Last weekend I headed up to Winona Minnesota for the Trinona triathlon. This was not a race I had heard much about and did not know much about the area. I was definitely in for a treat. It was a great small town feel with some amazing scenery.
The race is relatively new but wow they did a great job. What was interesting about this race was the "Battle for the Bluff" challenge. The challenge is a separate split time for a mile long climb up a bluff in the middle of the ride. Lets just say I was a little nervous about how that would leave me for the rest of the race.
As the second race of the season there were still a lot of "what ifs" about where my fitness was and a lot of pre-race nervousness. Not a whole lot of thought went into pacing, race specifics or who the competition was. Although there were a few names that I had either never beat or knew would most likely take it all. Most of my thought was geared toward the basics like transitions not making any stupid mistakes.
The race was absolutely gorgeous. While riding to the race site there was some thick fog over the lake and surrounding bluffs. While burning off there were spots where the sun was really bright and others that still had the grey haze. Once the sun was out the weather could not have been better. We were blessed with perfect temps and sun.
The strategy was similar to Pigman: get out fast and hold on. I swam my fastest split ever and then topped it off with a 45 second run pr. By not thinking much about the uncontrollable parts of the race, such as who else was on the line and how hard the ride might be, my mind was where it needed to be. Mostly I just didn't mess anything up too bad and had a good result come from it.
I crossed second after David Tompson tore it up. I knew my result was pretty good as I had kept the distance about the same on the run with the guy behind me. It wasnt until later that found out I had 2 PR's and ended up having the fastest split up the bluff. I do, however, owe that to the riding I did in Italy. Lets just say there are some more hills there than in Iowa. The State Fair Crit may have also helped out a little as well.
It was awesome to be able to spend the weekend with my parents and Aunt Joanie. It is nice to be able to hang out with them every once in a while.
I need to thank everyone else who is helping me reach my goals; Discounttrisupply.com for supplying me with gear, Kruger Chiropractic for getting me back to 100% after injury, Multisport Mastery for being the brains of the operation, Ruster Sports and Kyle's Bikes.
Next up is Copper Creek!
