Twin Cities Triathlon - History in the Making

Since I was injured at the beginning of the season I wasn't able to race in two of Optum Health's stellar races - Manitou and Minneman.
I was very excited about Twin Cities Triathlon because not only was the race venue gorgeous, the course challenging, but because a number of my athletes were also competing.
The swim was in the Mississippi and even with having my fastest swim due to the current, it was the fastest swim ever for others too! I came out of the water more than 2 minutes behind the other elite women. I knew the bike was going to be challenging and hilly so I was looking forward to it. Since I have had bad luck on the bike this season (chain dropping on the past two races) I wanted to see how hard I could bike. I pushed myself and had a great bike split, finally working my way into second place. I knew I had to put some time on Becky on the bike because she is a stellar runner but I didn't catch her until about mile 20. I figured I had about 1 minute on her going into the run.
I had no idea how hard the run course was going to be. My legs just were not feeling it. I saw the lead men on their way back from the turnaround point and I was saying good job to all of them. If I am able to speak - that means I'm not running hard enough! Becky caught me close to mile 3 and she was movin! I ended up 3rd female overall and happy with my bike splits but not my run at all. I also learned that I got a penalty for placement of equipment. I was so confused about this but lots of other people received the same penalty. Not sure what I did - I am wondering if I racked my bike in the wrong spot. I wish they would tell you so you know what you need to correct.


There was a first place finisher in our family though. My father in law came from Iowa to race the sprint course and he got first in his age group - so proud of him! Here is a picture of him and Owen finishing the race together!


I can't wait to see how many people sign up next year - it is definintely a must do race. I am taking the next couple of weeks to prepare for Pigman Long Course. Derek is gone this weekend so I am a single mom - we will see how much training I can get done :)