Race Coverage

Grandpa Socks & Well-Executed Strategy...

Thursday, 07 August 2014 00:10

By Heather Lendway (heatherlendway.com)

RACE REPORT - Chisago Sprint was one of the few repeat races on my calendar this year so I was excited to see how my race would compare to last year. Heading into the race I set my “goal” (expected result range) a little higher than Lauren Goss’s professional course record. When I mapped out the course though, it was more like a 21.4 mile bike verses 22 miles. If this was truly the case I knew if I had a good race I could be within that mark.

Race morning weather was ideal: a little on the cool side, great for drinking some nice hot coffee. Dad (Stopwatch Greg) and I arrived fairly early per usual so I could grab my packet, get body marked and setup in transition the way I like with plenty of time to spare and time for my body to wake up.

The half-iron folks were heading out at 7 but the sprint triathletes hung out until the first half-iron swimmers got to shore. Gear West teammate David Thompson was first out of the water with a small pack not too far behind....

Finally it was our turn to start. The swim was very short (400 meters) so I knew people were going to be aggressive from the get go. We sprinted into the water and I was able to be clear of swimmers next to me right away. Unfortunately, we swam right through what had to be the weediest part of the lake. I was pulling weeds most of the way and at one point a weed even caught on my ear and I had to yank it off mid recovery stroke. This was quite ironic because Gear West teammate Claire Bootsma, was joking how wearing my ears outside my cap was probably not very hydro-dynamic, jinxed? READ MORE