

T2 Time:  1:21
Positions:  71 off the bike
                   73 out of T2 (164 finishers)


Run (3 miles)
Goal:  Don't get hurt, under a 10:00 mile average.
Actual:  Nailed it.
I guess I started off a little over cooked on the run. About four minutes in I realized I was huffing like a water buffalo and my heart was racing. The last thing I wanted to do at this race was overcook it and hurt my knees. I pulled back on the reins and found an easy pace.  After that, it was easy going.  I suppose it was too easy.  I was passed by 12 people on the run, and I passed no one. However, I was going at a pretty good pace for me, so I just tried to breath easy and enjoyed the run. It was great to see my family at the finish line, and I very much enjoyed this race.

Run Time:  27:27 with a 9:09 per mile average.
Run Rank:  100 out of 164 finishers
                      72 out of 105 males
                      11 out of 17 age groupers

Total Time:  1:27:35

Overall Ranks:  85 out of 164 finishers

                            68 out of 105 males

                            11 out of 17 age groupers

Time Comparison

Looking at my times, I had the average male racer beat before the run.  Of course, that blew up on the run, but we're going to call it a win.  Even if I did try to over-cook the run, I don't think I could have dropped 30 seconds per mile. For a "B race" this was all pretty good.  I didn't get hurt, I had fun and I went at a pretty good clip. I always wish I could run faster, but right now I'm just happy I can run without too much knee pain.

Next Up

LIBERTY 70.3!  My long race of the year is this week and I think I'm ready. If not, I believe I couldn't be more ready.  My foot is completely better from the injury I had in March. Besides a small amount of knee pain and some shoulder trouble recently, I really couldn't feel better going into Liberty. It looks like it's going to be hot; it might get into the 90's.  I haven't done any training in heat yet this year, but that's only because we haven't had any heat. We'll see how it goes.

Missed Again

Well, I missed the the marathon again. Two years in a row. This time, I hurt my right foot on a run about six weeks out, and I was out of running for a few weeks. It felt the same as my break last spring, but the x-rays were negative. The doc said it may have been a stress fracture, but only an MRI would have confirmed that. As it was, I was off running for a few weeks, and actually came back stronger. In my time off, I started doing twice a week leg and hip exercises with resistance bands. Before, I had been doing it maybe once a week. Also, when I got back on the road I started doing a short bike (trainer) before each run. I don't know which is doing the trick, but my knees and feet haven't felt this good in a couple years. My foot Injury also took me out of the MN ironman bike ride. Now, we're 3 weeks out from the Liberty 70.3 race. I feel pretty good. I did a half marathon this weekend in 2:16. Not a terrible time for cold and windy. I'm never going to be fast. I did a 35 mile road bike a couple weeks back at a 17.2 mph average. Again, not too fast, but I felt good at the end of it. I did a two hour trainer and a 7 mile run the week before that, and that went great. I had a 9:40 pace on the run. My last big brick is going to be this weekend. Probably about a 40/10. We'll see how it goes. It's finally warming up outside, so I need to put in some more road miles on the bike.

2016 Plans

We did the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics last weekend. Tradition dictates that it's now time to finalize the race plans for the summer. Incidentally, this year our team raised a total of $1900. A lot of that was due to my sister in law, Mindy.  Lots of dough, lots of fun.

My toe has healed, and my knees are finally getting back into the running.  I put on around 20 miles in January, and I think I'm over the hump.  I'll try to start ticking up the mileage again, and we'll see if the body can take it.  The six weeks off for my broken toe cost me about 10 lbs.  Some of that is the usual winter/off-season weight, and some is beer/chips weight.  Plenty of time to drop some bills, but I kinda feel like a tool for over doing the lazy.

Once again, I am signed up for the Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon on Saturday, May 14 ($55).  I signed up in the fall before I broke my foot.  I had hoped it would be a long slow build to the race, but once again I am under a time crunch.  I'll give it a shot, but this isn't my top priority for the summer.

My sister and I have decided to tick up the triathlon length and try a 70.3 race.  We are signed up for the Liberty Triathlon at Lake Rebecca on Saturday, June 11 ($90+$12 usat, 1.2 mile/ 56 mile/ 13.1 mile).  I don' like the idea of putting all the training on one race, so I am also going to sign up for the Minnesota Toughman Triathlon in Chisago on Sunday, July 24 ($120+$12 usat, 1.2 mile/ 56 mile/ 13.1 mile).  This will put me in a marathon and two 70.3's in the span of ten weeks.  It's a bit ambitious, but it's what I want to do.  Might as well give it a shot.

I'm going to try to prep for the 70.3 race by doing the Minnesota Ironman Bike Ride ($35, 60 mile bike ride).  I'm not really sure how they get away with calling it the Minnesota Ironman, I would guess that they may have had the name before Kona blew up.  It's the 50th year for the ride.  Anyhoo, it's an untimed, noncompetitive, organized ride. I figure its a good way to tick off some miles and feel a bit more safe on the road.

The week before the Liberty Triathlon in June, I'm going to do the New Bri Tri.  It's a sprint triathlon in New Brighton ($70, 0.5 mile/ 14 mile/ 3 mile).  I figure it will be a good way to get in the lake before the long swim.  Also, if I can't pull off a hour and a half workout by a week before the 70.3, then I'm in super trouble.

Two more are on the schedule.  The Granitman Clearwater Olympic relay on Sunday, July 10 ($55 each, 0.9 mile/ 28.66 mile /6.2 mile).  I'll be doing this with Bull again this year.  I'll take the swim/bike and he will take the run.  I'm pretty sure this will be his first 10k, hopefully he has some fun with it. Again, this will mostly just be a workout day.  It's not often that I get in a swim bike, so this will be  a nice workout before the July 70.3.

Last on the schedule is the Lifetime Fitness Maple Grove Olympic Triathlon on Saturday, July 27 ($115+$12 usat, 0.93 mile/ 23 mile/ 6.2 mile).  I really wanted to go back to the Lake Marion Triathlon, but it is on the same day as a family event that I have in Wisconsin; bummer.  Anyhoo, this will wrap up the season and see if the long course work helps tick down my Olympic time.  It's almost two miles short of the 40K on on the bike, so I'm thinking 3 hours will be my time to beat.  This will give me three races with the $12 usat one day membership.  A yearly membership is only $45, I may just kick in the extra few buck to be a member this year.

I'm probably going to stay away from Surf the Murph this year.  It seems like that race always ends up with my knees injured.  The big day this year will be Monday, September 12.  That is the day that registration opens up for Ironman Wisconsin 2017.  That's the plan.