Here We Go Again!

Several of the local ladies have kept in touch - kind of at loose ends now that we aren't in TRY training and headed to Vincennes 3 times a week! We've all pledged to keep up our exercise - having worked so hard it seems silly to let it all slide (! - no pun intended - ok - maybe it was!).

One of the group had tumbled onto another triathlon in about 6 weeks in Mattoon ... so Jim and I took a road trip Saturday up to Mattoon – the August 1st event is very doable for us!

It is a USA Triathlon sanctioned event – I am told it will attract the elite triathletes, the beginner triathletes, and every one in between! Registration is online only via the Mattoon Multisport site (www.mattoonmultisport.com).

We entered Mattoon from the south on 45 – turn left at the stop light at Marshall (you’ll see the Auto Zone on the left and it’s the next cross street). It’s quite a ways up – just before 45 takes the sharp right turn. There are 2 lanes of traffic each way plus a center turning lane on 45 all the way up from the 57 interchange on.

From Marshall you’ll go down quite a ways (10-12 blocks or so) and then turn right onto 32nd – 32nd street is under construction at this time – I don’t know enough about paving to know if it will be fixed by the time of the event or not – looks like it is scraped all the way to base so it’s gritty and uneven at best.

Lytle Park is on the left after the railroad tracks and 32nd is the east border of the park. We turned into the park at the second entrance and parking is on the right (gravel lot) and pool on the left up a bit. Pool entry was $4 so we just took photos from outside the fence. I didn’t mind the chain link fence at all, but the barbed wire section on the top was a little ominous. I had to hold the camera well above my head to clear the chain link sections yet tilt it to stay under the barbed wire – I’m surprised the pool folks didn’t challenge us; we must not have looked too threatening. Also surprised I didn’t manage to drop the camera!

Per Justin, the chatty pool manager I spoke with by phone, we will be able to ‘run’ in almost half of the first 100 meters, then do a shallow dive, swim the ‘M’ course, and part way back on the last 100 meter leg we’ll have our feet under us and run out. Also per Justin, it’s more of a 200 meter swim and he has an outstanding lifeguard staff that will keep a close eye on us! Justin wasn’t around on Saturday, but pool staff told us the transition area is in the grass just outside the pool house – if that is correct we’ve got a photo of it t

The bike route goes out the lane we drove in on (or there is an exit just a bit north at the other end of the gravel parking lot). Left onto 32nd, up a block to the north end of the park, left onto Western, down a block to 33rd (on the right), then straight out of town. 33rd is all marked up as if it is doing to be resurfaced as well, but was fairly intact as of Saturday.

After a few blocks on 33rd there is a 2 way stop at DeWitt with a gas station on the corner. 4 lanes of traffic going east and west (we are going north) that does not stop – surely there will be law enforcement to cross us… After that it’s a straight shot out with just one 4 way stop intersection out in the middle of some corn fields. Good concrete road – you can see forever – it reminded me of Ste. Marie if you go north from Seven Hills Road. Some slight inclines but nothing that could be called a hill. Might could be called a grind though …

The spot on the map marked as the turn around point was a small gravel lot with some silos – nothing else around that could be the turnaround area either – just a whole lot of not much out there! I think we saw 2 cars on our way out and back (we drove it as it was high noon and the car told us it was 95 degrees).

You get back into the park the way you left it. Take the ‘road’ in the park around the back of the pool and out onto 32nd again – this time from the southernmost entrance to the park. There are about 10 speed bumps along this access road. Back left/up 32nd like we did on the bikes to the corner of Western again. This time turn right (east) onto Western and go down to 21st, circle an empty block, back onto Western headed west and back to the park. This road has sidewalks on both sides, houses set way back on the lots, some shade. The street itself is a lot like East (although flat) – plenty of room for 2 lanes of traffic and cars to park on both sides. No clue as to whether we ‘run’ in the street or on the sidewalk.

This is a coed event. There is nothing jumping out at me in the material that indicates there are separate flights for men/women. Teams are allowed and may also be coed. My registration was $60.80 and includes a one day USA Triathlon (USAT) membership. As near as I can tell all it takes to be a USAT member is a credit card! I have already registered online and it never asked me for a swim time – but Tony Garrett from Mattoon Multisport and Justin the pool manager each said participants would enter according to swim time.

I’m in – I figure if I’m going to continue ‘training’ I might as well have something to train for! At least we won’t have a time change to deal with! Not overly wild about running with the alpha males, but then I’ll be in the back with the omega females anyway!

I've got photos of the pool/park and the swim/ride/run routes - and registration details - let me know if you want them!