Disclaimer: I’m writing this for the blog in June 2018. And, yes, it still stings a bit!
Reflecting on the 10 months since still stings a bit but it taught me an important lesson! My goal was to break 6 hours for this event and I’ll start off with that!
Training/life background: Training was good considering my husband and I decided to sell our South Minneapolis house and downsize to a one bedroom apartment between June and July which was a lot of extra work but work and effort we wanted to do. We moved to our apartment at the end of July and my road bike was stolen out of our secured garage the first night there. Yes, the really happened and shook us considerably. We ultimately decided to stay at our apartment but now I was bikeless and had a 70.3 in 4 weeks! I knew I’d probably buy a triathlon bike in 2018 so I was faced with a tough decision I wasn’t ready to make. I decided to buy a triathlon bike and found a great bike, Felt B2, at Gear West Bike. I splurged for the automatic gear shifters but kept my old shoes with mountain bike dual sided clips as I wasn’t ready to perfect a new shoe/clip combination.
Riding a tri bike is much different than a road bike and it took me awhile (remembering my 70.3 is less than 4 weeks away) but I did what I could to prepare myself.
Event: The Superior Man 70.3 Triathlon takes place in Duluth, Minnesota and the swim takes place in Lake Superior. Yikes! Participants take the Vista Fleet to a drop point in a bay and the race starts! Leading up to the event I was nervous this part, especially the thought of very cold water and big waves. I tried to acclimate by taking cold showers and even an ice bath! Another thing I was worried about was the fact that I had a sleeveless wetsuit and knew this would be risky! But, I wasn’t going to buy/rent another wetsuit, especially since sleeves made me feel trapped!
Saturday, 8/26 – Travel Day
We left Minneapolis and stopped for lunch at our favorite eating while biking spot, Birchwood Cafe, and then headed north! We were greeting with rain throughout the drive and downpour in Duluth. We went to packet pickup in Canal Park and attended the athletes meeting. Of course, the question I asked was about bike techs on the course. I was told there was one. One mechanic for 56 miles – not ideal. Changing a tire remained a concern for over two years since I first purchased my bike and experienced at least two flats during the season. Fortunately/Unfortunately, I’ve always had help changing the tire and STILL haven’t mastered the technique on my own.
We stayed with friends in the Duluth area and had a fun evening at Bent Paddle Brewing had a great dinner at OMC Smokehouse.
Sunday, 8/27 – Race Day!
As always it is an early morning and I was excited to see the rain had mostly stopped and hoped the roads would try out before trekking out for 56 miles. But first, that swim in the mighty Lake Superior. Alex helped me set everything up and we walked to the boat entrance together and then I was loaded and waving to him in the distance. Regarding the wetsuit sleeves situation, I was one of about 10% without sleeves. I can do this! We reached the drop point and athletes jumped every 3-4 seconds. OMG! And just like that I was swimming. The first few strokes were cold but after that the water felt great. The ironic thing is that the swimming portion would turn out to be my favorite. We swam two laps and then followed a canal to a boat ramp and exited the water. 41: something awesome!
T1: Because the air was cooler I decided to wear arm warmers and quickly (with wet arms) put them on, gathered everything else in my jersey and I was off!
Bike: We had to maneuver a few turns at the beginning to get out of town which was okay to gradually warm up and pick up speed. The course is an out and back with the out being on the shoulder of Highway 61 and the back being on old Highway 61. I cruised along the out and passed several people on the very bumpy shoulder. Unfortunately, I saw at least three flats and that worried me. I made the turn and head back into town and thought I was in the clear as old Highway 61 had new pavement. At mile 31 my luck ended. I had a flat tire. I pulled off and took off the tire and could not figure out how to put in the new tube and tire. I was sad, mad at myself and helpless. Other cruised by and asked if I needed help but no one was going to stop. I had everything I needed..except the skill to do so! After about 20 minutes of being sidelined, a girl stopped and helped me! She had experienced several flats already that season and literally changed it in under 2 minutes. She put on my tire and I was off again. It was extremely hard to remain committed and focused on the rest of the event. I knew my under 6 goals was out the window as I lost about 26 minutes with the flat. I knew Alex would be wondering about me as well and ran into him as I rounded a big turn before entering downtown Duluth. I stopped and told him what happened. He asked if I was going to do the run and I said yes. Although my time was out the window, I would not quit.
T2: I took my time. I was done racing (under 6 was out the winder) and away I went.
Run: Although the run was through Canal Park, there was too many turns and poor signage, and I hated it. It was a two loop course which had a confusion exchange. I’m totally okay with out and back but loops are tough! I stopped to say hi to Alex and get another handheld water flask with Nuun Performance. I cramped. I finished.
After: I was super bummed. More than anything, I was mad at myself and knew a flat should have been a 5 minute stop, NBD, but it turned out to ruin my race.
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