Minneman Triathlon

Events like Minneman Triathlon remind me why we do this sport: warm weather, friends, fun, and going as fast as we can.  The day seemed perfect despite the high humidity and 20 mph South wind.  The wind was actually coming from the best direction possible for the layout of the bike course.  It aided riders on the longest section of course, and the headwind portions were split into 2.

The big excitement of the day for me was that my wife, Hannah, did Minneman Triathlon too.  She had a good time despint being sick and is considering doing two more this year.

The swim course had more running than the previous 2 years. It was probably a little short, which is why  Thad Ingersol and I did the .3 mile swim in 4:23.  I remember the swim being 6 minutes and change in the past.  Womens and Mens elite races were going to be interested.  I wanted to see how the race between Cathy Yndestad, Julie Hull, Suzie Finger, and Jenny Shaughnessy played out.  Since I've been traveling to race most of the season, I hadn't seen these ladies race.  I also wanted to see how Kevin O'Connor, Patrick Parish, Devon Palmer, Thad Ingersol, and Dan Hedgecock stack up against each other.

Looking back as we exited the swim, Devon, Kevin, and Patrick were right behind Thad and I.  I planned on trying to blow-up my legs on the bike in preparation for Life Time Fitness Triathlon this coming Saturday.  This year I managed 27.6 mph versus 27.1 mph in 2009 and 26.4 mph in 2008.  I ran within seconds of my previous times, so Life Time should go alright.

In the men's race,  Devon tried to hold off Patrick on the run, but Patrick managed to pass him late in the run.  Kevin had hoped to beat both of them, but he was involved in a crash right before transition.  He finished ,but the crash took him out of the podium race.  From what I saw, Cathy built up a cushion on the bike and was able to run uncontested to the finish.  Jenny Shaughnessy held on to 2nd.

Results

1. David Thompson  51:12

2. Patrick Parish  53:15

3. Devon Palmer  53:26

4. Matt Payne  53:40

5. Kevin O'Connor  54:00

6. Dan Hedgecock  5:17

1. Cathy Yndestad  1:00:02

2. Jenny Shaughnessy  1:02:12

3. Jenny Wilcox  1:02:31