Race Coverage

Forecasting a Renaissance...

Sunday, 07 August 2016 23:10

By Brad Mitchell (obsessivetripulsive.weebly.com)

Turtleman Race Report - My long course experiment was over after Chisago and I was keen to get back to what I love - sprints and olympics. The Turtleman caught my eye on minnesotatrinews.com as a race with easy 90 minute drive from Rochester. The race was reasonably priced (even as a late registration) and the forecast looked great. I looked at this race as a great way to get the feel for an olympic before, what will be one of my two last and "A" races this year, Des Moines olympic. My only other olympics were Trinona and nationals a couple of years ago.

It was a nice drive and parking for the event was very close. It was pleasant to have high 60's temps first thing in the morning after all the heat and...

humidity of late. The race set up was great. Transition was only a couple of hundred yards from the water and the mount line was only about 20 yards from bike-out. The mount line was at the bottom of a hill, so an easy gear was an important selection. I was happy to see my friends Lisa Lendway and Gaby Bunten - both elite triathletes and super-nice gals. I had watched Gaby race into second place in the olympic distance in her age-group at ITU worlds last September. Gaby and I were one of the last swimmers to start in the sensible and orderly time-trial start. I though how cool it was going to be if Gaby could win first overall and that was a real possibility with her speed (she came in 3rd overall).

SWIM 26:35
The swim course was marked well. Halfway through my goggles fogged up badly for the first time in a race. It got to the point where I had to stop, take them off and dip them in the water to clear them off so I could see the turn buoy. I had used Frogspit spray as always but it didn't work - warm water maybe? At the last turn, with a third to go, I decided to speed up and practice really racing the swim for a change. My approach to the swim has always been a bit of preservation mixed with apathy and terror. I have a new determined focus to become a much faster swimmer and this past year, Coach Matt has pushed me to more and faster swim training. If my focus is highly competitive sprints and olympics like nationals and perhaps worlds again, my swim has to and will get better. READ MORE