Never Settle:My First Olympic Distance Triathlon

Beautiful Winona, MN is the location of my first Olympic distance triathlon. However, before we get to the race I'm going to start with the events leading up to it. This weeks training leading up to the race was better than last weekends, but still a rough one for me with a few unexpected events coming up. I had some really good runs lately which is really the key to my races.

Once I arrive the day before the race, I pick up my packet, listen to the race briefing, and head to the race course to do my pre-race. Upon arrival of the course I am greeted by a beautiful lake with a bluff to match. I snap a quick picture and take it all in before staring my warm up.

Lake Winona

I warm up all three disciplines without anything out of the ordinary, except a bit of fatigue in my legs. I check out the transition area and finish line quickly before heading off to dinner by myself. I enjoy some of the local food and head over to my gracious host family Kevin and Beth Anne Feine. Special shout out to them for housing me for the evening so I was able to afford the trip up this weekend.

My gracious host family 

So after a good nights sleep and a quick breakfast it is time to race. I warm up quickly upon arrival, I do my warm ups, get my transition set up (very tight transition slot), and prepare for the race. The elite wave starts the day off first and there are 12 of lined up ready to go. I look around and I am the only person without a wetsuit, but I'm not worried because I am a strong swimmer.

The gun goes off and I hit the water quickly with some speed to get near the front. I focus on getting the rhythm going right away this time. I get passed by a few people, but remain calm and race my race. The swim was relatively simple after the initial surge at the gun because I am clear of other swimmers while a swim slightly behind the lead pack of swimmers.

I exit the water in 15th place, but that changes to 9th after a quick transition (fastest of the day). I get on the bike and after some minor bike problems off the gun (I was my own bike mechanic for this race, so I missed some little things) I am rolling. The race is slightly uphill right off the gun, but with the hills I have been working on I barely notice them.

I am passed by two riders before arriving at the bottom of the bluff. With another on my tail, I attack the very steep bluff with a steady constant spin. Although I feel like I'm crawling I fare better than the riders to my immediate front and back. After the bluff I have gained some ground on them both. However, the rider behind catches me, but this time after he passes me I strike back.

We continue to together playing cat and mouse the rest of the course and in the process we catch one of the riders that ha passed me. Although my bike isn't where I wanted it to be I maintained my position only moving down one place going into the run which is key for me. I finish up the bike, and hit the ground running once again straight through transition and onto the race course.

Right off the gun I know I have some catching to do if I want to be top 5 an have the fastest run of the day. I haven't ran a 10k, so I just wanted to get out fast and push the pace to see what I can do. I move into 7th place by the time I reach the turn around for the out and back run. Only 2 more to go and as I get past the tree line I see them both across the lake with some pretty good distance between them.

I keep chasing them because I know that I am moving considerably faster so it is only a matter of running out of distance. I dig deep and keep telling myself "never settle" as chase them down. After pushing and pushing I finally catch 6th with just under a mile to go and top 5 isn't in sight yet. People are cheering telling me to go catch him, so I know her is near. Finally with about 400 to go I see him, I close strong, but it is not enough to catch 5th.

I had the 4th fastest run of the day, and having the fastest would have landed me top overall. Even though I didn't quite reach my goals I am satisfied overall ending up 6th amongst some very strong athletes. Also with the fact that I know have a lot of room for improvement considering this was my first triathlon of this distance. Along with my 6th place position came a VIP lanyard which got me into the VIP tent for the first time. I will have to say it was a lot easier to reflect on my race with such great food provided post race. Thanks for reading my blog and I apologize for the delay. Stay turned for the chase of my pro card in the Trinona EDR this weekend!

My VIP post-race pass