Official Island Lake Sprint & Olympic Tri - 5/29 (Page 2)

jplotzke - 2010-05-25 8:37 AM

I think it shortens the course to about 12.4ish miles (instead of 12.5 or 12.6 last year).  By the way, the turnaround doesn't take out any hills though -- you'll loop around just before the train tracks, so it really only takes out the end parking lot.  That turnaround will be pretty tight, though.

According to Element Event's website -- the water temp is 68 degrees!  That's crazy!

AeroBaldness - 2010-05-26 11:31 AM Hey Jeff, I'm hoping you can help me think through something else (needy, I know).  I have a buddy that is thinking about last minute registering for the Sprint, but needs to be out of there by around 10:30 or 11:00.  Looking at the course, and the fact that the Oly goes off second and does 2 laps of the bike course, I thought he'd be cutting it close.  Here is my thinking:  folks won't be able to get out of the parking lot until the last Oly biker starts lap 2 and makes their way past the entry shack.  Working backwards, the last swim wave is set to go off at 7:48.  Lets say the last swimmer takes almost an hour to complete the swim & t1 and takes an hour and about 45-minutes to 2 hours to complete the 1st lap of the bike course.  This should open up the road out to exit at 10:45 to 11:00 at the latest, right? 

michgirlsk - 2010-05-29 12:20 PM Ted, that was you who saw me right?  I am impressed that you recognized me while you were running!!  With your "short and bald" description, I actually thought I had seen you earlier on the course because there was someone else that fit that similar description that was running the Oly that passed by me!

The Island Lake tri was fun!!  I'm glad to have chosen it as my first tri!

michgirlsk - 2010-05-29 1:20 PM

The Island Lake tri was fun!!  I'm glad to have chosen it as my first tri!

xrodolfox - 2010-05-31 3:17 PM
Post race reports plz! I learn more from what people write there than even from what I write.  

jplotzke - 2010-05-31 4:11 PM

Needy, aren't you? 

I just posted mine.

AeroBaldness - 2010-05-31 6:53 PM

WOW, mad props for spelling Roman's last name correctly (I think) and even more for hanging with the guy!

Here is a paste of my report from another site:

Up at 4:45 and all went well (my wife gets major hero points for getting up early to cheer me on) got to the race site by about 6:30 and check in, pick up and set up of transition went according to plan.

SWIM: Due to the early, warm weather, there was ton of seaweed growth and they had to change the swim course from a triangle, to an 800 meter out and back (2 loops for the Oly). A typical to most events, they started the Sprint first which put about 450 of the total 600 racers in the water (on an out and back course) before the Oly swim. For the men, they did a mass start for the Olympic and there had to be 80 to 90 guys in the wave. Trying to test things for July's HIM, I sat back a bit on the start (huge mistake). Right after the horn I was already swimming on top of the guys in front of me. I breathe on the right, so I was trying to work my way towards center so I could spot from buoy to buoy (second huge mistake). While still fighting my way I took a huge blow to the face from a guy next to me I didn't even see. I've been hit a bunch before, but never like this and most of my right cheek below my eye is sore and my jaw hurts like hell.  After gathering myself, I swam another 40 or 50 yards and right in to a swimmer that had crossed over the middle line and in to our out swim. I took his/her swim cap (and the head it contained) right in my bottom lip and about a gallon of water with it. Now, I am not even 250 meters in to the 400 meter out and I've been bashed twice. I encountered two more swimmers that had crossed over before I got to the 400 turn around (and really did not get a stroke in without touching someone). There, I saw the jet ski and had real thoughts of packing it in as I was gassed. Instead, I swam over about 3 guys to the outside left to finally get some room to swim. The next 1,200 yards were slightly less eventful, other than having to swim through a massive patch of seaweed twice.

T1: Socks Suck. Another thing I was trying today was putting on socks for the bike and the run. With wet feet and a double walled sock, I had to sit down and unbunch the socks before I could wear them. End result was an uncharacteristic 2:00+ minute transition. 

BIKE: My heart rate was still though the roof from the swim and it took a couple of miles to get my breath. My legs felt lousy, but according to Garmin data, I was still able to average over 19 MPH. The hills were tough and the wind kicked up for the second loop.

T2: 52 Seconds!

RUN: Cruel start, uphill on grass out of transition. Great 1st loop of the course, but the second loop, and that hill again got me and I started to cramp. I fought through the cramps with a couple of quick walks. At the finish, I spotted a guy in my AG about 40 yards ahead and broke in to a sprint. When I caught him, he realized what was going on and we had a neck and neck sprint to the line, with me getting him by about a 1/2 a foot. We shared congrats and no hard feelings once we could breathe.

 

xrodolfox - 2010-06-02 4:18 AM I learn so much from reading other's reports. Thanx for posting.

Aero, if you had started up front, do you think you'd have had an easier time with the swim?