Man, you get behind on blogging for a couple of weeks and four races have passed! I am slacking in the blog department this year. I guess getting race packets and being at the right place at the right time has been all I can think about. It's certainly race season with FOUR races in three weekends.
What better way to 'report' on a race then by pictures/videos?? So here goes...
Race 1 - New Bri Tri, June 4th in New Brighton (my backyard tri!) and with all my Lifetime buddies! I had an absolute blast at this race. Mainly due to the fact of having so many of my friends and teammates there racing and cheering, and that it was a beautiful day. My swim was ok, bike was ok, and run was horrible. I felt like I couldn't remember how to 'push it' once I got to the run. No big deal, it was the first outdoor race of the season. One of my friends did this as his very first tri ever and totally ROCKED it! Here he is post-race taking a breather (he's in the middle). I think this is a face of "I'm hooked", don't you??
Race 2 - Liberty Half Ironman Relay (swimmer), June 11th. Lots of P2ers raced this one so I was mainly a cheerleader this day since all I "raced" was the first leg. Our team came in 2nd. The 1st place team was all male and had an insanely fast swimmer and biker. Not like we couldn't have beat them, but none of us are on steroids. :) Here's video of our team that day:
Here's our team post race:
Race 3 - Manitou Triathlon, June 12th. Loved this race! It was really well run thanks to Optum Health Performance. It makes me extra happy that they are running Minneman this year and I am planning to sign up for the 'new' Twin Cities Triathlon, also put on by Optum.
There were lots of P2ers racing and cheering again so that was fun. The course is also super flat and fast. It's rare when this happens, but the worst leg of the day for me at this one was the swim. I swam to the wrong buoy! I went to the first one just fine, but when I looked up to head to the second one I veered off to the right and reached the second buoy, on the other side of the course. I am blaming my goggles as they were fogged up beyond belief. Once I ran into a kayaker who was yelling at me to go the other way, I took my goggles off to re-establish where exactly I was, then when I realized, I was just plain emabrassed. Oops! There were others with me though so it wasn't just me. Not sure if I lead that effort or not, but we eventually made our way through the swim. :)The bike was a little slow going, the legs took about 10 miles to want to work, but the run was actually MUCH better than the week before. I felt like I pushed it much harder and just felt better all around with it. Overall, the results turned out good, even with my much less than stellar swim and bike this day, I was 1st in my age group! The rest of our team dominated this race too. EVERY P2er made the podium! Noelle was there to cheer as well and got some good pictures, here are some of that day:
Race 4 - Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon, June 18th, in my hometown!! I really wanted to be a part of Grandma's Marathon weekend again this year as I missed last year due to having a long training weekend. After missing it last year I decided I would never miss it again. A 32 year streak is nothing to break! It was POURING rain and cold once we got up to the start. It was tough to take off my pants and jacket to get lined up at the starting line in only shorts and a thin shirt. At about mile 4 the rain had stopped, there was a tailwind, and it turned out to be an ideal day for a marathon (or a half marathon as it were). My only goal was to hold a steady pace and to beat the time I ran at Fargo Half. I was beating it by a long shot until I needed to take a bathroom break. There were long lines at every bathroom, but I couldn't hold it anymore so I had to wait in line and got a bit behind my time. I didn't mind though, I was SO happy to be back and running in Grandma's Half! Here's a photo that actually looks like I'm haulin'... It must have been at the end. :)Next up is Minneman over July 4th weekend. Taking a little break until then to have a party and cheer for my teammates who are racing Ironman Couer D'Alene THIS weekend!!
