Well, I made it through the race. I was telling people afterward Sunday that I had 2/3 of a good race. I was really happy with my swim and bike times. The other 1/3 being the run was sad. I have never run a half marathon that slow. Overall there were some good things and some bad things I experienced at the event itself. After doing it two years in a row, I will be looking at either the Door County half or Racine 70.3 for next year.
Sunday Morning
We got up around 4:15 on Sunday morning, after about 5 hours of total sleep time. There were storms and fireworks rolling through the Twin Cities area Saturday night into Sunday morning, so Miley was anxious, which made Laura and I not sleep well. We had our breakfast, I had my coffee, dropped Miley off with Mom, Dad, and Dan, and packed up the car for the race site. I always like driving to events at 5:30 am, because you know all the other yahoos you see out with bikes on their cars are going the same place you are. It is kind of like a masochistic migration.
Pulling into Chisago City, we parked at the same bank as last year about 2 blocks from the transition area in Paradise Park. At first it looked like we were way behind schedule, but there were just a lot more racers this year. I think the total number of entrants was around 1700. This was boosted by the fact that the race was picked as Minnesota Long Distance Championship event for the year. We got the bikes off the car, pumped up the tires, lubed the chains, and saddled up to get to the transition area.
Transition was buzzing by 6:15 when we pulled in. I felt a little rushed. Laura and I were next to each other in transition (as an aside, I really liked how transition and waves were set up by age group at the Capitol View Olympic race, for this one it was seemingly based on when you signed up. Not that I dont like being by Laura, but it is just kind of weird.). Laura realized she didn't have her chip when we were packing up the night before, but it was waiting for her in her spot. Thanks to Midwest Sports Events for that.
I had enough room in transition, which is an anomaly. After I got all my gear set up how I wanted, it was time to apply the body glide and sunscreen, and move toward the porta-potties for the pre-race nervous poops. As usual at any event, there were not enough toilets. So, I waited for 5 minutes or so to take a nervous poop.
The lake looked like an image straight out of a horror flick. The rain and cold front from the night before made this eery fog over the water, and made it impossible to see the bouys. The race director held off the start for about 10 or 15 minutes, but it didn't help. So here I am waiting in the beach with the rest of wave 10 staring out into the fog, waiting for the countdown to get into the water. It's go time.
Swim
I got into the water with Laura and the rest of my wave. It felt pretty good. It wasn't to warm or too cold. The horn went off and I started a slow run until I dove in and started swimming. I always laugh at the people who do the dolphin dive several times in the water before they finally start swimming. Does it really give you that much of advantage to expel that much energy in the first 15 seconds of an hours long race? I don't think so.
I started getting into a groove in the water, but the hardest part was that I couldn't see a damn thing! The fog was impossible to see through. I would have loved to have a GPS unit to see my path along the course, it would have been a crazy zig-zag across the lake and back. The swim was a straight line out and back. I felt like I kept going from the bouys on my left to the guards on my right over and over again. I wouldn't be surprised if I added on at least another 100 or 200 yards to my swim time.
Luckily this year, I didn't try to drink the entire lake in one gulp. I had that going for me. One problem was that I had to pee like a race horse. If you have every worn a wetsuit you know that they are made to be very form fitting. They make it really difficult to pee. Not to mention that trying to pee while still swimming is not easy. So about the time I got to the turnaround, I really had to go. Last year I was able to, somehow pee in the water while swimming. This year not so much. My plan became to hit the porta-potty after getting out of the water.
T1
I hit the beach, and see Laura about 10-15 seconds ahead of me on the beach. My plan is in full effect to hit the porta-john, but first, to have the wetsuit strippers strip this beast off of me. If you have the chance to use wetsuit strippers at a race do it. They are so awesome. You get your wetsuit to your waist. They say lay down, lean back, and pull it right off of you. So much better than doing the weird dance to get the slippery form fitting eel off of your legs in transition.
I grab my wetsuit and run toward the toilet. I throw the wetsuit on the ground and get inside not locking it figuring no one will be peeing now. I thought this was going to be a normal pee, but I must have drained 5 gallons of water from my body because it felt like I was in there for 5 minutes. Oh yeah, and some lady walked in on me. Oops.
The worst part about my now epic pee plan was that the toilet was before the timing mat! So my swim time was 1.5 minutes longer than it actually was! Bogus. Luckily, I did my own splits and didn't have to rely on the chip. Still bogus. I ran up the hill after losing 5 pounds of water weight to get on the bike.
I saw Laura back at the bikes as she was heading out, and you will not believe what she told me! I tell her how epic my pee was and she says, "yeah, I just popped a squat next to my bike and peed on the grass." I about died laughing, and am still laughing about it now as I type. Major props to Laura for peeing in the grass in transition with no regard to anyone else. Way to go honey! I love you even more for not caring who sees you pee on the grass!
All my gear on, I ran my way through the maze of transition and out to the bike mount area. Hop awkwardly onto my bike and start the 56 mile ride...
I'll finish up the bike, T2, run, and post race info in another post later this week. Enjoy this tidbit for now. Hopefully too, I should have some pictures from Dan and Dad to post along with the rest.
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