We're Moving to Eugene!

Welcome! I call Eugene home when not working in Saigon or traveling. (In other words, for 4-6 weeks a year.) I don't know about the Eugene Tri since I think it takes place after I go back to Vietnam, but the area races don't uniformly have short swims. Tri at the Grove in late July, and the Pacific Crest Oly and HIM, do have standard distance swims. There's also Leadman in Bend, which has longer swim and bike than standard and shorter runs.

As for pools......There is a 50m facility, but only open in the summer, and hours for lap swim are limited. Amazon Pool has 50m and 25m setups (they put the lane lines up differently as it's 25m X 50m) depending on the time and who's practicing. There's a pretty active master's swim program (Emerald Aquatics) that I usually train with 2-3 days a week when I'm in town. I know the Saturday AM summer practices are with the long-course setup; maybe the early AM weekday practices (6-7:30 M-F) are too but I don't do those. The MWF 11-12 and UH 5:30-7 PM practices are generally short-course. In the winter, practices are usually at Echo Hollow, which actually is a 50m facility but is currently divided into 25 yd. indoor and 25m outdoor (year-round--you can swim in the snow as they keep the water 80-ish all year!) pools; the divider that could be lifted to join them no longer lifts. Funding to keep open and maintain the recreational facilities is a serious issue here. There's also a short-course facility at Sheldon HS but there is talk of it closing soon.

Good OWS at Fern Ridge Reservoir and Cottage Grove Lake.

There is a tri store, Multisport Advantage, but they have changed ownership in the past year and the club they used to sponsor is no longer active. (I just stopped in there this AM so this is very current info.) I think they do still offer coaching but I don't know who is coaching now. Brett and Christina Caldwell, who used to own it, were great sources of advice and encouragement when I was starting out, and I'll miss the group rides, practice dus, and open water swim practices. There are definitely still group and drop-in Computrainer and Trex classes that attract small groups. GEARS is a local cycling group that offers a lot of rides of various distances and speeds. The Row River Trail in Cottage Grove is a great multi-use path that is safer for hard training rides (esp. in aero) as it's better surfaced and has far fewer pedestrians than the Willamette River path in Eugene. Road rides range from pancake flat to rolling to brutally hilly depending on what direction you go. In winter your best bet is a trainer or the Computrainers at the tri club--outdoors is sometimes doable but cold and wet, and fog can make riding unsafe.

As for running, there are more places to run here than you can count. It is justly the running capital of the world, although you need to like running in the rain. Favorites are Pre's Trail, Amazon and Rexius Trail, Hendricks Park, Laurel Valley, and the Willamette River path.

Hope some of this is useful. It's a great place to train and while it's still primarily a running town, I think the interest in tri is growing.

This is all incredibly helpful!
I will definitely do the Bend races as I'll be in Eugene year-round. I'm excited, but I'm also sad I'm missing my tri-friends.

Welcome! This is my first year "dipping my toes" into tri's as i did a duathlon last year that got me very excited. I would have more to say if Hot Runner didn't cover all the main points. I swim at court sports athletic club, but it is only a 25yd pool. Again welcome to the area. The weather will be awesome when you get here!

I will take a 25yd pool any day.
Thanks for the tip.

We're here!

Welcome! I'm leaving tomorrow, so we won't get a chance to meet unless you're at EA Master's tonight! There should be a few more months of good weather left to enjoy. (This is actually the first cool, cloudy day in weeks.)