2022.10.08 - Sprint Triathlon

One Last Tri is the last triathlon of the season that is organized by Midwest Multisport Races (MMR), a company that provides quality events and entertainment for families and athletes in the Upper Midwest.  The One Last Tri race takes place in White Bear Lake, Minnesota and features a shortened swim (400 yards), a lengthened bike through beautiful Stillwater horse country (13.6 miles), and a flat and fast run along White Bear Lake (3.1 miles) to finish the race.

This was my first triathlon and my preparation largely entailed BRICK training once or twice per week.  This included a ~15 mile bike ride followed immediately by a ~3 mile run.  I really did not prepare for the swim portion of the race at all.  In fact, my wetsuit and goggles arrived just 5 days before race day!  Needless to say, I was nervous about the swim.  I visited the beach where the race takes place and swam a few loops the week of the triathlon– that quite literally was the extent of my swim training!  When I saw the swim buoys on race day I realized the distance was going to be about twice as long as anything I had ever swam before, so my goal was focused primarily on not needing a lifeguard to pull me out of the water!

The road bike I raced on was a 1991 Trek 1200 that I bought on FaceBook Marketplace for $300.  It was in incredible condition with all original parts.  Despite it's vintage, I would be only the second owner of the bike.  The original owner had a great story about how he acquired the bike:  His girlfriend in college had bought the bike for him as a graduation gift.  That girlfriend later became his wife and they had 2 children together.  He was only selling it because he never rode it anymore and was downsizing homes in retirement, so he needed to make space in his new garage.  He had raced it in a few triathlons himself and was happy to hear that I was going to ride it in a race.

My brother-in-law Steve and I came as prepared as possible on race day, but there is only so much you can do ahead of your first ever triathlon.  I greased the gears on my bike, checked tire pressure and inflated as needed the night before.  I have raced a few half marathons as well as 5k's, so I felt comfortable with my gear for the run and bike ride.  The swim was going to be a totally new experience for me.  Overall, I just embraced the discomfort that typically accompanies doing something for the very first time.

My goal for this race was simply to finish– and I did!  I ended up finishing the race in 1 Hour 25 Minutes and 28 Seconds.  I placed 56th overall out of 130 racers as well as 7th out of 11 racers in my age group.

In reflecting on the experience, I can most definitely improve upon my swim time as well as my time spent in the transition zone.  My lack of experience in transition and my lack of training on the swim likely cost me at least 5 minutes (or more) on race day.  

Still, this race was a total blast and I am hooked on sprint triathlons!  I messaged the original owner of my Trek road bike the day after the race to let him know the bike was still being used in competitions and he was elated.  This race is so close to my house that I plan to compete in the One Last Tri race every fall.  I may even stick with my vintage road bike and see if we can continue to climb the leaderboard together in the years to come!  That may be a challenge given some the gear a few of the other participants were using on race day (see pic below).