2011 Averages Jo's Sprint Triathlon

Last year I participated in my first triathlon at Average Jo's and I was excited to head back there again this year. I had talked Erin into giving it a try because last year was so fun. This year was also fun, but in a more challenging way.

Erin and I got up early and drove out to Perham. On our way to the park we passed a familiar looking minivan traveling the opposite direction.  As they passed I recognized Cassie and wondered if she was having trouble finding the park.  Then I saw her turn around in our rear view mirror so I slowed down so she could catch up.  When we got to the park there were a few other people there, but not many.  We walked over to Cassie's van and said hello to her family before heading over to pick up our packets and to get marked for the race.

After getting our packets we grabbed our gear and headed for the transition area to setup in a good location.  We found a spot on the last rack right on the end towards the bike exit.  I've heard from other triathletes that it's easiest to be on that end so you don't have to fight getting your bike down the crowded rows during the race.  After racking the bikes we then leisurely unpacked all of our other gear.  Cassie setup right next to us and kind of followed along with what we were doing.  This was her first triathlon too. As we were setting up, I could see the race organizers setting up the buoys for the swim course. Last year the swim stayed near the shore so it was possible to touch the bottom of the lake almost the entire way.  This year the course was straight out into the lake.

As the start time got closer Erin and I decided to head into the water to get used to it while Cassie decided that she would stay out of the lake until the event started. We were told the water temperature was 66°, based on feel it was colder then it was the previous year and colder then the water at liberty where I was wearing a wet suit. Erin was shivering almost immediately, but I seemed to tolerate the cold fairly well.  After being in for a couple of minutes I was quite comfortable.

When the race started I made the decision to walk as far as I could into the lake to minimize the amount of swimming I would have to do.  I hoped I would be able to make it to the first buoy but that was overly optimistic. When I was forced to start swimming I did better mentally then I did during the 1.2 mile swim a few weeks prior.  Knowing that I made it through that definitely helped my confidence and I was relaxed enough to put my head in and swim properly for a while. When I finally emerged from the lake I was near the back of the pack, 150th out of 170 participants.

After jogging up the hill to the transition area I dried off as best I could before putting my biking shoes on.  I struggled to put on my spandex top and red Dick Beardsley shirt before heading out on the bike.  The bike course has a gravel road on a hill at the start and end. This year the gravel was very soft and made keeping momentum difficult and had me concerned about tipping over once I was clipped into the pedals.  Once I cleared the gravel I started to fly.  I was a bit tired from the swim, but it didn't seem to effect me too much.  Throughout the entire 12 miles I kept moving up the field and by the time the bike had finished I had passed 63 people.  On the way back up the hill I stalled out about halfway up and decided just to run the bike back to the transition area rather then risk tipping over.  I shed my bike shoes, put on my running shoes and Garmin  and headed out on the run.

As I started the run I was dripping sweat from the bike and out of breath.  The run starts down a hill and my legs had some difficulty remembering just what running felt like.  Once I had the downhill behind me I started to find a rhythm and build speed.  After going so fast on the bike it felt like I was crawling along, but I was holding a solid pace just under 10 minute miles.  I was able to hold this pace throughout the run until near the end when I came across a guy who looked like he was struggling.  He had started to walk which allowed me to catch him.  When I was along side of him I told him that we should run the downhill and could walk the uphill.  When we made it to the uphill I convinced him to push a little longer and get to the top.  I kept pushing him along in this fashion until we were close enough to sprint to the finish line.  I felt really good about getting him to the finish line a step in front of me.

Track Workout

After the race on Saturday, Erin and I were standing around talking with some friends when one of them invited us to do a track workout with them at Discovery on Tuesday morning.  The last time I had been on a track was in college.  A few of my friends wandered over and were goofing around when we decided to race about 50 meters.  I remember going all out and wanting to puke at the end and still loosing my a large margin.

Since the rain hadn't moved it yet Erin and I decided to give it a try.  Terry said the group meets at 5:30 so we figured we'd be there a few minutes early.  When we got there the parking lot was deserted.  We wandered over to the track thinking that maybe some people live close and just run over, but no one was there either and it looked like the track was locked up.  Eventually we saw someone else who walked over and let us in. She said she normally gets there right at 5:30.  A few minutes later more people started to show up, I guess we were the only ones who didn't know not to show up early.  I ran a few warm up laps and then went over to where the group was gathering.  Today's plan was to run 400 meter repeats.  Every 3 minutes we'd head out once around the track and stop when we finished to rest until the next 3 minute time period.  Erin decided that she wasn't interested in doing any speed work after all the hard running last week.

I made it through 4 of the repeats before I was tired enough that I needed to skip a repeat.  After taking one off I did the next one and needed to take another break after that.  I told Erin this would be my last repeat.  After my 6th repeat I was more then ready to be done for the day.  Erin and I jogged 1 more lap to cool down and we headed home. I think we'll try to work in more track workouts into our schedule.  The flat surface had a lot of cushion and is very nice to run on.  I don't know that we'll be doing the same workouts as the group, but I think it's an environment where we can make a lot of progress.

2011 Perham Turtlefest 5k

Last year at Turtlefest I put together a great race and improved my PR by around seven minutes to 26:10. My goal for that race was to run under 30 minutes somehow I was able to beat that by a good margin. I was really looking forward to going back this year and trying to improve on that effort. I has hoping that I would be well recovered from the Chase Race and Hillsboro and that my hard effort in each of those races would leave me in better shape for Turtlefest.

Erin and I got up early Saturday morning to drive down to Perham.  When we got there we drove to the park where the race was last year.  On our way to the park we passed what looked like the finish area for the race which seemed odd.  When we got to the park it was empty so we headed back to where we saw the finish line. This year the race organizers had changed. The local cross county coach was running the race now and as part of the change the route had been moved a little.  After picking up our packets we had a little bit of time to kill.  As we waited we saw Jill and talked with her for a while.  Ray also showed up with his kids who were all running the race this year. Erin and I were a little disappointed that Connie didn't come with but we were happy to see the rest of the family with Ray.

Erin and I warmed up and headed over the where the race would start.  The race started on the road and would eventually move onto the bike path. There wasn't chip timing at this race so we both started a bit more forward in the crowd then we normally do.  Since my goal was to improve on my chase race time I had my splits memorized and figured I'd just try to beat each of them by a few seconds.  The first mile I was able to shave off 12 seconds and I was feeling really good.  I figured I would raise the intensity a bit for mile two and hope that I could hang on through the end of the race. I was able to make it through mile two, but I was really feeling the strain of the effort.  The last mile seemed to drag on forever.  I kept looking at the Garmin to figure out how much was left and each time I checked I didn't think I could hang on until the end.  Eventually the route moved out of the trees and I could see where the finish line was.  Somehow I picked the pace up a little knowing that I had a chance to go under 25 minutes. As I rounded the last turn I could see that the clock and gave it everything I had.  When I finished I wanted to throw up but felt good about the effort I was able to give. As I waited for Erin to finish I talked with Ray and Terry.  The congratulated me on my run and my new PR.

As Erin was finishing I shouted encouragement and she gave a strong finishing kick to finish right around the same time as the chase race. I thought she had beaten that time, but we needed to wait for the results to be posted to be sure. Erin wanted to sit for a while after the race to catch her breath.  We talked about how things had gone and she said the thought during the race that she wished she was running a marathon instead so she wouldn't have to be working so hard.  When she was feeling a bit better we got up and went over to check the results.  We confirmed that she had taken a second off her chase race time for a new PR.  I knew I had a good time, but didn't think I would be so high in the overall standings.  I had taken 61 seconds off my chase race time.  I knew it was a good race but I was blown away by how well I was able to do.

Ray's family had a good day with all of them placing in their age groups. Erin came in at 29:13, a new PR, and I had run 24:40 which was good enough for second place in my age group.

2011 Hillsboro Road Race 10k

Jarrod, Me, Erin, and Rick before the race

Two days after the YMCA Chase Race was the Hillsboro Road Race.  Erin and I both signed up for the 10k.  The day of the race Rick emailed me and asked if we wanted to ride with him in Eunice and I told him we'd love to.  After Erin got off work Rick came picked us up and we headed for Hillsboro. Erin and I were preregistered, but Rick still needed to register. We picked up our stuff while Rick registered and headed back to the camper to drop our shirts and for Rick to change.  Erin and I headed to the starting area while Rick was changing to try to meet up with a friend from the daily mile.  Eventually Jarrod found us which was good because we were having no luck finding him.  We chatted for a little while before Rick found us and it was time to start the race.  At the start there was a slight breeze and it was probably in the upper 70s, but the humidity didn't seem to be too high making for decent running conditions.

The start of the race

Rick and I passing Eunice near the halfway point

Based on the McMillan running calculator and the results of the chase race I knew I could run around an 8:35 pace.  I decided I wanted to be a little more conservative than this and decided I'd shoot for somewhere between 8:45 and 8:50.  My goal was to get the race done under and hour so even if things went poorly at my conservative pace I could still slow down and reach my goal.  Rick's plan was to start off with me to warm up and then start pushing harder.  As we started running he was pushing the pace just a little faster then what I was shooting for, but I figured I'd keep up with him for a while.  Near the 1 mile mark Jarrod passed us and shortly after that Rick started to speed up as well.  I started to look more at my heart rate than pace and tired to find a level where I was working hard but could keep it up for the entire race. As I neared the halfway point I started to develop a side ache that lasted a mile or so before it went away. As the course twisted and turned around town the direction of the wind was always very obvious.  When it was at your back you immediately heated up but when you turned into it you cooled down.  Somewhere between miles 4 and 5, I caught back up to Jarrod who wished me luck on the rest of the race.  I wanted to talk to him more, but was working hard enough that I couldn't talk all that well.  The rest of the race I focused on catching up to the next person and passing them.  As I neared the finish line there was a good sized group of walkers coming in from the 5k.  I avoided them as best I could and crossed the finish line.  After kneeling for a while to let my heart rate drop a little I got up and found some Popsicles that were available to race participants.  With as warm as I was it was the best tasting popsicle I think I've had.  I talked with Rick a little while before Erin finished.

Erin, Jon and Rick after the race

After the race we stood around and talked while door prizes were given out.  When the door prizes were all given out Jarrod headed out but some of the rest of us hung out a little while longer while the winners were announced. As things were winding down we went over to check the official results. I had come in at 53:35 and Erin finished just under 1:05.  Both of us had set PRs.

2011 YMCA Chase Race 5k

The day after my attempt at the Liberty Half Ironman I was very sore.  My legs felt heavy and my lower back was hurting. I was able to do some light biking at the gym to recover. The biking seemed to help and I was able to bounce back quickly and felt fairly good heading into the chase race.

The day of the race there were some storms moving into the area in the evening.  There wasn't supposed to be much lightning, but there was a potential for some very heavy rain and it was warm and humid. My goal was to try and better my 5k PR of 26:10 from just about a year ago at Turtlefest. Erin was hoping to break the 30 minute mark. We headed towards the downtown Y and on the way realized Erin forgot her Garmin so we had to head back to the house to get it.

When we got to the Y we did a quick search of the crowd for people we knew.  We saw a few acquaintances, but none of the people we hoped to see.  While the kids races were going on Erin and I did a mile to warm up and when we got back to the starting area it had started to rain.  Many of the participants huddled under a tent that had been set up for the race to avoid the rain.  Erin and I headed just across the street to the parking ramp to get out of the rain and avoid the crowd.

A couple of minutes later the announcement was given to line up and we took up a position toward the back of the pack.  Once the race started I hung back before crossing the starting line.  It was chip timing and I wanted to have some room to run once I got going. It didn't take me long to catch back up to Erin and settling down into my planned pace.  The route went south along seventh street and I started to pass a few people.  I wondered if I was heading out too fast, but decided to stick to my plan.  As I crossed 13th Ave. a guy had gotten out of his truck and was yelling at the volunteer blocking traffic.  I think I heard him whine something to the effect of why does the route have to go here.  I laughed with some of the other runners near me before continuing on.

When I passed the halfway point I thought to myself, "only a mile and a half left, I should be done in 20 minutes" It took a few seconds before I realized if this was the halfway point I could just look at how long I had been running and see how much longer it would take.  I was relived when I saw I would only be running for another 12 minutes or so.  I was huffing and puffing, but was still holding my pace.  I wanted to slow down, but kept thinking about how soon this would all be over.  When the route reached island park again I was happy to have some downhill to help keep the pace up, but I knew I would have to pay for it with some uphill just before the finish.

As I approached the last uphill there was a guy in front of me who looked like he was in good shape.  He definitely wasn't breathing as hard as I was and I thought he would easily finish before me.  As we went up the hill I kept gaining on him and moved off to the side to pass him.  I thought for sure he would pass me just after turning the last corner, but he didn't.  I looked up to see 25 minutes still on the clock and I dug deep to finish strong.  As I passed the finish line I stopped the Garmin and staggered over to where volunteers were removing chips.  After they cut mine off I grabbed some water and headed back along the course a little ways to wait for Erin. From where I was standing I had a good view of the course and of the clock.  Right on schedule I saw her turn the corner and I let out a yell.  As she ran past I gave another shout of encouragement and followed her to drop off her chip.

We had both met our goals, I had finished in 25:41 and Erin had come in around 29:14. Now we just need to recover before running the Hilsboro 10k on Thursday.