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Lifetime Fitness tri-Minneapolis

Slimpee's picture
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started by Slimpee on July 16, 2007

This past saturday was the Lifetime Fitness tri at Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This was my first tri (i competed in the sprint-.4 mile/15 mile/3 mile) so I was pretty nervous as it got later in friday. Part of this apprehension came from my first open water swim last week which was pretty much a disaster. I just don't have the endurance/efficient stroke needed to swim long-ish distances. I knew I could do the bike and run but just the swim scared the crap out of me. Anyway, i picked up my packet Friday evening and went out to eat with my parents who came up from Nebraska to watch. I figured i'd get some carbs so we went to a thai restaurant. Bad idea. Don't eat spicy food before a race. I'm pretty sure the entire meal passed through me in about 10 hours but luckily everything was kosher by race time. Next time i'm doing italian.

Anyway, we arrived at the race site about 6:10 AM and I set up my transition among my age group peers (men, 20-24) and noticed that almost all of them had nice road or tri bikes. Uh-oh. Anyway, i spent the next few hours walking around nervously talking with my parents. Oh, and I don't know if i drank a lot of liquid or i was just nervous but I think i went to the bathroom about 6 times before the race started. The race site itself had a great atmosphere with lots of people lingering around soaking up the glory of race day. This was made much easier by about as perfect a day as one could hope. I believe the air temperature at 8:00 AM was about 70-75 with the water at 75. It was pretty windy on the bike but definitely manageable. I enjoyed watching the pros start-damn can they swim! I found a couple of people from college that i chatted with. One was a girl who is smoking hot. It also turns out she's pretty pretty damn fit as well (it was her first tri as well and she beat my by nearly 4 minutes. She did beat me by 7 minutes in the swim and was faster in the transitions so I guess I did make up some time).

Anyway, my start time eventually came and I went bounding down the beach like a puppy only to find out that I swim much like a puppy as well. Just kidding but the swim didn't go well. I wasn't struggling per se but i'm just so used to grabbing the edge of the pool that i simply swam from lifeguard to lifeguard. I was hanging on a floaty when I saw the aforementioned hot girl fly by me yelling as she went. I didn't see her again until the finish line! Anyway, I exited the swim which, as it turns out, was the hardest part of the first leg. It's hard running through water! I sprinted up the beach to the t-zone which was cool because there were hundreds of people cheering you on. Great fan support! To make a long story short I finished the swim in 21:23 which was 1039th out of 1134 sprint finishers. Yeah, i was nearly dead last in time! I figured this would happen, though, so i knew i'd make up time in the bike and run.

I did the bike course on a borrowed road bike my roommate uses as a commuter. It's fairly fast but it's has a heavier steel frame and had "knobby" cross-tires but it worked well and i averaged 18.4 mph for a time of 48:53. It was kinda fun passing people (and I did pass alot of people!) on a bike with fenders. I got through T2 pretty well and felt good on the run netting a 22:27 (7:29/m) which i was pretty happy about. My total time was 1:37:51 which put me at 370th out of the 1134 so I picked up over 600 spots in the bike and run. I ended up 11/19 in my age category after being last out of the water by almost a minute. Overall i'm happy considering i was so far back after the swim and i'd never practiced the transitions. I'm almost positive i'll do another tri-i just have to get my own road bike-and I now have a baseline and a better idea how to do things next time.

Here are all my splits:

Triathlon Results - Short Course
Finish Time: 1:37:51.4
Category Place: 11 out of 19 Men 20 to 24 finishers
Overall Place: 370 out of 1136 Short Course finishers
Gender Overall Plc: 273 out of 575 Male finishers

Triathlon Splits
Swim .4 mile
Time: 21:23.2
Pace: 3:19 /100m
Category Place: 19
Overall Place: 1039
Gender Overall Plc: 527

Transition #1
Time: 3:04.7
Category Place: 9
Overall Place: 290
Gender Overall Plc: 178

Bike 15 miles
Time: 48:53.8
Pace: 18.4MPH
Category Place: 11
Overall Place: 301
Gender Overall Plc: 250

Transition #2
Time: 2:01.7
Category Place: 9
Overall Place: 408
Gender Overall Plc: 237

Run 3 mile
Time: 22:27.9
Pace: 7:29/M
Category Place: 8
Overall Place: 76
Gender Overall Plc: 65

These things are fun!

RV's picture
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RV posted 51 weeks ago.

Congrats!
Glad to have you join the addiction!

RV

It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss

tri-ac's picture
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tri-ac posted 51 weeks ago.

sounds like you did pretty well! congratulations!

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JamieM posted 51 weeks ago.

Congrats on a good first race!

akatiger14's picture
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akatiger14 posted 51 weeks ago.

Where are your parents from in NE? and where do you go to school? I finished just in front of you 10 of 19 in our age group. I grew up in Omaha, and go to the U of M. Congrats on the first race.

Slimpee's picture
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Slimpee posted 51 weeks ago.

I grew up in Lincoln and my parents still live there. I went to school down south in St. Peter, MN.

I was pretty discouraged when I saw only one bike in T1 when I got there. Like I said, though, i'm still pretty pleased to make up so much ground.

You going to do any more tris this year?

catwood's picture
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catwood posted 51 weeks ago.

Sounds like you had a pretty good first race! Now you really know what you need to work on. When's the next race?

Slimpee's picture
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Slimpee posted 51 weeks ago.

catwood;73247 wrote:
Sounds like you had a pretty good first race! Now you really know what you need to work on. When's the next race?

Well, there are a few in August but the two i'd like to do are in the same weekend and i'm supposed to be back in NE for a wedding. Perhaps something else in August or Sept.

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Ken B. posted 50 weeks ago.

Slimpee;73337 wrote:
Well, there are a few in August but the two i'd like to do are in the same weekend and i'm supposed to be back in NE for a wedding. Perhaps something else in August or Sept.

Question for you, Slimpee. Lake Nokomis in July is not too cold, right? Do many people wear wetsuits for that race?

Slimpee's picture
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Slimpee posted 50 weeks ago.

Ken B.;73403 wrote:
Question for you, Slimpee. Lake Nokomis in July is not too cold, right? Do many people wear wetsuits for that race?

I believe the water temperature was 75 degrees. There were plenty of people wearing wetsuits but they were definitely the exception, not the rule. Given my slow swim time perhaps I should've worn one...

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ball6135 posted 50 weeks ago.

The temp was 75.1... I would say in the Olympic Race is was around 50% wetsuits...

This was my first Olympic distance race (only one other earlier this year at Waconia which is a bit shorter).

I am of the "larger" set, around 6'5" and... well... over 200 lbs. I was really looking forward to this race and have been getting ready for quite a while. As a side benefit, I have lost nearly 50 lbs. in preparation and I am completley hooked.

Well, the Clysd. start at Lifetime is a wave start, 3 waves, based on age. Ours was the first out and everything started off well got in the water and was bumping around abit, but nothing major. This was only my second competitive open water and the other race that I had done was Waconia which was ½mile swim. So somewhat comfortable and hoping for around 38 minutes. about 150m in, wham, foot to the face... knocks off my goggles and stuns me a bit. I tried to remain calm, slow down and get back into my rythym. Things weren't too bad, so rounded the first turn, switched to a side stroke for a while and then back to crawl. Everything was feeling great as I rounded the second bouy and headed for the beach. Ended up coming out of the water at 34:15... a bit faster than I had planned.

I am still horrible at transitions, but I got out of there and onto the bike which was nice into the wind for the first 8 miles up the river and then turned back downwind. i wasn't thrilled with the speed that I was keeping and pushed a bit harder, but wasn't able to get up to the 20-21mph average that I had been training at. Ended up the bike at 19.2 mph.

I really am not a good runner... started off running a bit too fast for the first mile and after the 2nd water station, pulled back and ended up walking a bit. Trying to hold onto my pride and squash my embarrassment, I would keep this up for the rest of the race. I ended up finishing the run at a snails pace of 11:57/mile...

Overall, I had a riot, I wasn't dead and can't wait for my next one. Great course and wonderfully well organized event...

here are my "SLOW" details...

Finish Time: 3:15:17.6
Category Place: 25 out of 35 Clydesdale Men 30 to 39 finishers
Overall Place: 841 out of 1091 Olympic Course finishers
Gender Overall Plc: 625 out of 737 Male finishers

Triathlon Splits
Swim 1.5K

Time: 34:15.1
Pace: 0:2:17 /100m
Category Place: 20
Overall Place: 542
Gender Overall Plc: 401

Transition #1

Time: 5:06.6
Category Place: 29
Overall Place: 996
Gender Overall Plc: 677

Bike 40K

Time: 1:17:32.7
Pace: 19.2MPH
Category Place: 19
Overall Place: 411
Gender Overall Plc: 370

Transition #2

Time: 4:08.4
Category Place: 27
Overall Place: 1007
Gender Overall Plc: 685

Run 10K

Time: 1:14:14.6
Pace: 11:57/M
Category Place: 31
Overall Place: 1030
Gender Overall Plc: 709

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Ken B. posted 50 weeks ago.

Slimpee;73409 wrote:
I believe the water temperature was 75 degrees. There were plenty of people wearing wetsuits but they were definitely the exception, not the rule. Given my slow swim time perhaps I should've worn one...

Thanks for the info, Slimpee, and by the way congratulations for a decent finish. I have my eye on next years Life Time Oly course. A water temp of 75 is pleasantly cool for swimming, which is good because I hate wetsuits.

Slimpee's picture
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Slimpee posted 50 weeks ago.

ball, do you live around the twin cities?

ball6135's picture
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ball6135 posted 50 weeks ago.

Slimpee;73447 wrote:
ball, do you live around the twin cities?

I do... I am out in the lake minnetonka area... and you?

Slimpee's picture
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Slimpee posted 50 weeks ago.

I'm in Minneapolis. I do a lot of my running and biking around the Lakes area. I thought maybe i'd seen you around sometime.

PNine's picture
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PNine posted 50 weeks ago.

Congrats on the finish and welcome to the addiction. . .

My 1st tri was LTF-Mpls a few years back as well. Good environment and well run race.

MN has a few tri series that offer a nice spectrum of opportunities for all of us. Maybe will see you out on the circuit. Best of luck.

Pnine

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Ken B. posted 50 weeks ago.

Ball6, nice report. And as for your "slow" results, you entered and finished so you have me beat by one.

Ball6 and Slimpee, I'm up in Shoreview, North of Saint Paul. Where do you guys go for open water practice? I've heard Square Lake by Stillwater is pretty good. Anything closer?

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Slimpee posted 50 weeks ago.

Ken B.;73521 wrote:

Ball6 and Slimpee, I'm up in Shoreview, North of Saint Paul. Where do you guys go for open water practice? I've heard Square Lake by Stillwater is pretty good. Anything closer?

That's a good question. I've only done one open water swim down in Bloomington on Bush Lake. I had a buddy beside me in a kayak which made me feel a lot better considering I was gassed after about 200 yards. I guess you're not supposed to swim beyond the swim area boundaries on the "chain of lakes" around Minneapolis so i'm not sure where to go. For the time being i'll probably use Bush Lake and my kayaking friend again.

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akatiger14 posted 50 weeks ago.

I think that I am done for this year, maybe a du in september.

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ball6135 posted 50 weeks ago.

Slimpee;73526 wrote:
That's a good question. I've only done one open water swim down in Bloomington on Bush Lake. I had a buddy beside me in a kayak which made me feel a lot better considering I was gassed after about 200 yards. I guess you're not supposed to swim beyond the swim area boundaries on the "chain of lakes" around Minneapolis so i'm not sure where to go. For the time being i'll probably use Bush Lake and my kayaking friend again.

I do all of my open water stuff on minnetonka. Early in the mornings and later in the evenings it's a great place to swim. Lafayette bay is a B+ Water quality and our home is on that bay. So right off the dock, my wife and I trade off driving the boat (in case we need protection) and swimming. From one end of the bay to the other, it is almost exactly 1.0 miles...

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Slimpee posted 50 weeks ago.

ball6135;73589 wrote:
I do all of my open water stuff on minnetonka. Early in the mornings and later in the evenings it's a great place to swim. Lafayette bay is a B+ Water quality and our home is on that bay. So right off the dock, my wife and I trade off driving the boat (in case we need protection) and swimming. From one end of the bay to the other, it is almost exactly 1.0 miles...

Damn, that's sweet! Hopefully someday i'll be able to do that.

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TMann posted 50 weeks ago.

Slimpee;73225 wrote:
my age group peers (men, 20-24) and noticed that almost all of them had nice road or tri bikes.

Well, I was one of the guys without a nice road or tri bike. Mine was the $300 road bike with bar tape hanging off the handlebars and duct tape holding the seat together. You're not the only one who had an ugly swim. I learned that I have a tendency to veer to the right and I ended up running into some of the lifeguards. At one point I was so off course that I almost swam into oncoming traffic. On top of that, I couldn't find my bike in t1 and wasted 3 minutes running around the transition area. I heard one of the volunteers say "Well, I hope he's a fast biker." I ended up placing 5 out of 19 after a smokin fast run time, but I'll be back for that number 1 spot next year. Hope to see you there. Here are my times:

Finish Time: 1:28:24.9
Category Place: 5 out of 19 Men 20 to 24 finishers
Overall Place: 109 out of 1138 Short Course finishers
Gender Overall Plc: 90 out of 576 Male finishers

Triathlon Splits
Swim .4 mile

Time: 15:10.8
Pace: 2:21 /100m
Category Place: 9
Overall Place: 472
Gender Overall Plc: 273

Transition #1

Time: 4:14.8
Category Place: 16
Overall Place: 774
Gender Overall Plc: 409

Bike 15 miles

Time: 46:51.8
Pace: 19.2MPH
Category Place: 7
Overall Place: 173
Gender Overall Plc: 149

Transition #2

Time: 1:18.8
Category Place: 2
Overall Place: 32
Gender Overall Plc: 28

Run 3 mile

Time: 20:48.6
Pace: 6:56/M
Category Place: 5
Overall Place: 29
Gender Overall Plc: 29

[SIZE="1"]My goal is to win the LTF sprint distance triathlon on July 12th, 2008.
I know that I have the ability to achieve my goal and I demand of myself persistent, continuous action towards its attainment.[/SIZE]

Slimpee's picture
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Slimpee posted 50 weeks ago.

Helluva race, TMann! i think that by next year's LTF sprint I can finish in under 1:30. Hell, if I cut 5 minutes off my swim, putting me at roughly 16 minutes, 1 minutes off my bike, and one minute off my transitions i'm at about 1:30 right there.

My whole life I hated endurance sports even though I was pretty decent without having to train. I pretty much stopped biking when I was 15 (i'm nearly 24 now), i'd never ran more than 2 miles, and I didn't know a thing whatsoever about swimming. I decided to do a tri about January or February of this year and, to my amazement, i've actually began enjoying running and swimming. I never thought that i'd finish in the top third overall or top half of the men in my first outing. Your time is pretty sweet and in a year I know I can finish somewhere around there. If I can go from scratch to where I am now in 6 months, i'm excited to see what i'll do in a year!

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Slimpee posted 50 weeks ago.

This is a link to the photos taken of me during the event:

http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=16821&ID=38032012&FROM=photos&BIB=2482

I'll be very weirded out if any of you order copies of these photos...:D

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ball6135 posted 50 weeks ago.

Slimpee;73611 wrote:
Damn, that's sweet! Hopefully someday i'll be able to do that.

Drop me a note here via PM... I never swim out there alone and if you get the bug to do some open water swimming, I may be looking for a buddy...

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Slimpee posted 49 weeks ago.

ball6135;73770 wrote:
Drop me a note here via PM... I never swim out there alone and if you get the bug to do some open water swimming, I may be looking for a buddy...

I would totally be down for that 'cept I haven't figured out how to PM on this forum.