Lost in Transistion – 2016 Turtleman Race Report

It has been quite a while since I posted a race report, and I hope the hiatus is now over. Many know that the last year or so have been challenging for me and my family, and ‘Lost in Transition’ has a completely new meaning for me these days. However, we will put that back on the shelf for now and focus on what was a fabulous day, this past Saturday, July 30, 2016, at Turtle Lake Park located in Shoreview, MN.

According to the website, Turtleman was the first triathlon in Minnesota, and it ran consecutively for 14 years. It then took a 2-year sabbatical before coming back in 1995 and continued on for another 14 years. Tri Fitness, along with the City of Shoreview, revived the wildly popular event named after the lake and county park where the event is hosted.

Tri Fitness Coach Team "Chick'd Samich"

The event offers two classes, Classic and Modern. Both classes share the same route of a 1-mile triangular swim, 25-mile bike, and a paved trail 5 mile run around Turtle Lake. In addition, this year, Tri Fitness thru down the gauntlet and challenged all comers with a stacked relay team consisting of three of their finest coaches (Sharon (swim), Pete (bike), and Megan (run)). This team would be hard to beat. Tri Fitness's tri club also managed to assemble 3 teams, and I believe there was a fourth team, however, I believe only Vicky (swim) is on this year’s tri club team. In total, there were 9 teams competing in the Modern class. My team “All that and a bag of chips” consisted of me (swim), Angie (bike), and Theresa (run). We did not have any aspirations of toppling the coach’s team, but we definitely were out to have fun and to work hard. The club; however, did assemble a team that definitely had hopes of taking the top spot and had 3 stud athletes, Zach (swim), Nick (bike), and Mark (run).

Pre-Race and Transition Setup

Saturday morning was a gorgeous Minnesota summer morning with very little wind, temps in the upper 60’s, as the sun rose, with temps expecting to rise into the 70’s as the morning progressed. It would be a #superswell day of racing. Turtle Lake Park is picturesque; the lake was calm as I meandered into the transition area. I was the first of my team to arrive, but as I looked around, Nick approached and said good morning. Before I could even return my salutation, he was on about Pete’s bike setup. When it comes to the bike, Pete is a machine; I actually believe he has hydraulic fluid in his veins instead of blood. Pete had his bike set up with a single speed and obviously did so as a psychological strategy, and based on Nick’s reaction, it had worked better than anyone could have planned. As the morning progressed, Nick (who by the way is an amazing triathlete and probably has that same hydraulic fluid in his veins) was letting all of us know that he could not possibly let Pete beat him, or he may never live it down; game on as they say.

Howard, Amanda, and Matt

Angie, Theresa, and I got set up in transition, reviewed our strategy for the day, and even practiced the timing chip exchange before getting ready for race start. There was plenty of chitter-chatter with Amanda (swim), Matt (bike), and Howard (run) and the other Tri Fitness team members as we made our way to the race briefing. There were many friendly faces around, including a couple of colleagues from work, Jim and Glen, and many other like-minded athletes looking forward to a little swim, bike, and run party.

Swim 1.0 Mile – Triangular Clockwise Course – Time Trial Start

Warm-Up Shenanigans

After the race briefing I headed out for a quick warm-up. I was wearing the wetsuit knowing that my only goal for the day was to give my mates as much of a jump on the competition as I could. As I waded out a bit, the gal next to me said, “Hey, is that a snake”? Me, “Where, where…”(I do not like snakes of any kind), she points, “There”!, she squeals. I look down to my left about 2 feet away and there sat what looked like a snake lying on the bottom of the lake. We were standing in about 2 feet of water, and I am like, it sure looks like a snake, as I start to back away. Soon there are several others standing around the snake, and while I am trying to kick some sand or stones at it to see if it will move, a guy walks over and asks us what is going on. In stereo we echo, “There’s a snake on the bottom, right there”!, as we point at it. The guy is like, “I think it’s rubber, it’s not moving”. I’m not so sure and definitely not willing to go anywhere near this thing. After some trepidation, he grabs the thing by the end of its tail and says, “See, it’s rubber” as he tosses it in our direction. It sails about 10’ over our heads and lands in the weeds, and I am like, “That was so not funny”! Needless to say, so much for my warm up, by the time that drama concluded the race had started and the classic swimmers were lined up and heading into the water. I barely made it to my position in line when it was my turn to go. Sharon, the swimmer for the coach’s team, and Amanda were literally right behind me as we entered the water.

The Swim

About 50 yards into the swim I realized that I forgot to start my watch, but knowing that Sharon was on my feet, I decided not to try and start it now. The water was amazing, and I sighted the first buoy off on the horizon. There were very few weeds throughout, and the water temperature was great. I was worried about over-heating with the wetsuit on. I typically sight well in open water, and today was no exception; I was spot on. I worked hard knowing that I did not have to worry about biking or running today. As I made the final turn I realized that I was pretty much alone, I sighted the final buoy near shore and the swim exit and gave it all I had left.

T1 – Swim to Bike

As I scrambled out of the water I reached for my wetsuit cord before realizing I did not have to worry about it, I just need to make my way to transition so I could exchange the chip with Angie. I was really happy to see that all the team bikes were still in the rack, which meant I made it there first. Theresa helped with the chip exchange and Angie was off on the 25-mile bike course. Sharon was just a handful of seconds behind me, and just like that, Pete too was off. Nick sat nervously waiting for Zach, but next into transition was Amanda to exchange with Matt. I am sure it seemed like forever for Nick, but it was maybe a few minutes later that Zach made his way into T1. Zach, between gulps for air, said, “I had a late start; we are still in this thing”. Nick took off like a rocket with hopes of reeling in Pete who had an unknown lead at that point. As the rest of the swimmers made their way into transition, I peeled out of my wetsuit. My racing was done, but I had plenty of cheering left to do on this day.

T2 – Bike to Run

Theresa, Amanda, Howard, Sharon, and I chit-chatted for the next hour in transition (it was by far the longest I ever spent in T1 for any race) as we waited for the bikes to return. Mark and Megan did warm up drills and paced like a couple of thoroughbreds waiting to be taken to the starting gates.
Pete was the first back and was literally flying off his bike and running to make the exchange with Megan. Pete had apparently threw his chain about 2 miles from T2 and almost "arse over tea kettled" his way over his bars. Pete had battle scars on both his arms and legs and was bleeding from his right calf (I’m sorry that he was bleeding but was relieved that is was actually blood and not hydraulic fluid…). About 3 minutes or so later Nick came screaming and screeching down the hill to T2. He had made up some time on Pete, and after his exchange, Mark took off like a man on a mission with hopes of making up any remaining deficit. Nick averaged over 26 mph on the bike and stated that he threw up a couple of times on the course from exertion, and as Pete would say, “If you’re not puking, you’re not working”. A little while later, Angie was back to T2, and I helped exchange our team chip to Theresa. Angie rocked the bike and PR’d while averaging over 20 mph over the 25-mile course. Matt was not far behind, and then Howard was out for the run as well.

The Finish

"All that and a bag of chips"

The rest of us decided we had spent enough time in transition. We made our way up to the park entrance, which is where the finish line was set up, to await the return of our runners. Megan was first with Mark just a few minutes behind her. In the end, only 30 seconds separated the two teams with the coach’s squeaking out the victory. Theresa finished the run strong, and as we congratulated her and each other for a job well done, we picked up our finishers’ metals. We shared the highlights of the day with each other and the other Tri Fitness peeps that raced or volunteered. We even managed a few photos before saying our final farewells for the day.


Tri Club and my Tri Mates

6 months ago I was unsure of my endurance sport future. I had stopped swimming with my Master’s club before Christmas. I had signed up for a few events for 2016; however, I was struggling with self-acceptance and how my transition would affect my future in the sports I had grown to love. After coming out to a few of my mates, who have been beyond supportive and accepting, I decided to contact some of the coaches at Tri Fitness. I will not name names, but I will be eternally grateful to the coaches, the staff, the members of the tri club, and all of my endurance sport family for their unconditional welcoming back. Going to tri-club workouts became the highlight of most weeks, and it was the only place on the planet, at the time, where I felt real acceptance. With sincere gratitude and from a place of love, humility, and respect, I thank you for showing me how to “tri” again.