Be a Mingoman

Another nice thing about having a later “A” race this season (Ironman Arizona, November 16, 2014, 85 days….!!!), is that I’ve had the chance to participate in a lot of various hometown Olympic triathlons this summer. My last Olympic triathlon this year was the inaugural Mingoman Triathlon, a point-to-point race…..a .9 mile swim in Delaware Lake at Delaware State Park, then a 25 mile bike from the state park to downtown Delaware, then a 6.2 mile run around downtown Delaware. I’m not a super big fan of point to point races, it’s kind of challenging to have 2 different transition areas to set up, usually at the crack of dawn. But the Ross Tri-Fit Challenge was a point to point race and we were able to drop our bikes the night before. Not so with Mingoman which equated to a VERY early wake up on race morning!

Race morning I woke up at 3:45am and stumbled around pulling myself together. I need more time than usual “waking up” in the morning before races so the extra time helps. I got myself together and having packed up stuff the night before, I was pretty much ready to go. Left the house at 4:30am and made my way to transition #1, where I’d drop my bike and bike gear. I’ve never been to Delaware State Park and even if I had, it was so dark I had no clue where the lake was….so following the other cars arriving as early as me helped and I finally found T1. After finding my spot and arguing with the newbies around me about which way my bike was really supposed to face, I racked my bike and went back to my car to drive to downtown Delaware to set up T2. It was a straight shot, about 5 miles from the park and I found it easily. Parked and set up my T2 gear then parked my car and found the shuttle to get back up to the start of the race. The shuttle (school bus) finally got us back up to the start of the race and the sun started to peek out of the clouds.

I found some other Just Tri teammates who were racing and did my usual pre-race bathroom stop and pulled on the wetsuit. Being able to do more races this summer has made me more confident of my transition setups….I”m not spending tons of time agonizing over what I’ve got out and set up…..I know what I need and forget the rest of the fluff. The lake was pretty calm and the swim was a 2 loop rectangle course. My wave, Olympic women and relays were first. The amazing Tracy Hendershot (aka my swim coach) was racing so my #1 goal became: keep Tracy in your eyesight…...don’t let her get too far away, then you’ll know you’re doing well. This was tough….she’s one fast lady in the water, but I was able to keep an eye on her up until the end. Tracy got out of the water about 4 minutes before me because stupid me decided I’d try something new on race day…...BIG MISTAKE. I tried to take my wetsuit off in the water to save time in transition, but all I ended up doing was struggling in the water, going under a few times and embarrassing myself in front of the sprint wave that was trying to get into the water. Sigh. Live and learn. Amazingly enough I found out later that I got a PR in the swim….my fastest swim of all my Olympic races this summer: a SUB 30 min swim! Yay!

Another piece of good news…..my T1 time was the fastest I’ve had this summer too! Woot! I got my swim gear together and put it in my marked bag to meet me down at the finish and took off on my bike. After a few miles in the park we were out on the side berm of highway 23 north, a road I’ve driven MANY times to go back to Michigan. Was very strange to be riding right next to that traffic, but after we made the turn east the traffic cleared a bit. The bike was a big square and for some reason I never really found my “groove.” There was some headwinds as I turned south to get back down to Delaware and my end finish time on the bike wasn’t a PR, but it wasn’t awful. I’ve come to find out my fastest bike split back in June at Ross Tri Fit was mostly due to the fact that the course was downhill. Too bad they all can’t be like that!

After making my way into T2, I was greeted by some Just Tri teammates cheering me on and other familiar tri-faces! Katy Perry’s “Roar” was booming on the speakers and I was super pumped...the announcer noticed my Just Tri jersey and called me out by name…..a buddy of mine told him I was doing Ironman Arizona and he gave me another shout out. Surprisingly enough, my T2 time was the fastest I’ve ever had too! I was out and on the run!

Off to the run!

The run course was a 2 loop, 3.1 mile run and the first portion of the run was gradually uphill. I kept along at a good clip and thankfully there were about 3 water stops on the loop which meant good hydration for each loop. The sun had come out strong by this point and it was getting warm. After making it to the turnaround I was greeted by cheering teammates again and made the turn for the second loop. Tracy was ahead of me by a little bit and I never really caught back up to her. The good news about the uphill portion of the run course is that we got to run back down it on each loop. That second descent meant I was nearing the finish line and I couldn’t wait! I finished in about 2:42, which wasn’t a PR for me, but I was OK with that…..the smaller portions of the race including the swim AND run AND both T1/T2 were all PR times for me and that’s a win in my book.

Heading towards the finish!

Running it in!

I made my way through the crowd, got my medal and met up with teammates and other tri peeps, had some good food and drinks, cleared out my transition gear and hung out a bit with everyone...the weather had turned out to be perfect! When the results were posted, I was elated to see I had placed 2nd Overall Female in the Olympic Tri division! And of all the gals who beat me, I'm glad it was the amazing Tracy, by about 4 minutes!

Just Tri peeps!

Mingoman was a great race and despite the point to point obstacles, I had a good race. These smaller Olympic races over the summer have been challenging at times though...I”m learning that as someone who trains for longer distances (half-irons and Ironmans) it’s harder to do the small races which require a lot more speed. It’s like a perpetual marathoner racing a 5k. You can do it, but it’s different. Overall, I’ve love the chances to race more this summer….it’s given me confidence in the sport and a chance to really practice my transitions. I’m grateful and frankly kind of shocked with the results I’ve had.

Next up is the Rev 3 Cedar Point race….a half-iron distance race that promises strong waves in Lake Eric on the swim and noticeable winds on the 56 mile bike. The run course takes you out and around downtown before a finish right by the coasters of Cedar Point. I did this race last year and remember it well. It’s a good tune up race and will be my last before the big dog….IMAZ.

Killer is getting a lot of use this summer….just as it should be. And she’ll be ready. Hopefully I will be as well.

Be a Mingoman. Be Brave.