2009 Liberty Triathlon

2009 Liberty Race Reports.

The 2009 liberty Triathlon was my first 70.4 of the year,  it would have been my second 70.3 of the year,  but due to the lack of good voulenteers and cops that were not happy that they had to work at a triathlon instead of work on thier cholesteral, I took 2 wrong turns on the bike and added some milage.  realistically it probably added less than a minute to my time,  but it was frustrating.  

The Race got a tough start as I showed up late after being lost trying to find a caribou that was open at 5:30 on a saturday in the suburbs.  I was going to rock a new set of tridonkey wheels that mercury let me use.  We pimped them up Tridonkey style before the race.  pink on one side and yellow on the other.  Nate dogg had the trailer in place and was in a bit of a panic himself when I decided to burdeon him with my own problems.  Nate fixed my derailer but we were both not in the mood to try and figure out what was up with the disc wheel, (10 second fix we later found out).
 

He loaned me his 808 back,  and off we went to transition.  We barely got down to the start after putting our bikes in the worst position possible (the only ones open).  I was in the "competitive wave" and so nestled in with the other donkeys at the start.  I usually go to the front,  but decided to take it a little easier and start in the 3rd row.  this was a mistake,  I ended up walking behind the swimmers for about 20 feet and then tried to manuver through them,  I got sandwiched and was pin balling between some people.  normally this would not be a big deal,  but two nights ago I sprained my thumb pretty badly and swimming itself was already a suspect activity,  so fighting people in the water was not a good idea.  I got through the mess and felt like ass for about 500 yards.  I was feeling pretty flat and sore after that soccer game (yes I know it was a dumb idea),  and hoped my body would bounce back.  luckily before the first turn, 40% of the 1.2 mile swim I started to feel ok.  I couldn't tell where I was in the pack,  but I felt like I was swimming well.  I tried to draft off someone who was a touch faster than me that I later found out was a fast woman tridonkey thea.  she ditched me by swimming straight instead of the drunken wave pattern I was doing,  so I couldn't draft.  I got out of the water to some nice donkey shouts and got in and out of transition pretty fast for me.  I think I was 6th out of the water.  

Now the depressing part.  I didn't pass anyone on the bike.  I only got passed.  Nate Dogg passed me about 7 miles in,  and chach passed me about mile 30.  My goal was to bike hard, but I just couldn't get the legs rolling and the effort up.  I tried not to get demoralized but it was tough.  I worked hard, but was dissapointed in my work ethic.  I ran out of water with 10 miles to go and was getting mad at the race itself for its poor organization (taking wrong turns,  bad management of road traffic,  and lack of well placed water stops).  the last 10 miles were tough without the water,  it was a wierd out and back 4 out 4 back for the last 8 miles so you could see where everyone was.  I saw nate and chach,  and a bunch of other people cruising to the transition when I was still heading the other way...not cool.

this is just before I took the wrong turn...this hill sucked by the way.  Behind me are people that haven't passed me yet.
I got to transition,  looked into my bag and grabbed my bottle of enduralytes,  I knew I was dehydrated and was worried about cramping.  I snarfed down 3 tablets and took my time at the first water stop to try and rehydrate.  the run was a tough one on the way out,  a big up hill to start and then rolling through the hills on a trail.  I saw nate dogg ahead and decided to pee in the woods prior to trying to run him down.  it was a lonely day with not a lot of people on the course,  and not a lot of places to watch.   I took it pretty easy until the turnaround,  and then tried to pick it up.  I clicked off some hard miles just above 7 min. splits.  I finished pretty strong,  but was just getting the chills so my day was pretty much done anyway luckily it was only a mile before the finish.  4:44 and change.  30:10 swim, 2:35 bike, 1:36 run....  I was pretty happy with it except for my bike,  I had been doing well in road races up to this event and thought I would have a bit more spunk,  but maybe I am just a panzy when it comes to suffering on the bike.  
Today I was a wreck,  my legs hate me and I don't blame them.

Nate and Chach coming in to transition

 18   5/40    272 Carl Unger               36 M   Prior Lake         MN   34   32:47  1:34  1:25   17 2:28:04  22.7  1:26   26 1:35:00  7:16 4:38:38 

   19   2/8     212 Tyler Olson              24 M   Minneapolis        MN   50   33:59  1:37  1:32    1 2:15:55  24.7  1:01   63 1:48:05  8:16 4:40:30 

   20   1/12    214 Matthew Onnen            34 M   Minneapolis        MN  110   37:19  1:47  2:07   15 2:26:49  22.9  0:51   25 1:34:42  7:14 4:41:45 

   21   6/40    209 Michael Olson            39 M   Savage             MN   31   32:37  1:33  3:09   31 2:34:28  21.8  1:14   17 1:30:51  6:57 4:42:15 

   22   7/40    151 Paul Krumrich            36 M   Minneapolis        MN   15   30:10  1:26  1:31   32 2:35:03  21.7  1:08   28 1:36:27  7:22 4:44:16 

   23   8/40    311 Karl Adalbert            38 M   Minneapolis        MN  124   38:31  1:50  2:13   35 2:35:24  21.6  1:12   16 1:30:43  6:56 4:48:00 

   24   9/40    285 Shane Waskey             35 M   St Louis Park      MN   99   36:40  1:45  1:18   28 2:32:19  22.1  1:02   29 1:37:36  7:27 4:48:51 

   25   3/31     24 Jamie Blunden            41 M   Oakbank            MA   60   34:32  1:39  1:16   18 2:28:31  22.6  0:58   35 1:40:05  7:39 4:49:20 

   26   6/27    191 Joe Moyer                31 M   Rochester          MN  184   41:41  1:59  2:01    7 2:21:33  23.7  1:27   40 1:42:46  7:51 4:49:26 

   27  10/40     32 Grant Braasch            36 M   St. Louis Park     MN   33   32:43  1:33  1:31   22 2:31:26  22.2  1:40   39 1:42:12  7:49 4:49:30 

   28   4/31    269 Nathaniel Tollefson      43 M   Minneapolis        MN   17   31:14  1:29  1:13   19 2:29:51  22.4  1:31   57 1:46:13  8:07 4:49:59 

   29   2/12    257 Justin Smith             35 M   Fargo              ND   35   33:06  1:35  2:27   51 2:39:05  21.1  1:34   24 1:34:30  7:13 4:50:39 

   30  11/40     84 Phillip Falkner          39 M   Minneapolis        MN   89   36:10  1:43  1:32   75 2:43:24  20.6  1:29   10 1:28:38  6:46 4:51:08 

   31   3/8      58 Brett Danielson          20 M   Cokato             MN  102   36:49  1:45  1:26   30 2:34:09  21.8  0:46   32 1:38:45  7:33 4:51:53 

   32  12/40     56 Heath Cunningham         37 M   Winnipeg           MA   87   36:07  1:43  2:15   49 2:38:55  21.1  1:30   19 1:33:25  7:08 4:52:09 

   33   7/27    260 Mario Sosa-Sol           32 M   Minneapolis        MN   41   33:28  1:36  1:10   52 2:39:19  21.1  1:23   30 1:38:05  7:30 4:53:23 

I don't know Krum, I read your race report and it seems like you are blaming everyone but yourself.  Is that what Tridonkeys do? 

"I took 2 wrong turns on the bike and added some milage.  realistically it probably added less than a minute to my time,  but it was frustrating"  It seems to me, being a little more prepared and maybe driving the course ahead of time would have prevented this problem from happening.  I would be shocked if the organizers didn't have the bike course mapped out somewhere on the web. 

"I showed up late after being lost trying to find a caribou that was open at 5:30 on a saturday in the suburbs"  Again this appears to be only one persons fault.  I would also think that you could find the nearest Caribou Coffee on the web.  Here is a link: http://www.cariboucoffee.com/asp/locations/index.asp

"We barely got down to the start after putting our bikes in the worst position possible (the only ones open)"  Krum you have no one to blame but yourself.  You might want to add the 6Ps to the Tridonkey Declaration of Independance.  Prior Planning Prevents Piss Pour Performance.  Smarten Up.