Subject: RE: Pittsburgh Triathlon bmacdona - 2006-07-29 9:48 PM
This will be my first Oly so I am just looking to finish with a decent time.
What is different about the bike ride? Is it all up hill going out and downhill back?
What about the current during the swim?
Any tips on the course would be greatly appreciated.
The bike is 2 loops that mainly consist of the HOV lane of 279. There are cars whizzing by you (don't worry, there is a cement barrier on either side so the cars won't get into the lanes ). Its also a loooooong uphill (about 5 miles ) with a tiny down at the end and then you turn around to go back (yay long downhill! ) and do it again after wrapping around the football stadium. The road condition is also pretty rough and there are mounds of pavement where they've patched holes. It can sometimes have lots of debris on it as well. Last year at the turnaround point on the HOV lane they had someone handing out extra water bottles so you could grab that if you needed it.
I didn't really notice much of the current for the swim though there is usually a small chop to it from the boats elsewhere along the river. There's a kind of long uphill run from the swim to get to transition.
The run is long and hilly and on a mix of pavement and packed dirt/limestone trails and I believe on stone sidewalk too. There are plenty of water stations but definitely long lengths of no spectators or anything so it can get a little lonely at times. Oh, they also only had water at the stations so if you want to drink anything else I'd bring it along.
I enjoyed it last year despite being a bit overheated from the humidity. I think this year I'll bring my own water bottle with some sports drink during the run given how humid its been lately and how bad water is at rehydrating.
Wow, that was really long. Hope it answered your questions! Post your # when you get it and I'll keep an eye out for you on Sunday! |