Photos from the Chisago Lakes Triathlon (and Examiner Thoughts)

A week ago, I posted photos from Matt’s first triathlon at the Chisago Lakes Triathlon. Here are a few more (non-Matt) photos from the race:

Ready to star the Half Iron race (with Mark giving me “the horns”)


Starting the Half Iron race


Sprinters on the left, Half Iron-ers on the right


Up the hill to T1

Pharmie and I got to watch the female sprint race unfold. Jenny Wilcox came out of transition about 30 seconds behind the lead female. Jenny cracked a smile as we were cheering for her when she started the run:

She ended up SMOKING the 5K run, passing the lead female, winning the race, and set a new course record in the process! Here she is getting ready to enter the park as she nears the finish:

Congrats Jenny!!

Local stud Patrick Parish came in first off the bike, and only added to his lead by running a sub-17:00 5K on a usually slow course! Look at how he “floated” to another win:

We also got to cheer Lauren on to her 3rd (I think) triathlon:

Starting the run


Nearing the finish

This brings me to a final point. I wrote 2 Examiner articles about the Chisago Lakes Triathlon. The first post contains a race recap as well as a slideshow of 20 images from the race. The second post is just a handful of more images.

I’ve been the “St. Paul Triathlon Examiner” since near the end of 2009, and I want to let you know (especially locals) that you can subscribe to my RSS feed or sign up via e-mail to be notified when I publish new articles.

Click here to go to my Examiner page and subscribe.

Here’s what sort of things I write about. These are my last 10 articles:

• 2 articles (with photos) about the Chisago Lakes Triathlon: number one and number two.

• An article about a local engaged couple (who both do triathlons and duathlons) who are getting married DURING an upcoming marathon.

• Gear West just announced their first ever run / bike / run / bike / run duathlon named the Mosquito Man.

• The only local (as far as I know) off-road triathlon is coming up in a few weeks.

• Next weekend, the Cervelo eRide Tour will be in town, and you can test ride their newest, sweetest bikes.

• Photos and results from the first Great Prairie Swim, a 2.5K and 5K open water swim race.

• 3 articles about the much-hyped Lifetime Fitness Triathlon: results and photos from the race, 5 videos from the event, and pro triathlete and Olympian Sarah Haskins on our local morning news program.

If those sort of local triathlon-related stories interest you, please consider going to my Examiner page and subscribing (via e-mail or RSS). More subscribers will make me more “legitimate,” which will help my page become more accessible to search engines.

(While I’m posting links, feel free to follow me on twitter (where I post links to some of my articles), join my Facebook fan page (where I let my fans know about giveaways before anyone else and where you can leave notes on the group’s wall to reach any of the other 550 group members), and, if you don’t know it, I also have a photo blog where I post occasionally about what’s going on in my teaching / fine art life.)

Thanks everyone! Happy weekend!! Oh, and check back Monday for a race report from the Waseca Triathlon. Matt and I are racing tomorrow!! (It will be Matt’s second triathlon ever - his first 2 triathlons 1 week apart!!) And yes, I WILL be rocking the sweet new swimsuit shown in my last post, so brace yourself!

;)

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Friday Funny 105: Steve in a Speedo's New Speedo

I got a package in the mail yesterday. It was our recent order from SwimOutlet.com. It contained a sweet new suit for me. If I can work up the courage, I think this is ALL I'll wear at Sunday's sprint triathlon:

That's right.
No tri shorts.
No tri suit.
Just a swimsuit straight out of 1983.
Awesome.

I think my butt will survive 14 miles without a little padding. I hope.

Also (and this is kinda funny), Gear West just announced a new duathlon that they are going to put on this September. It's a run / bike / run / bike / run. No, that's not a typo. Yes, you read that right. You can do it as an individual or as a team - both team members do the entire race, and then they take the finishing time of the second finisher. BUT, the teammates can work with each other and draft off each other on the bike. AND they actually have a "significant other" team category! How sweet is that?! Click here to see more details about the first ever "Mosquito Man Duathlon."

Happy Friday!

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Friday Funny 104: If Cosmo Was Honest

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Is THIS What I Look Like When I Race?!?

I had a pretty good race at the Liberty Olympic Distance Triathlon about 6 weeks ago. I ended up with a nice oly PR at the end of the day. But I just found one more photo in the official photos that I missed a few weeks ago. Here I am rolling into T2:

The epitome of grace. That’s me.

Jeez, I think I NEED to work on a faster / smoother / better dismount!

Notice in that photo that I’m actually just OVER the dismount line by about 6 inches. Oops. I remember coming to the line fast, but then I lost my balance and I wasn’t able to get out of the saddle as soon as I wanted. I ended up coming to a complete stop (just past the line), and then I wobbled to the left to hop off my bike. That photo was taken when I was completely stopped, just as I was tipping to dismount. Super graceful.

That reminds me of another photo of me coming into T2 at a duathlon last year. Here I am in a similar position at the Winter BeGone Duathlon last spring:

Awkward.

What I’d LIKE to look like is local pro triathlete David Thompson (DKT). Here’s a clip of him FLYING off the bike at the Gear West Duathlon a few months ago:


(Click here to see the full 5 minute race recap video from the GW Du.)

I’m signed up for a short sprint triathlon this weekend in Waseca, MN, so I think I’ll be working on my dismount in the next few days.

In the meantime, I’ll keep this photo etched in my mind as motivation.

Yuck.

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My Next “A” Race

My wife’s family and I entered the lottery for the Twin Cities 10 Mile again this year. Both Steph (my sister-in-law) and I just had a feeling that we wouldn’t get in 2 years in a row.

BUT WE DID! WE GOT IN!

There will be 6 of us running the TC 10 Mile!! It’s going to be sister-in-law Steph, brother-in-law Matt, aunt Nancy, cousin Ben, cousin Megan, and I.

Here I am finishing last year’s race in my “bowl full of sunshine” shorts:

This year, I’d love, LOVE, LOVE to shoot for sub 60:00. But that’s a steep order. Maybe I could get down to around 61:00. I dunno. We’ll see what the training brings...

It will just be fun to run a race with family before busting out the costumes to cheer for the TC Marathon...

Oh, and if you missed it, scroll down to yesterday's post to see photos from Matt's first triathlon!!

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Winner of the Anti Monkey Butt Powder

Last night, I picked the winners of the “Anti Monkey Butt Powder” and “Lady Anti Monkey Butt Powder.”

The male and female winners are Dan Isascs and Teacherwoman. And those 2 commented really close to each other, so it must have been a lucky time of day...

Thanks for entering everyone! Back with more shortly.

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Matt’s First Triathlon: The Chisago Sprint Tri

Yesterday was a great day. Matt, my brother-in-law and the other half of the duathlon team of “Team Happy Pants,” raced in his first triathlon!! Pharmie and I were out of town, but we got up at 4 am to drive nearly 3 hours back so we could cheer him on!

We saw lots of other “racing buddies” out there, but this post is devoted to Matt and his first tri. Here’s a bunch of photos of Matt at work:

Matt’s wave entering the water.


Pondering the start.


“Ready, Set, GO!!”


Running in.


Matt’s weakest event is the swim, so he “ran” in as far as he could...


... and then he started swimming with the rest of his wave.


We spotted him taking off his swim cap.


Running out.




Leading a big pack into T1.


Putting on his helmet.
(I had to crop it like this so we could enjoy that butt on the right...)


Starting the bike.


Turning off the path as he’s wrapping up the 21 mile ride.


Wrapping up the ride.


Starting the 5K.


GO MATT!!


Entering the park with about 400 meters to go!




Up the hill, under the Swedish flag, and to the finish!!


Streaking by at the finish!


Getting ready to cross the line of his FIRST triathlon!!

Results:
Matt Linder
400 Meter Swim: 13:59
T1: 1:50
21 Mile Bike: 55:23
T2: 1:30
5K Run: 26:17
Total: 1:38:57

8 out of 32 clydesdales
153 out of 801 overall

CONGRATS MATT!! You did GREAT out there!! You got the FASTEST bike split of all 32 Clydesdales?!? (22.7 mph) GREAT WORK!!

Pharmie was texting Matt after the race. He said he was sore / tired in a different way than just a running race. Pharmie asked if he was hooked, and he texted back “Possibly. Likely. Maybe. TBD.”

(Oh, and a funny side note: someone spotted Matt and asked him “Are you Matt? Are you Steve’s Matt?” Ha! That’s the first time he’s been spotted because of my blog!)

I took more photos yesterday, and I’ll be back with some photos of racing buddies within the next couple of days. Thanks for reading! And one last big CONGRATS to Matt!!!

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Wednesday: A Hellava Good Training Day

When you can fit a swim, bike, and run into one day, it MUST be a good, hard training day.

The day started with 4 of us heading off to Square Lake. We met Denny there, and 2 others showed up as well. So we had a nice gang ready for a swim.

We headed out for about 21 minutes, and then 2 of us decided to head back. Three others cut across the lake at that point, and 2 others were still catching up. We had a few groups of swimmers all just doing their own thing. I ended up having a nice 42:00 swim, and the sun was just coming through the trees by the time I wrapped up:

Then Julia gave some "starting" tips and critiqued "starting" form:

Running in


Dolphin-diving

Finally, they all went in together:

Nice high knees, Julia!


Everyone hitting the water

That evening, I did Kevin O'Connor's "Killer Duathlon Workout." It's a workout I'd done twice before. (Read about the first time here, and read about the second time here.) I had Marie with me the first time, and Matt with me the second time, but this time I was hitting the track solo. I knew that'd be a harder mental workout - it's easier to "give in" when no one else is around.

I got to the track, and there was a major middle-school lacrosse tournament going on. I would NOT be able to use the track.

Side note: Screw "soccer moms." Lacrosse moms are where it's at! Trust me!

But just off the track, near the gates to the street, there was a little "nook" where I felt like I could safely tuck my bike:

Then I figured I could run out onto the sidewalk, run up to a major intersection, run back past the track (checking on my bike) to another major intersection, and then run back to my bike. I knew that'd be just under a mile. Sure enough, after mapping it out after the workout, it was 0.92 miles.

The workout was basically 10:00 on the bike followed by a 1 mile run, and you do that 4 times. Click here to read the details of Kevin's workout.

10:01 easy spinning. Did I mention it was 88 degrees, very humid, and dead calm? I was dripping sweat everywhere in no time.
0:10 transition.
5:59 0.92 mile run.
0:16 transition.

9:29 of intervals on the bike (0:30 hard, 0:30 easy).
0:16 transition.
5:58 0.92 mile run.
0:19 transition.

9:28 of intervals on the bike (0:30 hard, 0:30 easy).
0:11 transition.
5:55 0.92 mile run.
0:19 transition.

9:33 of intervals on the bike (0:30 hard, 0:30 easy).
0:12 transition.
5:57 0.92 mile run.

1:04:10 total workout time.

I had been using my shirt as a towel for my sweaty face, so I had kept it balled up in my aero bars:

I had COMPLETELY sweat through it! It was 100% soaked with Steve juice:

Well, I threw on that wet / heavy shirt, grabbed one last photo, and got packed up to go home:

What a great training day! Now, it's off to Chisago City for Matt's first triathlon tomorrow!!! Wish him luck!

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