The Devil's Challenge is part of the Wisconsin Triathlon Series. It's held in Devil's Lake State Park, Wisconsin's most popular state park. Scenic and historic, it's a great setting for a triathlon. The weather forecast called for mid 70s and thundershowers. The radar supported the forecast as we left for the race site at 5:30AM. And the rain we drove through confirmed that maybe these weather forecasters might deserve their paycheck after the previous week's Ironman Wiscosnin forecast debacle. However, the rain stopped before we got the park and held off for the race. The sun even pushed its way through to make it quite a nice day.
Pre Race
Getting to the park and setting up my transition was a snap. I met up with some friends and even saw another that was just back in town. After a nice warm up run and some potty breaks, it was time to make our way to the water. Devil's Lake is rectangular, and we were swimming on the north shore. That allowed the strong morning wind to blow across the entire lake and make it nice and choppy, what every triathlon swim needs.
Swim
In these local races, I'm usually within the top 5 swim overall, so I positioned myself at the front and waited for the horn. I take off sprinting, and dive in and start swimming when I can. Now, touching other swimmers in a race isn't a new thing but, I actually bumped into another race as he ran next to me. The lake never really gets too deep. In fact, you can walk the entire course, which many people in the novice waves did.
I made it though the waves, missing strokes every so often as some got swallowed up. I made the final turn to the shore and immediately met the bottom. I couldn't stroke anymore and I found it hard to run in with the wetsuit on, so I did some dolphin dives until it was shallow enough to run in. I finished 1:30 faster than the rest of my wave and had the fastest time overall by two seconds.
Bike
The bike course was hilly. As predicted, the first two miles could ruin your entire race. You immediately climb a long slow steady hill, quite the hindrance in sprint race. I spun as best I could ("Spin to win, baby!"), thinking it may not have been such a good idea not to have ridden my bike for the entire month of August. Much like the Ironman course, there is no level grade; you're either climbing or descending. Lots of the roads were still wet from the morning rain and if you went too fast and ran over a leaf, you were asking for trouble. It was most frustrating just before the entrance back to the park. There's a steep, short climb before the main gate, and then you descend near hair-pin curves to the finish. I made it through safe and sound, and ran across the soggy ground to T2.
Run
In and out (I always feel like I miss something) and on to the run. I took it slow and easy to start out; short strides to keep the turnover high. As my legs loosened up, I could feel myself moving faster and gaining some steam. I actually passed some people, which never happens to me on the run. As we made our way to the heart of the run in the campground, I could smell fresh fire being built for breakfast, an odd smell during a race. Most campers were in a daze, wondering who the hell all these people running through their sites were. Nobody really cheered, not even when I tried to goad them into it. Oh well, I was still having fun. I made the last turn and got passed by two guys, one from the 25-29 age group and one from mine. Wait a minute, that's my age group, and can't let him beat me! So I took off after him, just nipped him at the line to take 69th overall and 7th in the age group. Once again, the elites were mixed in the age groupers, so I was shut out of the podium.
As we cooled down, we remarked on how you get the full gamut of racing abilities, body types, equipment, and attitudes -- all of it good. I've got to keep doing this - it's too much fun.
Results
Overall: 69th out of 747
Age Group: 7th out of 65
Males: 65th out of 465
Swim (~0.25mi-seemed shorter): 5:21
T1: 1:56
Bike (15 mi): 52:13
T2: 0:58
Run (3 mi): 23:00
Final time: 1:23:26
You never cease to amaze me. Maybe in another 20 years I will be able to swim as fast as you. Keep at the running thing. It takes a while, but you're catching on fast :)