Turtle Trot Race Report - a bit overdue

Well year 6 of running the Turtle Trot Triathlon was not a great time but as always it was a great time yet again.(ok, this was from back in July but I forgot to post it oops)

We again did the run first, then the swim followed by the bike. As a reminder it is a 5k, 1/2 mile and 10 mile respectively.

The run went ok, the calf tightened up during the first mile but I was able to keep running, I did slow down each mile as I had to take a couple of short walking breaks. I wasn't sure if it was going to break down or not so I didn't push it as I didn't want to have go into a spasm. I ended up with my second slowest 5k (at the TT) but I was still happy as I had no ankle pain and the calf wasn't as bad as before.

The swim, well I didn't drown, that is about as much as I hope for. It was harder this year then past years as the lake was up and there were times I couldn't touch so I had to swim more than normal :-).

The bike, first though I should give proper credit as during the swim Karyn caught and passed me but we ended up getting out of the water still fairly close together. I did a slightly faster transition which allowed us to bike together. I thought about trying to pedal away but the truth was I am not sure I could have. Karyn had a good day, if not for a huge puddle, she might have PR'd. The huge puddle was fun they got a few inches of rain before the race and the street was flooded out so we peddled through it, it came up to my gear train.

We were both happy we did it and I am sure we will look forward to doing it again next year.

Medical update, RRT & Turtle Trot 2010

Medical Update

Good news, went to the Chiropractor/Physical Trainer and he proclaimed me almost healed up. I am flexible again, ok, that might be an exaggeration but he was at least able to bend me in ways I couldn't bend before. I have a lot of work yet ahead to get the core fixed but I have exercises to do which I now know how to do correctly.

On the running front, I was pleased to get in an 18 mile run over the weekend. Wasn't pretty nor fast but the back didn't cause me pain. It stiffened a little bit but was manageable. So now I just need to get in a boat load of runs before Superior, only problem is that work has become a bit unmanageable but I am participating in a flexible work pilot which theoretically means I should be able to get runs in. Two days in, it just means I no longer have an office and need to cram 16 hours of work into 12 hours or so. So my hope is I can get things back in some level of alignment and figure out how to get the runs in. Tomorrow, I will see if I can start the process of managing all of my priorities.

RRT

I am going to host the Runners Round Table tomorrow. The subject is "Compete or Complete?", should be a fun topic. I like to think I do both even though I wouldn't qualify at any distance of being competitive. My competition is with myself and against the course with an eye on the cutoffs.

Turtle Trot 2010

Since I have been remiss to get out my Turtle Trot report, I figured I would add it to this post.

Yup, we went and did it again, Karyn and I took in Ben and Kirsten's hospitality and ran, swim and biked our way through the Turtle Trot Triathlon.

This year it lived up to it's 3rd week of July reputation, it was hot, actually it was an absolutely beautiful day, just a bit too hot for running. I love this event as they do it in the right order, not the right order for a triathlon but the right order for me, for the 5th year in a row, we started with a 5k run, followed by a 1/2 mile swim and then a 10 mile bike ride. I will probably never do a normal tri as this one has me spoiled. I love doing the run first, as I ran on this hot day, I kept thinking go hard, a nice cool Minnesota lake is ahead. I have to admit when I hit the water I was totally content to just kind of taking my time.

Back to the run, I pushed it a bit but since I have done Zero speed workouts, I really didn't have a clue. My goal was to run somewhat hard and if it felt easy to go faster each mile, the pace was fine but the heat didn't relent so I basically just held pace. Not a TT pr for a 5k but it ended up being my 3rd fastest TT run. The swim as I said earlier I just kind of swam, walked, floated my way through the 1/2 mile. I almost stayed in longer to enjoy the cool water but alas it was a race so I departed the water. My swim was my second fastest, not sure why as I had all of one training swim ahead of the race.

As to the bike, I just kind of got out of the water and told myself, let's get it done. I kind of thought that maybe I would come back to the lake for a little longer soak. I came in with no bike rides, so I was trained well. I actually ended up with my second fastest bike time of the 5 years. So much for training, oh yeah, I have never trained in the past either.

Karyn had a PR kind of day, I know she PR'd in her run which helped her get an overall PR, she may have PR'd in the other events too but I can't remember, yes I could ask but I have been sitting on this post for a week already, anyway, regardless of the event PR's she had a great effort. I should add a note here that I did catch some grief as I was the only husband who chose not to run, swim and bike with their wife. What can I say, oops.

Another great event as always, Ben and Kirsten make us feel welcome every year and do a great job keeping this event focused on participating, finishing and competing against yourself and if you chose not too, that is fine as the event is all about enjoying each others company.

Turtle Trot Race Report

First, I have to comment on the weather it is July 18th, it's supposed to be hot. At 9am the temp was 59° F and it was overcast. At 10 am it had gotten up to 61° F and was still overcast. This is summer not spring, not fall, 60° F is not summer even in Minnesota.

As to the day, we kept the normal Turtle Trot rotation, 5k run, 1/2 mile swim and 10 mile bike. This marked Karyn's and my fourth year participating in it. Ben kept the same agenda, course debrief, national anthem and a prayer. It is the right way to start things off.

The run went better than in the past. I ran a 27:12 5k, not anywhere near my best 5k time but it was my best Turtle Trot 5k time and it was my best 5k in over 5 years. Granted I only run one 5k a year but it still was nice to run at least a bit faster. I did have some ankle pain about 2 miles in which seemed to affect my push-off and I know it slowed me down in the last mile (along with just being tired). The achilles did not bother me which was very good. The course is an out and back with no real hills just a few gentle ups. I went out fairly hard and I hit the turnaround in 13:15 so no negative split but overall not a bad effort.

Next up was the swim, the lake water was down which wasn't a problem but the air temp was and I can say that the water temp did take my breath away. It took me a few minutes to deal with it, after that it was ok, I do think the water temp was close to the air temp, I figure it was a swimming ice bath. The nice thing with the Turtle Trot swim is that you can touch bottom, which allows you to walk and swim your way through the 1/2 mile. I tried to swim but probably only swam about 1/2 of it. It was a bit choppy and the return loop was against some small waves which made it a bit more difficult as they kept crashing into my head. I came out of the water at 45:09 and proceeded to get the shoes on for the bike.

I had used my Garmin for the run but I didn't think it would be good to take it into the lake. I put it back on for the bike and it was nice to see the mileage during the bike as my bike speedometer-odometer battery was dead. I headed out on the bike, adjusted my gloves and then sped my mountain bike around the course. I did have my cross tires on which helped but an investment in or rental of a road bike would be a big plus. I don't think I ever will get one but I do know it would help. I got done in something like 1 hour and 35 minutes, my Garmin had the bike at 47:01 and it had the distance at 11 miles. So I lost 3 minutes in the last transition which is probably about right as I had to dry off, get my shoes on, grab my bike and go and to be honest I didn't rush it.

So overall not a bad day, our thanks to Ben and Kirsten for asking us back one more year and all of the volunteers for again making it a great event. It is always a lot of fun.

Turtle Trot report.........

Some days go as planned and some do not, today would be in the do not category.

The Turtle Trot is always a blast to do and this marks Karyn's and my third time participating in it. Today I was hoping to do nothing more than beat last years time in the overall event and to go faster in the run and bike. The swimming goal is simply not drowning, I can swim I just don't train at it nor enjoy it. So unless the attitude changes this will be the only triathlon that I will ever do.

The day started out as it always does, Ben reviewed the course, the rules and identified the volunteers so that we all could thank them and emphasized that we were there to enjoy. We sang the national anthem and a neighbor said a prayer and then we were off to the starting line.

The 5k course is an out and back on a bike path, it has a couple of gentle down and ups but is not a difficult course unless it's hot and the weather wasn't bad probably mid 70's with some humidity. The bell sounded and off we went, my result for the 5k race was my worse ever time in a 5k - 31:06, ouch, ok, I don't do many 5k's but my best is a 20:48 (granted it was in 94), last year I ran a 27:42 at the trot and I didn't think I was in very good shape. I tried to go out hard but frankly the pace didn't seem too fast just hard, it turns out it must've been as I ran the 2nd half slower. How much slower, I don't really know as I didn't look at my watch but I know it was a struggle.

The swim is 1/2 mile swim that also is an out and back and it went ok, remember that in the Turtle Trot you can touch bottom if you need to. So I did my normal swim, some freestyle, some backstroke, run a bit and then repeat. I got through it and thought to myself as I was coming back that I am not sure I want it to end, it felt good.

The bike is 10 miles and is a double loop course with a couple of gentle downhills and uphills. For me, the bike wasn't good either, I started slow as I was messing with my Ipod, then I kicked it up and within a 1/2 mile my legs were rubber and I was struggling. I muddled my way through but my bike time was 5 minutes slower than the year before. Last year I remember the bike going well so I expected the same this year.

The good news for the day was that the problems I had were present on both the run and the bike, a quick summary - my legs and lungs didn't work. I had no energy. The bad news is that my time was 7 minutes slower than the year before. My analysis of the day is that I had an off day, I am not in 5k shape by any means but I don't think that I am that much slower than last year. My weight is probably lower, my mileage is higher but my speed training is non-existent as the tendinitis in my knee makes speed workouts a bad idea. So I will continue to work on marathons and ultras this year and then get the knee healthy over the winter and work on the speed, my core and my strength. Next year, with just a little work I can PR once again.

After the race we had our cookout and caught up with the folks we know from previous years and we got to talk to a few folks we don't know which is really the point for the day. Meet some folks, share a few stories and enjoy the day. Our thanks to Ben and Kirsten for another great Turtle Trot, hopefully we get invited back next year.

So to sum up the Turtle Trot , a disappointing day on the competitive front but a great day overall....................

Turtle Trot Triathlon is coming...............

One of my favorite running related events that I have ever done is the Turtle Trot Triathlon, my guess is you have never heard of it and that is ok.

It is an invitation only event, organized by the parents (Ben and Kirsten) of Amada, a soccer player that I coached, that consists of a 1/2 mile swim, 10 mile bike and a 5k run.

So go back a couple of years to 2006, my wife and I were asked if we wanted to participate in the Turtle Trot since they knew we both ran. We found it interesting but we weren't too sure about actually doing it. I had always kind of wanted to do a tri but I wasn't too excited about training for one. I struggle with getting my runs in, how would I ever fit in swims and biking?

Well, they kept asking us that summer, they said it was a low key event that was fun, family and friends. I said it sounded interesting but that I would probably drown as I wasn't sure that I could swim a 1/2 mile. I also had the excuse that our soccer team would be playing districts on the day of the event. Ben said don't sweat the swim, the lake level is down and I could touch bottom the whole way if I needed to. They kept asking and we agreed but only if our team wasn't playing districts that morning. As luck or fate would have it the team lost our game in overtime on Friday night so we were eliminated and now we were committed.

The race is held on the 3rd Saturday of July which is normally pretty warm (at least to us). Sure enough as we got there that morning, it was already in the upper 70's heading to low 90's. I was thinking that the 5k was going to be a bit brutal and I wasn't looking forward to the swim as Minnesota lakes can be real cold even in July, oh well, we were both committed.

As we got the instructions for the event, Ben gave us a little bit of a surprise, he said that for this year's event they were going to change the order. He said, it's his race and he can do that. He also said that the previous year they had a runner collapse and they didn't want that to happen again. So the order was going to be the 5k run, 1/2 mile swim and then the 10 mile bike. I was thrilled. I could run hard and then cool off and then cruise on my mountain bike for 10.

The race went great, I don't remember my time but I loved the three events together. I thought that if I had a different bike I could have gone faster, if I trained for swimming that would have gone faster, heck if I trained for a 5k that could have been faster then I thought should I do another tri? Ok that thought left quickly but I hoped we could do it the next year.

Sure enough last year, 2007, we got their email and signed up again. When we got there, Ben said the order would be the same as the previous year as no seemed to mind the switch and it just made sense. It worked out well again and I think I went faster but they did adjust the swim as they said that in 2006 it was short. So the swim took longer but my bike and run were faster.

We have a cookout after and get to catch up with each other. It's what running events should be, a nice gathering with friends and family. Even though the only folks we know are Ben, Kirsten and Amada and some of their family everyone makes us feel welcome. Too often I know that I show up, run the race and head out, basically ignoring my fellow runners. For me, it's my nature, I don't tend to initiate conversations but if someone talks to me I will talk to them, especially about running. This event is what it is all about, no one cares that much about time, you battle yourself if you choose, if you want to compete, you can, if you don't want to compete then participate. In the end it is participation that matters, time is relative but not overly important.

So we got our invite for this year's event and it said "Due to popular demand, we will be sticking with the run, swim, bike format" - I can't wait to do it again...........