Races Recap

I've been a bit busy with races in the recent past, so I'll try to give a quick recap.

Minneman Triathlon - 06/30/07, Oak Grove, MN
My first REAL triathlon of the season went fairly well. I had just gotten back from Brazil earlier that week and had found out I was off the Channel team, so my mind wasn't terribly focused. But it was a sprint-distance, and I found my focus soon enough. Nothing terribly memorable about the race itself except I had a faster 5k run split than ever before (during a triathlon.) Tom, my parents, one sister and two nephews were there which made the day much more fun. Plus, my old roomie Ariane (yes, she moved out :() finished her first triathlon, and did quite well.






























Timberman Triathlon - 07/07/07, Grand Rapids, MN
After a week of riding with a loose spoke, I finally replaced it the day before the race and my bike was in good condition for the cracked, bumpy roads in Grand Rapids. I love this race because it is in a beautiful location and the atmosphere is so fun; but there were definitely some downsides to the race:
1. My lake warmup consisted of me dolphin-diving off the bottom and hitting my face on a rock.
2. It was 90 degrees outside
3. I hadn't trained for that distance triathlon (Olympic - 1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run)
I was pretty tired when I finished, but Tom and I drove to Duluth afterwards and finished off the weekend playing with the other sister and set of nephews on Spring Lake. It was very relaxing.

Iron Creek XTERRA Off-Road Triathlon - 07/14/07, Spearfish, SD
This was by-far the most difficult race of the trifecta, maybe the most difficult race I've done (including a marathon, half-ironman triathlon, and a 9-hour adventure race. I won't deny that the amount of training impacted the level of difficulty...) A beautiful course, we did a 2-loop swim in Iron Creek Lake, a 22k ride on the Old Baldy trail system in the Black Hills, and an 8k/2-loop run around the lake. The bike was definitely the most difficult. Technical and hilly; I have the most massive bruise on my leg to show that I lost the battle between myself and the terrain. I learned a ton on the bike though, and I am very excited to get out and try more technical terrain in the area.






























Tom and I finished off the trip with a detour to Mt Rushmore; very majestic!