Heart of the Lakes Race Report

I can’t imagine more Perfect conditions for the 24th running of the Heart of the Lakes Triathlon (AKA the MN State Championship). Initially I was worried with early morning temps in the 50s, but as it turns out, it made for a very speedy day on the course. Course records fell, and that created and enthusiastic buzz in the crowd.

For the first time in many years, it was actually a wetsuit swim for the Elites. That typically doesn’t help me vs. my competition, but I was ready either way and figured breaking the 1:40 mark would be much easier given the wetsuit ruling. DKT and I lined up on the far inside line and I stayed on his feet for all of 5 meters! Last year I remember the swim being extremely rough so opted for the inside line this time around. By the time I was on line with the Swim Buoys, I was surprised to see what appeared to be, the entire Elite wave in front of me. Man those guys took off at a crazy pace. I finally got myself back in the pack and kept pushing my pace for the remainder of the 800m swim. The run through T1 was tough (I think it’s the toughest part of the course), but I hopped on my bike and was ready to push the pedals for the 21 mile ride.

My legs felt pretty good, and having the men zoom by in the early miles really helped motivate me to push the pace. As I arrived into T2, I put on my flashy new Nike LunarLite shoes and took off on a mission. That mission was to put together a good run split and in doing so, break the longstanding amateur course record set by Becky Gibbs (now Lavelle) back in 1996. I didn’t catch the first few mile markers to see my pace, but I was feeling strong and steady. With a few early climbs I was happy to stay close to a few guys ahead and stayed focused on maintaining a strong pace. The course is a 5.3 mile loop around the lake with the final 1.5 miles flat and fast. I was checking my watch along the way, and I knew there was no room for a slowdown. I would have to find the ‘hurt box’ and keep at the constant self coaching. As I approached the finish line I was greeted with the enthusiastic voices of Jerry MacNeil and Coach Kris announcing that I had broken the Amateur record. Mission Accomplished!

It was fun watching the rest of the top women cross the line, then I went back out on the course to watch Kerry make his way to the finish. He worked hard on the run and earned an AG podium spot!


To cap an already prefect day, Kerry won the Bike in the generous Gear West raffle. This raffle is top notch. Can you believe that Gear West and its generous sponsors give away the following items at ALL TEN SERIES races:
• Kurt Kinetic Trainer
• QR Wetsuit
• TYR gear bag loaded with Bell helmet, Shimano Carbon shoes, yanks, Trek Bike computer, pedels, goggles, sunglasses, Speedo Fastskin, Hammer products.
• Zipp 808 Tubular race wheels
• QR Tequilo Bike.
Yes folks, its worth registering for these races just to be entered in the raffle (but you must be present to win). Have I mentioned how wonderful it is to be part of this amazing Triathlon community??? Yeah, I know.

Lifetime Fitness Race Report

You’d think I'd be sick of this race after all these years, but the Lifetime Fitness triathlon becomes more and more enjoyable each year. I’ve participated in the race every year since Lifetime took the bold step to produce a top notch event here in the Twin Cities eight years ago. The home course advantage and knowledge has certainly made the difference for me the last few years.

In contrast to last year, I was not feeling very confident going into this event. Last year, this was my early season A race. I was training specifically for short course, and I was bursting at the seams to go after it. This year, with my early season focus on the half ironman distance, and with Buffalo Springs 70.3 recovery taking longer than expected, I was feeling less than zippy. Regardless, I couldn’t miss this event, so I had every intention to go out, play the cards I was dealt and do the best I could.

Pressure was rising during the week, but despite being the defending champion, I actually felt like the underdog to Lindsay Whalen. She’s been having a super year so far, and I didn’t think I could get in front of her. Deep down however, I held on to the hope that course knowledge and my tremendous support crew would make the difference on Saturday.

As race time approached, I was feeding off the amazing crowds and enthusiasm of the great venue. We started shortly after the pros, and once the gun went off, all my nervous energy thankfully turned into something more useful. The swim start was pretty rough, and directly into the sun. It took some time to find a decent line and clear water, but luckily it wasn’t too bad once I hit the first turn buoy. I swam on my own the entire race, which I think is a good strategy for me. Several times last year, I would get comfy behind someone else and simply enjoy the ride. I couldn’t quite find LW’s feet, but I noticed there was someone from my wave about 20 yds ahead. I figured it was her, and tried my hardest to catch her. That didn’t happen, but when I came around the corner into T1, I was amazed that Lindsay was still at her rack space.

I quickly shed my wetsuit grabbed my bike and managed to take off with her, I rounded the last corner in t1 and jumped on my bike just in front. Knowing how much easier is it to fuel off someone in your sights, I hammered the start of the bike to try to create an early gap. With all the corners etc, I knew this course made it much easier to get out of sight. I figured that was my only hope to get any ground on her. Although I typically enjoy hilly bike course, I find this fairly flat course very enjoyable. The opportunity to ride these roads without traffic is special for us locals.

I had friends cheering all over the course, and therefore loving every minute of it. I had no idea what was happening behind me, but kept working hard. Although I felt strong and smooth, I felt like such a rookie in the corners. I used to ride much more aggressively, but since I crashed in a corner last year, I’ve become such a wimp. Anyways, I’ll be working on that over the next few weeks.

It felt wonderful coming into T2 in the lead, but I knew the run was not going to be much of a party. The first opportunity to check in on the competition comes just after the first mile where there a short out and back before continuing around the lake. I saw Lindsay and figured she was about a minute behind me. This made me pretty nervous, but I didn’t see anyone else behind her. I did my best to focus on decent run form and high cadence, but I still wasn’t seeing the splits I was hoping for. Although its very hard to explain here in writing, coming around the top of the lake and passing through the first lap was very exciting. With SO many friendly cheers and support coming from the sidelines, I did everything I could to pick up the pace. I’m pretty sure I negative split the 2nd loop, which is something positive to pull from my lackluster run split. When I came around the final curve at the top of Lake Nakomis I had several people tell me there was nobody behind me. This was music to my ears, and coming into the finish chute was so much fun. That feeling never get old, and I’m go grateful for all the wonderful cheers and support out there.


Here's JH enjoying the race best bike split-AWESOME!


A very special thanks for all the kind comments (Facebook rocks). There’s no way I could have pulled it off this year without my awesome support crew. Kerry is always at the top of that list, but my awesome friends, the best crew at Gear West (thanks for hooking me up with the fast Zipp Sub9), and all the fun competitors make this so much more enjoyable. A huge kudos goes out to the Lifetime Fitness Athletic events crew for once again putting on such a World class event and for their continued support for amateur racing.


Next up: Heart of the Lakes on Sunday. I WILL have a better run on Sunday-That is My main objective.

Buffalo Springs 70.3 Race Report

Texas Girls Weekend!

The two Julie’s and I set off Friday morning for our weekend adventure to Lubbock. I’d been to Lubbock in my college days (played golf against Texas Tech), so I knew this trip was more about quality chick time/racing and less about sightseeing. All three of us signed up for this race late last year, after watching the Ironman World Championships recap and after our friend Merilee picked up her Kona slot in AZ. We all wanted to try and join her in Kona and figured this would be a great place to go after it.

We enjoyed a course preview Saturday morning. I can’t stress enough how important it is to drive a bike course before a race. It was so helpful. I counted eight climbs/descents on the bike, and with my love for climbing I was really looking forward to pushing it on the bike. The run however was very intimidating. With 3 significant climbs (at mile 3, 5 and 9) I was pretty nervous about what would happen out there. To add to the anxiety, it was over 95 degrees on Saturday, so I was getting worried about how my body would hold up in those conditions.

Race morning came quickly and we were on our way to the Lake bright and early. Not quite early enough however, as the traffic coming into the park was a brutal, and I had minimal time to get myself in race mode. By the time we finally arrived in transition I was pretty frantic trying to get my stuff organized before the kicked us out. I had to skip any form of a warm up, but in the end, that worked out. Thankfully the weather took a turn Sunday and we were greeted by much cooler temps, high winds and rain.

The water was very warm, but age groupers were still allowed to wear wetsuits. I think they know where the ‘Springs” are to drop the thermometer. Of course of love the buoyancy of my awesome Blue Seventy suit, but would have been very happy with a non-wetsuit ruling this time around. Swim was pretty uneventful- on my own most of the time. Once into T1, and I noticed one person in my AG at their bike. I quickly peeled off my wetsuit and managed to get off on my bike in front. My plan was to stay ultra conservative on the first 5-10 miles, and I stayed true to that. I felt great, and with the W35-45 starting 5 minutes ahead, it was great to have a few targets on the course.

This course has three turnarounds, so it provides plenty of opportunity to check in on the competition. With the hills nicely spaced, this course seems to pass by very quickly. The winds didn’t bother me out tere, but the wet roads made a few of the technical descents rather tricky. I felt good with my effort on the bike and came into T2 feeling strong and leading the AG. It was really cool to see Jules in T2. She got out about 30sec in front of me, but I was excited to have the chance to run with her. Again, being pretty new to this distance stuff, I wanted to start off very conservatively on the run. It felt effortless, and was happy to see my first 2 miles right on the 7min pace. I was very happy with that, but I knew there was a lot of hard work ahead. Julie and I had a chance to run together for a while, which was a real treat. I climbed the first big hill still feeling in control, but when I hit the climb at mile 4.5, I felt like 100 lbs were added to my back. That was a tough one. At the top, there’s a 1.5 mile flat out and back, so I worked hard to get myself back in a rhythm and back on pace. At the turnaround, I had a chance to check in on the swift footed Charisa in serious pursuit. I knew it was just a matter of time, but I kept trucking along hoping to hold her off as long as possible. I felt ok-no gut or body issues, just getting pretty tired. C eventually passed me at the 9.4 ish mark on the big climb before turning into the park. We ran shoulder to shoulder for about 10 seconds, and when we hit the turn, she was off in true C style. I didn’t think there were any other Amateurs ahead of us and by looking at my watch, I knew that if I held it together for the last 3 miles I could get myself a PR and a Kona slot (C picked up her slot in CA earlier this year). I suffered through to the finish and crossed the line in 4:46. I was Very pleased.

After the initial excitement wore off, my body started to shut down. I was pretty dizzy, and I was having a tough time seeing. Thankfully for me, the med tents folks were handing out IVs like candy so I was quickly offered a pick me up.


After thinking back over my nutrition for the day, I realized that I had consumed less than 450cals during the race, and I was obvioulsy dehydrated. I went to the BR before the race, and not again until 2+ hours after the race (and that’s with the 1L IV). I’ll do a better job with that next time.

So the Kona slot was mine…What to do??? The decision took a few hours, but after a few Margaritas I decided to pass on KONA, and the three of us accpeted Clearwater slots. Another big party in the making!!


I’m just not fired up for an Ironman this year-I love the OLY distance, and I’d like to do a few more 70.3 this fall. When I decide to invest the time and money into an Ironman, I want to be really jazzed for it. I know it will come, but just not this year.

CHEERS :-)