From: chrisl@stpaul.gov (Chris A Lyman)
Subject: Ultimate Triathlon, Brainerd MN
Organization: City of Saint Paul Public Works
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 20:10:40 GMT

If there is one region in Minnesota that promotes itself as a playground for
outdoors types, it's the north/central area centered around Brainerd.  There
seems to be more golf courses, resorts, campgrounds, fishing outfitters, cross-
country ski trails, etc. per square foot than any other part of Minnesota.  On
top of that, there's a car racing facility that seems to be booked every
weekend.  But what's interesting for us multi-sport folk is the Ultimate
Triathlon (named after the Ultimate Sports & Fitness Center), mentioned a 
couple of years ago in Triathlon Today as one of the Midwest's finest small
races.  The course includes a 1.5 km swim, a 47 km bike and a 8.3 km run, and
begins and ends at a well-shaded picnic/campground; just as pretty as the
brochures. :-)

Because of this summer's cooler than usual temperatures, the lake was co-o-ld:
about 65 degrees F (18C).  After a clean start, I had no trouble following
the orange buoys out to the turnaround.  On the way back, my goggles fogged
up so there was more course corrections than I would have liked.  Nonetheless,
I posted either a great time for me (22:28) on an accurately measured course,
or an OK time on a short course; I suspect the latter.  

Although I don't mind cold water, my last transition from a cold swim to biking
was rather comical: my coordination had gone away and I used the whole road
swerving around until I could get my feet clipped into the pedals.  This time,
I took an extra 15 seconds to warm up before mounting the bike and I had no
trouble.

The bike course had rolling hills for the first 2/3s and was fairly flat and
straight for the last 1/3.  I got into a back-and-forth duel with another
racer in my age group (40-44).  I made better time in the hills; when we got
to the flat part, he put his head down and motored past me.  He was the only
rider to pass me during the bike portion.  We both had some fun passing other
cyclists from the previous wave.

The long bike had so broken up the field that I was pretty much on my own
during the run.  Three people passed me, but they were all younger than me
so I didn't give chase.  The fellow I'd had the great bike duel with was
obviously a better runner.  He was out of sight within the first 2-3 km.  So
I soldiered on; pressing to make up time for my first slow mile (I was very
stiff coming off the bike) and working my average pace back to respectability
(for me, anyway).  I looked back with about 1/2 mile to go and saw that I had
almost a 1/2 mile on my nearest competitor.  Hence, I didn't make any big
surge at the end! :-)

With all the shade trees and the lake in the background, we had one of the
prettiest settings for a finish line I've ever seen.  I finished tired but
happy; my split times were minutes faster than two years ago, and I made a
good showing against a strong field.  Btw, there were more 40-44 males than
any other age group.  No hardware for me this time!

-- 
Chris Lyman -  a personal        /   "I belong to no organized
opinion for every occasion       /   political party.  I am a
email: chrisl@pwcs.stpaul.gov    /   Democrat." -- Will Rogers
Newsgroups: rec.sport.triathlon