Don't Panic!

Minnetonka is one if not my favorite races. It's fan friendly because it's close to home, short and a great venue. Unfortunately I had far less friends and family this year but it didn't make the experience any less fun.

I got there a touch earlier than usual because I was not able to pick up my packet on Friday evening. Having to wake up earlier did not help the fact that I got terrible sleep the night before due to the thunderstorm, my wife getting home 45 mins after I went to bed and a waking up at 3:30 to a fussy baby. Although crappy sleep the night before a race is more common than not and I have never felt like it effected my performance. Thus was the case again. Nerves always seem to overcome lack of sleep and keep you going.

Just like Gear West I happened to pick a spot next to my male pattern baldness rival Brett Lovaas when I racked my bike. Brett is a great guy and I have enjoyed getting to know him better the last couple of seasons. As we talked before the race he was telling me how he was fighting a muscle pull and his running was not up to par. This sparked a conversation with Heidi Keller Miller and how it seems like keeping from being injured is tougher than racing. I know the feeling as I was battling one injury or another all last season. Non were debilitating until after WI IM but they are a pain in the ass non the less.

As Ross was giving his pre race safety brief I saw my friend and coworker. He mentioned coming out to see it but I didn't know if he would show. Dana is my sanity at work and we have become great friends. It was great to see him there. Dana was like "man, this is intense". Wait till you race. It's intensity in ten cities.

Before you know it we were off to the swim start. I started warming up and felt pretty good but didn't feel like I found my form yet. As the horn blew I stayed to the outside the may lay of thrashing non swimmers that do the 100 yard dash and crash. The strategy worked as usual and I found myself near the front of the pack. I ended up drafting off of Tony Schiller for most of the swim and felt much better coming out of the water than usual.

My transitions have been historically a problem in this race. Saturday was different though. I had been practicing and since I came out of the water fresher I was able to zip through T1 in great time. I had a little trouble getting my first shoe on but not much of an issue. Tony passed me as I was slipping number two foot in and as soon as I got going I returned the pass.
I did notice the pace vehicle up ahead and thought "wow, I'm not that far back." At this point I was in third behind Tom Camp with Brett in the lead. Not long after I moved into 2nd it happened again.

As I came up to a right turn no one was giving clear directions where to go. They all looked like they were stopping traffic. Not to mention no one was blocking the road. It was partially my own dumb ass fault as I should know better. I ride this part of the course every weekend and have run this race for the past two years. But for some reason things were going so smooth and easy I thought I figured I had to go farther. I remember thinking "this can't be the turn already." On top of that as I went through the intersection, no one yelled that I was going the wrong way. If it wasn't for one guy who made a minor arm motion similar to the mellow tomahawk chop I would not have even known I was supposed to turn. Luckily it felt like I was going the wrong way so I started to slow down and looked back. No one at the intersection even seemed interested that I went the wrong way so I almost kept going. But the gut said turn around, so I slowly went up around the median and turned around. When I started going back I kept yelling, where am I going?" Still no one would give me any direction so I went back. As I got to the corner Tony Schiller was making the right so I knew I needed to make up some time.

I kept thinking "don't panic." Yet I knew I had to make up time so I hate pounded the pedals and passed Tony and Tom again. I wish just once someone would pass me twice so I could know what it feels like. They must be like "WTF happened to that guy?"

I started doing math in my head to see how far back I had to be at the turn in order to catch Brett on the run. As I started coming up to the turn around I noticed the pace vehicle hadn't even turned around yet. In fact I wasn't that far back. As Brett went around the turn around point I started roughly counting seconds in my head. I counted to 15 so I knew I was about 30 seconds back. Well within striking distance on the run if not even the bike.

After the turn around my panic feeling started to go away and I got back in the groove. I started closing the gap with Brett pretty fast and just before the left turn off Galpin I passed Brett for the lead. I figured I would have a stronger run than Brett but I wanted to push the bike hard just in case there I wasn't able to run well or there was someone like Sam A Janicki that I didn't know about in the mix.

When I got off the bike I knew I had about a minute to a minute and a half lead over Brett. As long as I didn't screw up T2 or bonk on the run I would be good. I made a safe dismount and had a fast, efficient T2. Now it was on to the run.

I never felt quite comfortable on the run but I knew that as long as I worked hard I could hold Brett and Tony off. At the turn around there was a good minute to minute and a half gap. Tony was closing the gap on Brett but I knew I could almost cruise to the finish. I'm not one to go easy even when things are in hand so I pushed through to the end and took my 5th ever win.

At the finish my buddy Dana was there to grab some photos and then my wife, daughter and mother joined him. I don't know why but I enjoyed this win as much as any win I've had. It was a slower time than I was hoping but I was ecstatic with being able to overcome missing the turn and more importantly that my bike power was back. My swim and run need a little work but I feel like there both form and not fitness issues.

Up next is Waconia and the competition is thick again this year. My only hope is that Kevin O'conner isn't in top shape and somehow I pull a miracle together to grab 5th. Otherwise I will have to hold off Brooks Gossinger and Ross Weinzierl for sixth. It will be a good battle and should prove to be a fun race.