Category: Triathlon Across The USA

Huntingdon, Tennessee; September 15, 2018 – Dixie Triathlon, Carroll County 1000 Acre Recreation Area.

Travel to the Tennessee Triathlon

Joy and I used the week between the Hocking Hills Sprint Triathlon (Logan, Ohio) and the Tennessee triathlon to visit the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter and to camp at Big Bone Lick State Park, all in northern Kentucky.

Meanwhile, my searches for a hotel near the location of the Dixie Triathlon the next weekend had turned up nothing. The few hotels in the communities around Huntingdon were full on Friday night.

As we entered Tennessee on Thursday afternoon, we stopped at one of the first visitor’s centers. My goal was to find a camping site near the race venue. One of the closest options near Huntingdon was Natchez Trace State Park, around 45 minutes drive from the Carroll County Recreation Area.

While checking out camp sites within Natchez Trace State Park, we stumbled upon Pin Oak Lodge. The lodge provided a clean and comfortable air-conditioned room (much preferred since it was hot and humid outside), a restaurant, and a swimming pool, all among pine trees and with the view of a lake in the background.

First Dixie Triathlon

This was the inaugural running of the Dixie Triathlon. This race had been the dream of a local triathlete, Dr. Volker Winkler. Sadly, Dr. Winkler did not see his dream come true as he died unexpectedly earlier in the year.

However, in his honor, Carroll County officials and residents poured their hearts into making this event a success. McKenzie Medical Center, the clinic that Dr. Winkler helped found, served as the title sponsor of the race. The Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center in Huntingdon was the presenting sponsor.

Filled to Capacity

Every one of the 300 spots for the race was filled, despite this being the Dixie Triathlon’s first year.

Besides, the number and enthusiasm of volunteers supporting the athletes spoke volumes about the commitment of the community to the triathlon. Personal notes from Huntingdon Middle School students in the race packets and the handmade signs along the race course added to the welcoming feeling.

To top it off, all participants received handcrafted ceramic finisher medals produced in the Dixie Performing Art Center’s Mudslingers Pottery Studio.

Two Races in One

The Dixie Triathlon, managed by Above The Fold Events & Sport Promotions, Franklin, Tennessee, included both sprint and Olympic distances. There was also an option to compete in the sprint distance as a relay team.

Distances for the individual legs of this USAT-sanctioned sprint triathlon were:

• Swim: 0.31 mile (500 m)
• Bike: 16 mile (25.7 km)
• Run: 3.1 miles (5 km)

Transition Area Setup

The transition area was setup in a grassy area in front of the lake next to the boat ramp and dock. We chose our area on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, with all sprint racers on the side of the main aisle closest to the lake.

I was one of the first people to arrive at the race. Even though we arrived before the official opening of the transition area at 5:45 am, we were not the first. Nevertheless, I had a good location, just one bike position off the main aisle.

In setting up my transition area, I did what I have always done for a quick transition – set my helmet upside down, centered on the aerobars. I set my clear safety glasses inside the helmet, lenses downward and bows standing upward.

Checking back a little later, I found the helmet lying on the ground. Now, however, my glasses were in two pieces – the lenses and the frame.

I didn’t see anything to suggest that the glasses were broken. However, without my reading glasses, I couldn’t see any possibility of putting the two pieces back together. Fortunately, Joy found the solution and reassembled the two pieces.

I returned the glasses to the helmet, still in the transition area. However, this time, I left the helmet and glasses sitting on the ground next to the front bike tire. Just before the beginning of the race, when the transition area was ready to be closed, I put the helmet with glasses back onto the aero-bars.

Triathlon tip: During the setup of transition, plan for items in your personal space to be moved. Just before the close of transition, reinspect the area and reposition any of the items that have been moved.

Pre-Race Ceremony

After race director Joe Fleenor reviewed key points of the race course, we all joined Carroll County mayor, Joseph Butler, in a prayer thanking God for the beauty of His creation and asking for the safety of the participants. Katie Hodges of the Miss Dixie Performing Arts Center concluded the pre-race ceremony with the singing of the national anthem.

Swim

The water temperature was over 81°F so, according to USAT rules, wetsuits were not allowed.

I have learned the hard way to always check the bottom of the lake before the race. Lake bottoms vary considerably, some are rocky, some are muddy, and some are slippery. Today, we were swimming in a lake with an uneven, clay bottom that made walking into and out of the water tricky.

Wave Starts

Participants started in waves by distance, age groups, and gender. All the Olympic distance groups started first. As the first of the Olympic triathletes completed their swim, the male sprint distance racers started according to their age groups. I started in the group of twenty-six males age 50 and over. 

About a minute and a half before the start of our wave, we walked onto the dock and jumped into the water, facing the first yellow buoy. The water was deep enough that I never touched bottom upon jumping in.

The rectangular shape of the sprint distance swim course required three left turns. The first two turns were around yellow buoys shown in the picture above. About 75 yards after making the last left turn, the one around the lone orange buoy, we reached the exit.

The steep drop-off of the bottom meant we could swim within a few feet of shore before touching bottom, one already determined to be uneven and slippery. Thankfully, volunteers stationed at the exit helped racers with their footing as they left the water.

Triathlon tip: In open water swims, it is helpful to swim as close to the exit as possible, especially when the bottom is difficult to walk on.

Bike

The mount location for the bike was also unique in that it sloped downward in two directions at the same time – away from the transition area and downward toward the lake. After riding out of the mount area, there was a short flat section of road during which I slipped my feet into the bike shoes.

The bike course continued out of the Carroll County 1000 Acre Recreation Area through a small hill onto the road leading into the area. The continuous series of hills took us along country roads past wooded areas and fields of soybeans and cotton (pictured below). 

We continued into and through the center of Huntingdon, past the Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center and the Carroll County Courthouse. From there, we were back on another series of paved country roads.

The ‘Surprise’

The ‘surprise’ for the sprint competitors mentioned by race director Joe Fleenor during the opening announcements was as feared – a hill of the grade and length that required walking the bike up the last portion of the hill. (I would later learn that my bike frame was cracked. This, in turn, led to the rear wheel brake dragging on the rim.)

During the walk, I commiserated with a man of similar age who walked along with me.  He informed me that he had known what was coming because he had ridden the course during training.

We reminded each other that triathlon is, at least for us, a hobby.

Time Wasters

Two events made my time on the bike course longer than necessary. The first was my chain coming off the gears as I downshifted before a steep hill.

Reinstalling the chain required first flipping the bike upside down. In this position, I could free the chain that had become wedged between the frame and gear. With the chain loose, it was a simple matter of flipping the bike right side up and resetting the chain on both sets of gears.

It seemed too risky re-clipping my shoes into the pedals while going uphill. Therefore, I turned the bike around and coasted downhill while clipping my shoes into the pedals. Once my shoes were clipped to the pedals, I made a U-turn to rejoin the race during a break in the flow of bikers.

The second cause of wasted time was misreading a sign containing an arrow marking the bike course.  Thinking that I had continued onto the course for the Olympic distance, I turned around. Immediately, a volunteer yelled out for me to turn back around and make a right turn at the next intersection.

Run

The temperature at the start of the race was 72°F with a relative humidity of 89%. By the time I hit the run course, the temperature was in the high 80s°F.

The combination of temperature, humidity, and hills made this also one of the toughest runs. Senior triathlete and personal trainer, Jeanne Minder, later explained. She told me I had not trained enough in these conditions of heat, humidity, hills, etc. Another lesson to take from this race.

After the Tennessee Triathlon

Eavesdropping on conversations while re-hydrating after the race, I was comforted to hear from other seasoned triathletes from the southeast part of the USA say that this was ‘the’ or ‘one of the’ hilliest bike courses of a triathlon.  Of course, I also overheard one guy say that people from ‘eastern Tennessee would not even consider this course to be hilly’.

The race committee provided a generous and diverse table of foods – pizza, donuts, bananas, oranges, and chips – and soft drinks and water for us to rehydrate and recover.

Our Next Destination

Before the Georgia triathlon the next weekend, we headed toward The Villages, Florida for a week with friends, Don & Sue. The stop in Florida would also be the end of the trip for the stuffed giraffe which had hitchhiked a ride in the back of our van. The giraffe would take up residence in central Florida with her owner, Debby P.

Race Firsts

• First time taking part in an inaugural triathlon.
• Riding past cotton fields was another first.
• This was the first triathlon in which I lost time on the bike course because I misread a course marker.

 

How Do You Prepare For Different Race Conditions?

How do you prepare to race in high temperature and humidity if you live in an area in which these do not occur? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.

Logan, Ohio; September 8, 2018 – Hocking Hills Sprint Triathlon, Lake Logan State Park/Lake Logan Beach.

The location for our Ohio triathlon in the 50-state quest was Logan, Ohio. Situated in the Hocking Hills region about one hour’s drive southeast of Columbus, Logan is a popular destination for camping, hiking, and spelunking.

For Joy and me, Logan was also the venue for the first of five sprint triathlons I would complete in the same number of states on successive weekends of September and the first weekend in October.

It was in Logan that we once again tried tent-camping.

Planning the Ohio Triathlon

Joy and I had already decided that we wanted to travel to the southeast part of the USA to celebrate our 45^th wedding anniversary. Why not complete triathlons in a couple more states along the way?

While checking out the schedule for fall triathlons in states in which I had not completed a triathlon, a pattern emerged. We found that in one trip to the southeast part of the USA, we could complete five triathlons in five different states on five successive weekends.   

Clearly, this was a lot more than we had planned. Yet, it meant we could ‘kill’ not only two but five of the proverbial birds during one extended trip.

The plan just kept coming together. At the end of August, I registered for triathlons in Ohio, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and Kentucky.

Making Our Way to the Ohio Triathlon

We left our home in Minnesota at around 9 am on the Wednesday before the Saturday, September 8^th triathlon in Logan, Ohio. Our destination for the first day was West Chicago, Illinois, where we would stay with friends, Jim and Kris. Arriving at their home around 4 pm, we settled in for a leisurely evening.

An Unexpected Treat

While relaxing on the patio after dinner, Jim & Kris surprised us with a visit from classical guitarist, Jim Perona. Jim treated us to a variety of songs, a wonderful gift from our friends in recognition of our upcoming wedding anniversary.

Rain fell throughout the next day. We took advantage of the rain to relax around light conversation, even catching an afternoon nap. 

The next morning, we left Jim & Kris’s at little before 6 am for the drive to our destination for Friday and Saturday nights, the Hocking Hills KOA campground. It was at this clean, modern campground that we were going to retry tent camping. Secretly, I was hoping one of their cabins would have become available. However, this didn’t happen.

Dare I say that camping was not my idea? We had given up tent camping years earlier since it rained nearly every time we setup a tent.

Passing the Rain

For more than half the trip between Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, we drove through rain compliments of tropical storm Gordon. A little past Indianapolis, Indiana, we finally passed the rain. However, we were pretty sure the rain would stay on our trail.

The skies were dry when we reached the campground. The weather app on my phone showed there to be only a slight chance of rain in the forecast. And for a while, this held true. We had plenty of time to set up the tent before the rain caught up to us later in the afternoon.

Race packet pickup was on the morning of the race. Despite this, we visited Lake Logan Beach, hoping to preview the bike course. However, the road to the park was closed because of downed power lines. 

With this part of the plan shot and hoping for the road to be cleared overnight, we drove into Logan. Here, we enjoyed dinner, sampling the local barbeque at Millstone BBQ.

With an early morning ahead, we headed to bed for a night of being serenaded by a symphony of raindrops on our tent roof. Thankfully, the raindrops stayed off our heads – and bottoms.

15^th Annual Hocking Hills Sprint Triathlon

The Hocking Hills Sprint Triathlon was managed by teamCOLUMBUSevents. The Hocking County Tourism Association was the main sponsor for the triathlon.

Besides men’s Age Group categories, this triathlon was part of the USAT designed WIN (Women’s Initiative) Series. At the time, WIN was a series of USA Triathlon sponsored events across the USA aimed at increasing participation of women in triathlon and other multisport activities.

Distances for the individual legs of this USAT-sanctioned sprint triathlon were:

• Swim: 0.25 mile (400 m)
• Bike: 12.4 miles (20 km)
• Run: 3.1 miles (5 km)

Making New Friends Before the Triathlon

By morning, the rain had stopped. However, the skies remained overcast with a ‘not-if-but-when’ threat of rain. Despite this forecast, the 67°F air temperature was a relief from temperatures in the 90s °F in the days leading up to this race.

We reached Lake Logan a little before 7 am, in time for the opening of the transition area. After setting up my transition area, we chatted with some of the other participants, many who we learned were competing in their first triathlon.

Two future triathletes, daughters of one competitor, posed with the stuffed giraffe that was hitching a ride with us to Florida, one destination of this road trip.

Racing in the Rain

About 15 minutes before the start of the race, the skies opened. With no wind, the rain fell straight down.

I jogged over to the transition area and covered my running shoes and safety glasses with the green and white striped towel lying beside the front wheel of my bike. With my bike shoes clipped into the pedals and hanging downward, their insides remained dry.

There was no lightning, so the race started on schedule. However, with the heavy rain and wet roads, the race became more about everyone’s safety than about setting speed records.

Swim

With recent air temperatures in Logan over 90°F, the water was warm, probably more than 80°F. In fact, walking into the water felt like crawling into a lukewarm bath.

The swim course left Lake Logan Beach, heading straight out from the beach. We swam around two super-sized beach ball-like blow-ups that were anchored to the bottom of Lake Logan.

All seventy-two racers started together. After the initial chaos associated with this number of swimmers heading for the first buoy, the group spread out, leaving plenty of space between us.

The water was shallow near the beach. I used several dolphin-dives to get into deeper water before beginning a regular swim stroke. The water remained relatively shallow throughout the swim, as I would occasionally feel the scraping of a plant, probably milfoil, on my hands or arms.

Bike

The out-and-back bike course was among the hilliest that I have experienced in a triathlon. We seemed to either be going up a hill or going down one. A few were gradual, but most involved a gear shift. In fact, I used the full range of gears for this relatively short course.

The last hill before the turnaround was one I had never experienced in a sprint triathlon – long and steep enough for me to have to get off the bike and walk it about halfway up the hill. While I may have been the first racer to do so, by the time I went back down this hill, most athletes were walking their bikes.

After this race, I learned that my back brake was dragging on the rear wheel. After completing the five triathlons during this trip, I took the bike to my local bike shop for service of the brake. It was then I learned there was a crack in the carbon fiber bike frame. This crack was causing the back brake to drag.

I would get a brand new bike frame thanks to the Trek warranty.

Run

The run was also on Lake Logan Road, the one used for the beginning and ending portions of the bike course. The course was flat, with only a couple of small rolling hills.

We ran out to the halfway point of the 5k and turned around. Dodging some of the returning bikes, we headed back to the finish line.

After the Ohio Triathlon

The rain was letting up by the end of the race. However, by now, everything was soaked. Joy kindly wiped the excess water off the bike before I put it into the back of our van.

While wrestling with the bike to get it into the back end of the van – remember, we were tent camping so had a lot of supplies – we met senior triathlete Mike Nall and his wife from Cleveland. Mike, a survivor of a rare heart disease, was now doing triathlons.

Next Stop–Tennessee

While the rain stopped for a while after the triathlon, it was far from over.

During heavy rain the next morning, we disassembled and packed our tent along with the other camping gear. After a shower, mostly to dry off, we headed about 45 minutes toward Columbus. Here we joined in Sunday worship with the congregation at Peace Free Lutheran Church in Canal Winchester, Ohio.

After church, we started our trek toward Tennessee and the next race, the Dixie Triathlon in Huntingdon, Tennessee. With almost everything we had brought now wet from the rain, our first night’s stop was at a Staybridge Suites. Here we dried our clothes and aired out the tent and other camping supplies.

Race Firsts

• First race in which I found it necessary to walk the bike up a portion of a hill.
• This was my first triathlon during which rain fell throughout the entire race.
• First triathlon at which Joy and I camped in a tent near the venue the night before the race.

Have You Done a Triathlon in Heavy Rain?

What have you learned about racing in the rain? Have you camped at or near the race venue?

Share your comments and advice below.

Mandan, North Dakota; July 18, 2015 – Bismarck Triathlon, Harmon Lake Park.

What is it like to do a triathlon in winds gusting to 40 miles per hour (64 km per hour)? Our North Dakota triathlon showed just how much wind can affect a race.

Planning the North Dakota Triathlon

How to Choose Your Next Triathlon highlights factors we typically use to select a triathlon, especially those involving overnight travel. For Joy and me, one of the keys to out-of-state triathlons has been to combine travel to the event with a visit to friends or family or a place of special interest (e.g. Savannah, Georgia – Hilton Head, South Carolina).  Sometimes, we accomplish more than one of these.

North Dakota was unique in this respect. Here’s the reason.

In 2015, North Dakota had among the fewest triathlons of any state.  On top of this, one of the three scheduled triathlons involved kayaking and mountain biking as an alternative to swimming and road biking.

I was concerned that the lone conventional sprint triathlon in North Dakota might eventually become extinct.

So, in February, we decided that this would be the year to complete the North Dakota triathlon and put behind us concerns about completing a triathlon in this state.

A Pleasant Surprise at Registration

During registration for the event, I learned I could save $2 on the fee if I shared news of the registration with my Facebook friends.  Of course, I took advantage of this. (Don’t judge.)

After sharing the post, I learned that one of my friends, Tom Lipp, had completed the Bismarck Triathlon a year earlier. 

I also learned that Tom was now training for Ironman Wisconsin. You can read about his experience training for and racing in Ironman Wisconsin here.

Getting to Bismarck for the North Dakota Triathlon

Bismarck is actually a twin city with Mandan, North Dakota, home of Harmon Park and the Bismarck Triathlon. The two cities are separated by the Missouri River with Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota, on the east side of the river. Mandan is on the west side of the Missouri River.

By the way, did you know that the Missouri River is the longest river in the United States, beating out the Mississippi by 21 feet?  And, that’s before it joins the Mississippi River just north of St, Louis, Missouri.

Driving to the Bismarck-Mandan area from our Minneapolis, Minnesota area home was about as easy a trip as one can make – start the audiobook, get on Interstate 94 West, and stay on it for just under six hours past the Red River Valley and some of the flattest parts of the USA.

We left home on Friday around 10:30 am and set our GPS coordinates for Epic Sports in Bismarck, location for race packet pick-up. After collecting the packet, including the race T-shirt, we checked into the Holiday Inn Express & Suites.

We then headed downtown, taking a short detour around the North Dakota State Capital building.

Following a short walk around the renovated downtown area, we stopped at one of the restaurants recommended by the hotel desk clerk, Blarney Stone Pub. Dinner tonight included authentic Irish food – creamed cabbage and corned beef for Joy and fish & chips for me.

11^th Annual Bismarck Triathlon

The Bismarck event included sprint and Olympic distance triathlons. There was also a sprint distance relay option in which three members of a relay team each completed one of the legs.

Distances for the three legs of this USAT-sanctioned sprint triathlon were:

• Swim: 0.31 mile (500 m)
• Bike: 12.4 miles (20 km)
• Run: 3.1 miles (5 km)

The 10 am starting time for the Bismarck Triathlon was the latest of any I had raced so far. The transition area did not even open until 8:30 am, a time at which most triathlons are starting or well underway.

Because of the later start, I had been concerned about the fact that the average high temperatures during the week before the triathlon had been just under 100°F. (I am not a fan of running in extreme heat.)

Today, however, the air temperature at race time was a chilly 60°F (16°C). On top of this, the wind was howling, with an average speed of 25 miles per hour (40 km per hour) and gusts to 40 miles per hour (64 km per hour).

Swim

It quickly became apparent to the poor souls who were assigned the job of placing the race buoys for the sprint and Olympic distances that the wind was too strong for the anchors meant to secure the buoys. The buoys simply would not stay where placed.

On top of this, the volunteers in kayaks who were to provide a rest stop along the course for swimmers needing a break during the swim leg had to spend all of their time paddling to stay near the course. With the wind today, they would not be able to provide the support for swimmers intended by the race director.

So, just before the start of the race, with the wind clearly in control, the race director shortened the swim course. Instead of the original course, he created one that ran parallel to the shore, a few yards away from it.

The revised course, reported to be 250 m by one swimmer with a GPS watch, was judged to be safe for the conditions of the day. Fortunately, everyone was safe through the swim. We completed the remaining legs of the race as planned.

Bike

For the bike leg, the numbers on my bike computer tell the story. The average speed was 14 mph (23 km/hr) while the maximum speed was 37 mph (60 km/hr).

While biking uphill, into the wind, the speed was incredibly slow at between 9 and 11 miles per hour (14-18 km/hr). For most of the ride, I avoided the aero position for fear of being blown off the road.

After the initial approximately two miles into the westerly wind, we turned. Now, the wind was from the side, making the ride even more treacherous.

Triathlon training tip – While we may be inclined to avoid inclement weather when training, we should take advantage of these opportunities, at least some of them. Training in conditions, such as rain or wind, which could be part of race day, helps to prepare for these when we eventually face them during a race. Reminds me of James 1:2-4.

The maximum speed came on the return of this out-and-back course, where we road downhill with the wind at our back.

Run

I prefer that the run course not include a hill immediately out of transition. The legs are already struggling to adapt to running after biking.

But today I was not getting my wish. The run out of transition involved a significant hill on the same road within the park that we had just returned from the bike course. And, with the wind today, my legs were more tired after the tough bike ride.

The run was also on an out-and-back course, sharing a section of the bike route. The initial portion took us past the campground within Harmon Park where campers turned spectators cheered us on.

As with the bike, we ran into the wind for the major portion of the first half of the run. But just as with the bike leg, the wind helped us back to the finish line after the turnaround.

Results

I ended the race with the second best time of five participants in the 60+ year Age Group in which I raced. Nothing to brag about, but no injuries.

Another state closer and nearly half way to the goal.

Race Firsts

• First race in which strong winds forced a change in the swim course.
• Latest start time; first race with a start time of 10 am.

Tell Us About Triathlons In Which Weather Was A Major Factor

Have you raced in inclement weather? How did it affect you personally and other racers?

Tell us about it in the Comments below.

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