Last week I raced the Minneapolis Lifetime Fitness Triathlon Presented by Toyota. It was the 3rd race in the Lifetime Fitness Series, and the first of the Toyota Triple Crown. The morning of the race there were violent thunderstorms in Minneapolis. and after a two hour delay the bike course was flooded and un-rideable. The organizers shortened the race to a sprint, and we all got to test out how waterproof our electronic shifters are. (very).
I came in 4th, and surprisingly, I lost the race in the swim. I’m not really sure how I’ve managed to lose my weapon, but after two races in a row where I’ve come out of the water with a deficit, my attention is definitely turning to my roots.
[This is me and Odin. I was really excited to be able to drive to a race so I could bring my dog with me.]
I did post the fastest bike split of the day by 20 seconds in 35 minutes, which I think attests more to the awesomeness of my Cervelo P5 and my determination to catch the guys that dropped me in the swim.
Overall, I’m happy with the race. The past month has been strange. I was in the hospital, and when I came out I started from what felt like nothing. Andrew Starykowicz and I have been doing a base training phase, riding together for 5 hours on Monday mornings. It’s worked great for his two 70.3s, and has helped get me back into hard training. But it’s probably not the best training to prepare for a super fast 5k off the bike. Still, I think I’ll be happy I put in the miles when I get to October.
This weekend is the Racine 70.3. It was on my schedule at the beginning of the year, but I won’t 
be throwing my name into any more half ironman triathlons until I know for certain that I’m back to 100%. Jillian Peterson, however, is making Racine her first 70.3, and has been staying with me and Abby in Chicago this week getting ready.
I forgot how much I like having other triathletes around. Jill and I used to do a lot of our easy rides and runs together when we were both living in Colorado, so this week has been a little nostalgic.
We’ve done some lake swimming, some Chicago Style Cycling (This is how I’ve started referring to indoor riding) and the Hyde Park tour of running trails. It’s been fun.
If you look got the new issue of USA Triathlon Magazine, my coach is in it! He’s the guy watching the pool. Mike Doane is awesome, and is probably the reason I’m still competing. It’s nice to see him in the spotlight for once, instead of just Andy Potts, Greg Billington and myself.