10 To Tri!

So at the crack of dawn on Sunday (August 1st) - 10 excited Olney 'triathletes' (!) appeared at Lytle Park in Mattoon, Illinois (about an hour from Olney). All 5 ladies had participated in the SIS Women's TRYathlon in Vincennes in June and we were joined by 5 guys - 1 with considerable tri and marathon experience, 1 a swimmer, 1 a runner, and the other 2 well, lets say just because!

The Lytle Park Triathlon was a USA Triathlon sanctioned event - so attracted some serious competitors - fancy tri-suits, heart monitors, their own timers built into their watches, teardrop (aerodynamic) bike helmets, no body fat - really lean machines - and then there was our group!

Body Marking:
- participant number on your right shoulder, your self-reported swim time on your right wrist (I said 15 minutes because I didn't want to be in anyone's way), and your AGE on your right leg just below and behind the knee (for EVERYONE to see!) - I'm telling you that would never fly at the TRY!

Bibs - none!

Swim - Lytle Park pool is, in a word, enormous! Ran in as far as you could (about 10 feet for me with my short little legs!), shallow dive, then just under 100 meters to the right side diving board. Go around a buoy out in the water (where I can't stand up) and diagonal to another buoy 50 meters toward the start. Go around that buoy (where I still can't stand up) and diagonal another 50 meters to buoy #3 at the left side diving board then straight out the last 100 meters to the exit point. The first swimmers had 4 minute (self reported) swim times - however, several got cross ways (no lane ropes since we were swimming an 'M' pattern more or less) and wound up swimming a lot further. With the advantage of being in the back of the pack, we divined that on the last long leg we should stick to the right side of the pool and would be able to stand up sooner.

Transition #1 - there were very few people who took flip flops/shoes to the pool deck and even fewer who had towels! There were rug strips to go on from the pool to the grassy area leading into the transition area, but apparently there were stones under the rug which caused some dismay. Our gang all had our buckets but there were only a handful of buckets belonging to others. My bucket had been used by someone before I got there as it was wet when I went to sit down!

Bike - 12+ miles pretty much out and back - well marked - pretty much flat - windy both ways (shouldn't have been surprised, but I was!). Our group, of course, called out 'good job' and 'almost there' to each other as we met - but didn't seem that any one else was. There was one busy road to cross and there was uniformed law enforcement in place to assist us, which was really appreciated. My blaze orange shirt was a hit as they could see me coming for a long way!

Transition #2 - no issues although as the sweeper I did get a few looks from the folks who were trying to nap as I wheeled in!

Run (or in my case, Walk) - water stop at mile #1 - passed several Churches which were letting out or getting started and I was pretty disheveled looking by that point - although folks were supportive! One of the young guns in our group had finished and went back out on the run course to encourage some of the others, which was appreciated.

Finish - a loop through the park and under a balloon arch - I was the last one in and had lots of support from the crowd!

Snacks - water and pizza and plenty of both.

Timing - some type of snag with the timing and all the results weren't immediately available. Folks who had registered just that morning weren't on the preprinted list sorted by age groups - we determined that 2 of the group had trophied in their age groups, so brought home some hardware!

Some marked differences between this coed event and the women's only event in Vincennes -
- there were real competitors with 30 second transition times - no drying off after swim, many were barefoot in the park (!), lots of energy gel packs taped to bike frames (and littering the bike path), some Camelbak hydration systems - some really fancy bikes (had only seen a Cervelo on TV coverage of Tour de France!)
- while our group supported each other as we met along the way - and had signs - there were no other signs and not much of a crowd - where in Vincennes entire families came out to support their Mom/Wife/Mother - of course there were nearly 3 x as many participants in Vincennes, so that may have been a factor too!
- 115 registered and 102 finished - don't know if the others did not show or perhaps dropped out along the way - the last 3 years there were fewer than 90 participant times posted on the web site - so we upped the totals by 10%!
- our group members finished 43rd, 45th, 79th, 92nd, 94th, 97th, 98th, 99th, 100th and 102nd (that would be me!)
- since I consider this an 'event' as opposed to a 'race' it was perfectly fine for me to be the last finisher - and even so I improved my bike pace, 'run' pace, and transition times!
- got to see 'bike frames' in action
- everyone got home safely (a no blood event!) and generally enjoyed the morning

Photos to follow!