Graniteman Results

It's official, my second triathlon is now under my belt. The weather for yesterday's competition was great, about 70-75 degrees during the race, and low humidity. However, a strong wind made the biking portion of the race a little challenging. Alright, enough suspense, I finished with a time of 1:32:23, only 2:23 over my goal of 1:30:00. The St. Cloud Times graciously published all the results here - I finished 156 overall.

The Swim

My biggest challenge for this race was the swim portion. I did not practice swimming as much for this race compared to the Buffalo triathlon, and the lack of preparation showed in the result. The pre-race goal for my swim time was 12 minutes, but the my official swim time was 16:13. I'm not exactly sure why, but I lost my concentration and steady pace early on during the swim. I remember looking up for the turn around point a 1/4 of the way into the swim, and thinking, "Oh boy, this is going to be difficult". Maybe it was allowing the aforementioned thought enter my head, but from that point forward I used a combination of side stroke, front stroke, and a few moments of rest to complete the swim. Upon exiting the water I remember looking behind me and thinking, "there is hardly anyone behind me, I have some serious work to do".

Transition #1

My first transition went much smoother when compared to the Buffalo triathlon. I quickly unzipped and removed my wet suit without any issues, put on my socks, shoes, helmet, and sun glasses and was off on my bike. The one issue I did confront was trying to get my shirt to pull all the way down. So I did not use anymore time than necessary in the transition area, I left with my shirt half way down, and fixed the shirt while on the bike route. My transition time for the first transition was 2:03, a significant improvement from the Buffalo triathlon.

Biking

The biking portion of the race went well, and I was able to make up some of the time I lost on the swim. I was in heat number 9, and I was trying to find others with a 9 on their calf (each athlete is marked with their heat number on their calf before the race), but only saw a few with the number 10.

One individual with a number 10 on his calf gave me a great race on the bike. While this person was on a road bike, and I was on my mountain bike, we continued to pass each other throughout the bike route. After the race, this individual said to me, "Thanks for the competition out there, you motivated me to push myself harder".

The time for my bike portion was 47:50, not too shabby for riding a mountain bike!

Transition #2

My second transition was once again a significant improvement from my previous race, the Buffalo triathlon. I came speeding into the transition area full speed, slammed on my breaks which made an awful squeaking sound, and unmounted my bike. As I ran down the isle guiding my bike, I unlatched my chin strap. When I arrived at my area, I quickly set my bike on the bike rack, removed my helmet and glasses, grabbed a hammer gel, and was on my way for the last leg of the race. As I was exiting the transition area, I remember seeing my beautiful wife cheering, "Go Troy". I'm not sure if she completely knows how much inspiration seeing her, and hearing those words help to propel me forward.

The Run

I started out the run with my legs feeling a little sore from the bike ride, but a minute into the run was all I could take. The cramping became so bad in my calves, I had to stop for a moment and stretch out both calves. After stretching I still felt the calf muscles tighten with each step forward, but I mentally told myself, "run through it and it will get better". About seven minutes into the run the cramping was gone and I was pushing a decent pace, but uncertain with how much fuel I had left in my energy tank, I reminded myself to keep a good steady pace until the turn around point. Upon reaching the turn around, I slammed a cup of water, and realizing I had enough fuel to carry me through the finish line, kicked my pace into the next level. As I did on the bike route, I would seek out anyone with a number 9 on their calf and make passing them my goal. This time I did find a couple of people with a number 9, and I did pass them. I finished the run portion at a solid pace, and with a time of 25:43.

Conclusion

While I fell just shy of my goal, I felt I made great improvements in both transition, as well as with the bike and run portion. However, I do need to work on my swimming, and I'm considering researching if adult swimming lessons exist.

As for my next triathlon, I'm going to take a little time off because our 2nd child should arrive shortly! After the birth of our second child, I'll have to evaluate my available time and see if one more triathlon can fit into the schedule. Ideally, I would like to compete in the Lake Country triathlon on August 24th.

3 days until race day

The Graniteman Triathlon is now 3 days away, and I'm pumped! I feel I'm more prepared for this triathlon than I was the Buffalo triathlon I competed in just over a month ago, plus I now know what to expect. While I have not practiced any combos (bike then run) this time, I feel in much better shape than when I competed in the Buffalo triathlon.

Last night I completed my final bike training. I was able to complete a 14 mile bike route in just over 44 minutes, that's pretty good. Today I will complete my final practice run, and tomorrow I will finish my training with a swim at the pool.

I put some thought into a goal for the Graniteman, and while the goal will challenge me, I believe it is attainable. My goal is 1 hour and 30 minutes. The distances again are as follows:

• Swim 1/3 mile
• Bike 15 miles
• Run 3.2 miles