The Great Illini Challenge
By JB. Filed in Triathlon |
Olympic distance triathlon in Neoga, IL. The swim was in Lake Mattoon and was my first real experience in an open water swim of any distance. The biggest lesson learned in the swim was that I need clear, fog-free goggles for open water swims. It was very difficult to spot the pylons, even though they were all traffic-cone orange and rose 10 feet out of the water. I had to tread water once to clear them and swam a lot of breaststroke to make it easier to spot. The poor vision really hurt my overall swim as I place 20th in the swim.
The cycling is getting better. I think I placed 20th overall there. Just about had a 21 mph average, which isn’t too bad for a solo effort of 25 miles.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/12646399
My goal for the run was to finish it without walking, and while I did do that, I was pretty disappointed in my average speed of over 9 minutes per mile. I think my run ranked in the 40s. There were, I think, over 80 triathletes competing in the Olympic distance.
It was great to see an old friend there, Jon Beck. It’s been close to 20 years since the last time I saw him. He did the half-Ironman aquabike event and did well there. I think he was one of the first 10 swimmers out of the water. He also told me about the Last Chance Triathlon in Rend Lake on October 4, a sprint, and I think I’m going to do that one.
I finished this one 25th overall and 3rd in my age group and was awarded another two foot tall trophy. I’m not unhappy with my overall result but hope that my run will make some drastic improvements over the next year.
Had a bit of chest pain all through the run, but it went away pretty quickly after I stopped running.
Tags: Great Illini Challenge, Lake Mattoon, Neoga