Race Coverage

"...Filled With Nostalgia"....

Wednesday, 12 June 2019 23:10

Back to my Roots....

By Jacob Braaten

TINONA RACE REPORT - Technically speaking, the 2009 Minnewaska Triathlon was my first tri. It came a month before I started my junior year of high school, on a bike I had gotten three weeks before the race. I spent the whole ride in the little chain ring because, quite frankly, I was too dumb to know how bikes worked. I don’t count this as the start of my triathlon career because it is not the race that hooked me.

The race that got me hooked was the 2012 Trinona. In late April of my first year of college, my dad called me and said, “Your brother and I are doing this race. I am signing you up for the Olympic Distance.” And that was that. I did laps in the pool for the first time the next day. Those first few attempts, I couldn’t get more than 3 or 4 lengths before I had to stop. I kept hammering away and made it to the start line knowing that I could swim the distance because I had done 1500 yards straight through with open turns (YIKES!).

It turned out that first race was a blast! One of those days where everything went to plan, and I passed my brother on the way to a podium position in my first race! ...

Triathlon has been a large part of my life ever since. This sport has given me so much and taken me to some incredible places. I have been fortunate enough to compete in races like Collegiate and Age Group National Championships and to race all over Minnesota and in places like Tempe, Clemson, Milwaukee, and Madison ranging from draft legal sprints to full 140.6.

This year, I had the opportunity to come back to where it all started, and I couldn’t have been more excited to see how much I had changed and improved over the last seven years. What I found was, no matter the amount of excitement and confidence, some days don’t go according to plan. Instead of camping in Winona with my family like that first race, my wife and I drove down from our friends in Red Wing the morning of the race. It was a good thing that I was wide awake on the drive down, or that deer on 61 would have ended my day at 4:30 am.

Getting into transition, I was filled with nostalgia. I remembered that first race, the beauty and difficulty of the course, and how much joy I had running down the home stretch seven years ago. I was ready to go.

Leading up to the race, I felt like I was two weeks of swimming away from feeling close to my best, but I had a goal time of 26:00 going in and my 26:11 was a great start to the day. Within the first few pedal strokes on the bike, I knew that it was not going to be all sunshine and rainbows for this bike ride. I didn’t feel comfortable on the bike until I hit the one-hour mark, and I struggled to hold the power that I wanted to for most of the day.

Sometime after I came back down the hill, I noticed my seat post had slipped about an inch, which frustrated me even more. I told myself I still have the run to move up in the race and I was excited for it after I got off the bike in 1:12:14. A good five minutes slower than what I wanted to do before the race.

I hit the ground running and initially felt like I was going to be able to run to my capabilities. About a mile in, I knew it was going to be a battle the whole way. The second half of the run, I wilted and was doing everything I could to hold half marathon pace. I know it wasn’t incredibly hot but there isn’t much heat, and even less humidity, in Superior in spring, and I think my day reflected that.

I finished with a 42:32 run split and a 2:23:15 overall. 14 minutes faster than my first race here and 7 minutes faster than my 2nd attempt in 2013.

Over the years, I have learned time and again that days like Sunday happen. Some days of training or racing, things aren’t working like they are supposed to. When I look back, the races that I am most proud of aren’t the days where everything went perfectly on the way to PR’s, but the days where I struggled and battled my way to the finish line. The day did have some positives though. I still got onto the podium, I still had a blast on the bike course, and, as my wife pointed out, I had the fastest T1 of the age groupers. So at least I have that going for me.

Now I go back to the drawing board to prepare for my first attempt at Superior Man in August and our first child arriving in September. I hope to be back in Winona next year for my first race as a Dad. As always, a huge thanks to the race directors, volunteers, and the city of Winona. The race was every bit as good as I remembered, and I would highly recommend it to anybody who knows how to shift in and out of the little chain ring.