Spicer, MN; August 11, 2013

Green Lake is my old stomping grounds so I was looking forward to competing in this one again. I had not since it was the Fun in the Sun triathlon back in the 80’s, then I was just a relay swimmer.

My plan was to make this all about the family. We recently purchased a 23 foot camper with all of the conveniences of home so I thought what a great weekend to RV it on beautiful Green Lake with the whole fam dam.

When registering months ago I noticed there was a kids race. My 10 year old son was game right away and with some encouragement I got my 7 year old daughter to give it a shot.

Saturday was the kids race. Jaxon had a blast in the 9-10 boys division with a 150 yard swim, 2 mile ride and ½ mile run. Ella finished in style with a 75 yard swim, 1 mile bike and ½ mile run. There were over 200 kids in the event. My only gripe is that many of the kids ran through the shallow water and did not swim. My kids worked hard in the pool to make sure they could swim the distance before we signed up. Because Jaxon swam the course he was one of the last out of the water. Jaxon loved it! Ella is not sure. Jaxon told me he needs a racing bike. Mom said no, we will see how that gos.

On to Sunday……Wake up call from the RV at 6am. To the transition at 6:45am. I went through the usual transition set up. Couple of visits to the mini biffs and visited with the local racers. Going into this race I was running strong, swimming well enough and little time on the saddle. I figured a good goal for me was to be in at around 2:15 for the ¾ mile swim, 22 mile bike, and 6 mile run. This is what I also told the whole fam dam as they wanted to see me finish.

SWIM …..I am a swimming coach with collegiate swimming experience. Usually this is my strength but this time I can say I really struggled in the water to find my grove and stay on course. There were just 3 large white markers on the course. I found it difficult to navigate. Swim time 20:11. 9th overall.

BIKE…..always my weak leg because I simply do not put the time in. My goal was to avg 20MPH. I finished at 19.9MPH. I was passed A LOT! I was trying to keep track of the OLY 40-44 that passed me and I figured 3. I was playing leap frog with a 24 year old racer out there. He passed me on the hills I passed him on the flats. That kept me engaged for the first half of the bike until he dropped me. Going into the run I was 6th of 6 in my AG. Both races bike course went around the lake while the Oly course had a little detour before returning to the lake route. Once back on to the lake route there were several sprint racers I passed coming back into transition. That really helped my psyche to actually pass somebody on the bike.

RUN…..the run was great. 7:26pace I ran without a watch and just ran. Passed 3 in my AG and many others. 3 miles out and 3 miles back. As I was coming through the finish chute I saw the whole fam dam, ran over exchanged some high fives, the race announcer said I was exchanging DNA. Crossed the line right at exactly 2:15.00 just as I said! Made me look good as that was where I told the whole fam dam to be looking for me at the finish and they did!

NEXT: The BHS swim season is underway. Busy at the pool. I am now on a crash training program for the blue ox marathon.