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Chisago Lakes HIM
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Chisago Lakes HIM - Triathlon1/2 Ironman
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 Swim
Comments: I'm not a good swimmer, but I can swim. Having finished two other half Ironman races and a full Ironman I can obviously get the distance done. It's not pretty to watch, but I can move forward in the water. Even after 170,000+ yards this season I haven't improved much. I have become more relaxed.....or so I thought. The swim went like this... My wife and I started at the back of our wave, which was the last wave. This meant there was no one behind us. This being her first race I kind of wanted to keep an eye on her and make sure she was OK. We started out just fine...then maybe 5 minutes into the swim I started losing breath. I breast stroked a few times then went back to freestyle. Only a few more strokes and things got worse. I couldn't catch my breath. This continued to the point that I really started to worry. When I'd stop stroking and come up to catch my breath my heart rate would spike and I'd start wheezing and gasping for breath. I've never felt anything like this before even though I've had several bad swims. This was different. My lungs were not taking in air at the rate they should. Was it panic? Asthma attack? Or some other medical problem....I don't know. There was no reason for me to panic. The water was calm. I wasn't crowded. I don't have asthma...or I don;t think I do. I continued to swim. The wheezing and gasping progressively got worse. At one point I was very close to calling over a kayak to hold on to just so I could regain my composure. This was by far the worst experience I've had during a swim. If I had to go another loop I would have DNF'd. Another strange thing as a result of this "episode" was that my legs were burning like lactic acid was building up. Hypoxia? If anyone knows what the hell was happening to me please share. I finished ahead of my wife by about a minute but I decided to stand at the edge of the water to wait for her so we could cross the timing mat together. This only added maybe a minute to my swim time. What would you do differently?: I would love to figure out what the hell is wrong with me and the swim. If it's panic then why wouldn't I feel nervous or scared of swimming. I'm neither. If it's medical...I don't want to know what it is because Ironman Wisconsin is 6 weeks away. No time to fix the problem. I do know I have a heart condition (leaking valve) that causes blood to back flow into my left ventricle if I'm under too much stress. In a worse case scenario blood can be pushed into my lungs. If this is what is happening then I'd probably be coughing up blood, which I wasn't. I was coughing like crazy....but no blood.  Transition 1
 Bike
Comments: Ahhh....cycling. My saving grace. I was hoping to have a faster average but I went into this race with absolutely no taper and 13 hours of training in my legs from the prior 5 days. I wasn't expecting to be fresh. After mounting up I headed out from the back of the pack. Remember...I was in the last wave and one of the slowest swimmer so I had a schit load of people to pass...including short course athletes. This would be one of very few complaints I have about this race. 70.3 athletes had to mingle with the shorties on the bike course, which was dangerous to say the least. About 2 miles in I was blocked by several obese women on mountain bikes riding three abreast having a chat. Yes, they were racing too, but obviously had different goals than I. I yelled two or three times that I'm passing on the left. They continued chatting blocking the entire path we were on. Yes, for a short while we had to ride on a path. Anyway....I finally yelled..."You're blocking the road. Move over!" One of the ladies budged just enough to let me through. Once on the road I found my groove and began pushing the pedals. This course was relatively flat, with a few rollers and one or two "hills". Under ideal circumstances I should have been able to hold an average of 24. This wasn't going to happen today. Legs were still infused with lactic goobers from Ironman training. None-the-less I pushed at a fairly high Z-3 effort. What would you do differently?: Secure my aero-drink bottle. I made it two steps past the mount line when it dropped off of my bars and hit the ground spilling most of it's contents. Transition 2
 Run
Comments: I entered the run deprived of calories that I failed to take in on the bike. I knew that if I tried to play catch-up I'd either puke or schit myself. So my plan was to nibble on gel starting at the second water stop and continue to drink and nibble for the first 6-8 miles. This seemed to work because I was able to get in two gels in 8 miles and only came close once to sharting on myself. Sorry....just the facts. I tried to bury my head and just run a comfortable pace as long as I could and ward off walking until I absolutely had to. This came around mile 7 at a water stop. I began walking the water stops to drink and eat then immediately go back to jogging. I was surprised that I was able to finish the entire 13.1 without walking more than a few feet. I crossed the finish line at 5:18....roughly 23 minutes PR from my best 70.3. What would you do differently?: Pay closer attention to my nutrition and not cut corners. Post race
Warm down: Ran to my car to grab my camera so I could photograph my wife's finish. Had a few minutes to spare so I ate an entire watermelon. What limited your ability to perform faster: Lactic acid build up. Poor swim skills. Possible underlying health problem. Obese chicks on mountain bikes. Mosquitos. Event comments: The race director and volunteers did a great job. The road conditions were a little rough...but there's a limit to how much control they have over that. Volunteers were friendly and plentiful. The finish area and food were very nice. They had stacks of Swedish pancakes and loads of watermelon. All that an athletes needs and desires. Last updated: 2007-12-18 12:00 AM
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 2008-07-28 2:18 PM |
Elite  2863    |  Subject: Chisago Lakes HIM |
| 2008-07-28 3:26 PM in reply to: #1565025 |
Extreme Veteran 366 "the wave", iowa | Subject: RE: Chisago Lakes HIM sorry about the swim, but with a 23 minute drop with no taper, i have difficultly feeling too much sympathy for you. swedish pancakes? were they made by a swedish chef?
Edited by Noz 2008-07-28 3:26 PM |
way to go man! you are going to destroy MOO!
| 2008-07-28 3:51 PM in reply to: #1565025 |
Elite 2673 Muskego, WI | Subject: RE: Chisago Lakes HIM 5:18? You sandbagging piece of g-bage!!!!
AWESOME race! Truly PHENOMENAL HIM run for you! Exceptional! I'm duly impressed not only with the race, but with the week you had leading up to it. You are rounding into great form. On the swim, I'll just say what you described is how I'm feeling when I'm panicking. Everytime the head goes up the breathing gets worse until I calm myself. It would have been interesting had you actually gotten a kayak for a second...if the issue would have subsided quickly. I was gasping like that one time until I realized I could touch bottom, and in NANO-SECONDS my breathing returned to normal. It was almost funny. I don't know if that's the case for you, but from afar I'd guess it was panic. You may ask why, and I'll just say...who the F knows? |
| 2008-07-28 3:51 PM in reply to: #1565025 |
Elite 3687 | Subject: RE: Chisago Lakes HIM Great race. You mentioned you had some problems with the swim yesterday but I didn't think they were so severe. Glad you made it through and didn't have to throw in the towel. This is the 2nd race in two weeks I have done where you share the short course with the long course. It does get a little challenging going around the short course stragglers who really don't know triathlon ettiquette. I think it is great they are competing, they just need to know the rules also. Like you I liked the bike course. Miles 48-53 were pretty bone jarring though. Great job out there. So nice to meet you and your wife and look forward to seeing you again at MOO |
| 2008-07-28 5:32 PM in reply to: #1565025 |
Extreme Veteran 388 Overland Park, Kansas | Subject: RE: Chisago Lakes HIM Great Race an report! Gotta love those moutain bike ladies! Congrats to you wife, finishing her 1st HIM! Hope you don't have a swim problem like that again! Mooo
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| 2008-07-28 5:32 PM in reply to: #1565025 |
Extreme Veteran 388 Overland Park, Kansas | Subject: RE: Chisago Lakes HIM Great Race an report! Gotta love those moutain bike ladies! Congrats to you wife, finishing her 1st HIM! Hope you don't have a swim problem like that again! Mooo
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| 2008-07-28 8:58 PM in reply to: #1565025 |
| Extreme Veteran 344 | Subject: RE: Chisago Lakes HIM Awesome bike split, and 23 min. off your PR is intense! Congrats!! |
| 2008-07-29 9:58 AM in reply to: #1565025 |
Expert 1148 NW Suburbs, Illinois | Subject: RE: Chisago Lakes HIM Fantastic Race. I agree that it sounds like a panic ordeal. And although, it wasn't a panic situation (last wave, calm water, etc.), it still happens. Not sure how to handle it, though. Wish I knew some secrets b/c it surely effected your swim. But whatever, that is a great, great race. PR by 23 minutes, not to mention that you had no taper and you can tell it was definitely a B or C priority in that you were helping your wife, too. And that takes a lot out of you, as well. I expect BIG things at MOO. BIG THINGS!
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| 2008-07-29 11:28 AM in reply to: #1565025 |
Extreme Veteran 502 Woodbury, | Subject: RE: Chisago Lakes HIM Maybe the swimming issues stemmed from the fact that God did not intend for humans to navigate their way around the planet via the water. If He had, there would be some evidence such as fins, gills, etc. As it is, He remains relatively tolerant of our foolishness (after all, it must seem pretty ungrateful of us to take to the water after He worked so hard on inventing feet), but occasionally just red bikes with us to keep us honest. Actually, your experience sounds like about every OWS I have ever had. Really, I have no advice or insight, only smart-assed comments (as usual). I did want to say: 1) it was nice to meet you and your wife before the race, 2) nice recovery for a good race after a rocky start and 3) even with your water struggles, you were still 30 sec / 100 m faster than me (and it was my most comfortable swim leg ever). Good luck with the end of your MOO training and have a fun race! |
| 2008-07-29 1:08 PM in reply to: #1565025 |
Master 1249 Atlanta, GA | Subject: RE: Chisago Lakes HIM Awesome race! Seems like you did great recovering from the swim incident and from slacking on nutrition! You should be so proud of that huge PR! Just wait till Moo...you get to taper for that race! |
| 2008-07-29 2:01 PM in reply to: #1565025 |
Master 2021 Alpharetta, GA | Subject: RE: Chisago Lakes HIM I love the easy run pace at 8:26/mile pace. WOW, that is definitely moving Congrats on the finish, and new PR. |
| 2008-07-30 8:43 PM in reply to: #1565025 |
Master 1671 West Bend, WI | Subject: RE: Chisago Lakes HIM fantastic race! Even with a swim freak out  |
| 2008-07-30 9:02 PM in reply to: #1565025 |
Iron Donkey 38643 , Wisconsin | Subject: RE: Chisago Lakes HIM You swim like me, but bike like a MADMAN!! Noooiiice run, too!! Great job with the overall time! |
| 2008-08-01 3:53 PM in reply to: #1565025 |
Extreme Veteran 475 Blaine, MN | Subject: RE: Chisago Lakes HIM sweeet.. no shitting, gagging, or falling down either!!! way to go.. oh wait .. you did gag in the water.. ok.. but a PR nonetheless.. your bike is freaking fast for having that much prior few dazzzz.. nice going!!! |
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Arrived at the race site at 5:00 AM sharp. I tried to convince my wife we didn't need to get there that early because this was a relatively small race. This was to be her first 70.3 triathlon so she was a little nervous about having enough time to get stuff ready. It was a good thing we did get there early because the race site was packed and had more people registering on-site just two hours before the race. Between the short course and long course I beleive there were 1100-1200 athletes. After setting up our transition areas (my wife and I were next to each other) I walked over to meet MNDiver (Bryan). Chatted a bit then headed back to transition to grab my wet suit. When I arrived at my transition area I checked over my bike one last time and found that the rear brake had pushed in just enough to wedge the brake pad against the rim. The only way to fix this is to turn the brake assembly where it connects to the frame with a wrench. I had to run to my car and grab a wrench, which too a few minutes. After getting the bike fixed I had about 3 minutes to get out of the T area. This was the first mistake of the day...not checking over my bike prior to racking it.
Short swim in the lake.