Trail Note: Beaver Lake Tri Race Report
Ten years ago this month, I ran my first triathlon, the BLT (Beaver Lake Tri). I wore a speedo suit with a jog bra for the swim and then pulled on a t-shirt and shorts for the bike and run. I rode my commuter/hybrid bike wearing my running shoes. I think I stopped in the transition to use the port-o-potty at least once. The swim was my best leg. I had a great time and became hooked on tri's.
Flash forward to today, my 4th BLT with many other tri's under my belt. I wore a one piece tri suit (purchased on sale in Vancouver when the exchange rate was still really good), number belt, rode a real road bike (albeit, one I picked up used 8 years ago) with clip-in pedals, and spent 5 minutes talking myself into stopping on the run to adjust the strap holding the timing chip that was rubbing my ankle raw; I certainly wasn't stopping for any port-o-potty. Oh yes, I'm a serious triathlete now. (please, note sarcasm)
Anyway, it was back then and is still today a great race. The swim is short (.25 miles) and warm, which is nice, since these days it's the most intimidating part for me. The field is small, also particularly nice for the swim portion. The bike has a major hill and the rest of the ride (13.8 m) and the run (4.3 m) roll nicely, which makes for a challenging but do-able race. It's mostly shady and tree-lined with very little traffic. There are a lot more cookie-cutter developments in the area than there were 10 years ago, but they're not too apparent on the course.
The official results aren't up and my watch ran out of memory, so I don't know my exact results, but I think I PR'd with a finish time just under 1 hour 27 minutes. I finished 5th in my age group with only one woman passing me post-swim (at the beginning of the bike; never ever saw her on the run). I think my running pace was under 7:30, which is pretty good for a hilly 4.3 miles. All in all, I'm very happy with the results.
Another great thing about the BLT: I always run it with friends. This is the 3rd time Jeff and I have done this one together, which makes the race that much more fun. Here's looking forward to next year.
Update: Race results are posted.
Ten years ago this month, I ran my first triathlon, the BLT (Beaver Lake Tri). I wore a speedo suit with a jog bra for the swim and then pulled on a t-shirt and shorts for the bike and run. I rode my commuter/hybrid bike wearing my running shoes. I think I stopped in the transition to use the port-o-potty at least once. The swim was my best leg. I had a great time and became hooked on tri's.
Flash forward to today, my 4th BLT with many other tri's under my belt. I wore a one piece tri suit (purchased on sale in Vancouver when the exchange rate was still really good), number belt, rode a real road bike (albeit, one I picked up used 8 years ago) with clip-in pedals, and spent 5 minutes talking myself into stopping on the run to adjust the strap holding the timing chip that was rubbing my ankle raw; I certainly wasn't stopping for any port-o-potty. Oh yes, I'm a serious triathlete now. (please, note sarcasm)
Anyway, it was back then and is still today a great race. The swim is short (.25 miles) and warm, which is nice, since these days it's the most intimidating part for me. The field is small, also particularly nice for the swim portion. The bike has a major hill and the rest of the ride (13.8 m) and the run (4.3 m) roll nicely, which makes for a challenging but do-able race. It's mostly shady and tree-lined with very little traffic. There are a lot more cookie-cutter developments in the area than there were 10 years ago, but they're not too apparent on the course.
The official results aren't up and my watch ran out of memory, so I don't know my exact results, but I think I PR'd with a finish time just under 1 hour 27 minutes. I finished 5th in my age group with only one woman passing me post-swim (at the beginning of the bike; never ever saw her on the run). I think my running pace was under 7:30, which is pretty good for a hilly 4.3 miles. All in all, I'm very happy with the results.
Another great thing about the BLT: I always run it with friends. This is the 3rd time Jeff and I have done this one together, which makes the race that much more fun. Here's looking forward to next year.
Update: Race results are posted.
posted by Tricia at 5:42 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks! :)
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