Trek Triathlon Update

Race Course

·         On the swim, there will be a lot more buoys across the lake, on the sides making a “lane” for you to swim. Buoys might be up early Saturday, but the guard platforms will be put up later in the day.  Two large buoys at swim start and swim exit.

·         Lasers!! So at the swim exit there will be two strobe light lasers to help you see the exit point better, along with flags, etc.

·         Transition: Swim Out at the small beach; Bike In and Out will be the main entrance to the RecPlex (by the building), and Run Out will be the south parking lot exit where the gates are.

·         Bike Course – Cue sheet can be downloaded here.

·         Run Course – you’ll run out of transition on the road, turn on the road to go down to the beach, continue on road up to about Hwy H, then reverse and run back on the path.

·         Finish line – a bit past the flagpoles, across from the softball field parking. 

Saturday

·         Registration & packet pickup - 10am to 3pm @ RecPlex.

·         You’ll need photo ID

·         If you’re doing a team, all team members must be together to pick up packets

·         Parking is in Prairie Springs Park.

·         Course Overview talk: 10:30 and 12:30

·         Race Day Preview talk: 11:15 and 1:15

Bike Racking on Saturday

·         You can rack your bike on Saturday or Sunday morning.

·         There is security in transition all night, so don’t worry about leaving your bike overnight.

·         The “advantage” on racking is that you can get a better spot on the bike rack.

·         If you get a good spot, consider bringing a small chain combination lock and locking your bike to the rack. This is to keep someone who comes later from moving your bike and taking your good spot.

·         You MUST go through registration first, before racking your bike, since you must have your race number on the frame of the bike to enter transition.

·         Transition is open 10am until 4:30pm.

·         Only athletes with race numbers allowed in transition Saturday and Sunday. No kids, husbands, significant others, etc. This is a very strict rule.

·         You can get body marked Saturday or Sunday.

Bike Racking on Sunday

·         Park at the Outlet Mall and ride your bike in.  Transition is open 4:30-6:30am, so plan to arrive with plenty of time to ride down Hwy 165 to the RecPlex, with your gear, rack your bike, and set up transition.

·         Remember transition closes at 6:30, so this is your deadline, NOT your wave time. Regardless of when you start, everyone has to be out of transition at 6:30.

·         After the race, they are not going to let you exit transition and ride back to the Outlet Mall until almost everyone is off the bike course. Otherwise, people riding back will interfere with those still doing the race.

Parking on Sunday

·         Main parking will be at “The Shoppes at Prairie Ridge” on Hwy 50. This is the shopping center with Target, JC Penny, Famous Dave’s, etc.

·         If driving, exit I-94 at Hwy 50 and go east.

·         Bus transportation available 4am until 1pm, but bikes are NOT allowed on the buses. If you park here and have your bike, you have to ride it down Hwy H to the RecPlex.

·         Athletes have priority on the buses over spectators. Spectators are being asked not to take the buses until 7am.

·         Outlet Mall parking is an option on Sunday. Typically this is for people who are riding their bikes to the race that morning. There is no bus transportation in the morning; if you don’t have your bike or have folks with you, they’ll have to walk the 1.5 miles down to the RecPlex.

After the race

Hwy 165 and Terwall Terrace (the road inside the park) are expected to open to traffic about 11:30am.

If you park at Prairie Ridge on Hwy 50:

1.   Ride your bike back to your car, riding north on Hwy H.

2.   Take the bus back to your car, drive back to the RecPlex, pick up your bike, and head home. BUT you’re not going to be able to do this until after the roads are opened.

If you park at the Outlet Mall:

1.   Ride your bike back to your car. But, as noted above, they’re not going to let you do this until most if not all the participants are off the bike course and on the run.

2.   After the roads reopen, there will be LIMITED bus transportation back to the Outlet Mall – take the bus to your car, drive to the RecPlex, and pick up your bike. 

Good luck to everyone racing. I’ll be seeing you at the swim start.

Coach Ken

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Trek Triathlon Training Class for Sunday, July 3

Even though this is a “holiday” weekend, we’re still be having class. No rest for the weary.

Meet at the beach at 7:00.  There are likely to be a lot of Trek athletes trying to swim this weekend, so it is best for us to get started on time.

Workout is our final race simulation.  Bring everything you will be using on race day. You’ll do a complete setup of your transition area, then:

·         Swim 3-4 laps (further if you want to)

·         Bike twice around the park, or optionally, do a full ride of the bike course*

·         Run either down to the boat dock and back, or around the lake.

* - For those wanting to ride the bike course, I would like you pair up as much as possible so that we don’t have anyone riding totally alone.

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Triathlon Training Classes for Saturday, July 2

Even though this is a “holiday” weekend, we’re still be having class. No rest for the weary.

Trek Tri Training Class

Meet at the beach at 7:00.  There are likely to be a lot of Trek athletes trying to swim this weekend, so it is best for us to get started early.

Workout is our final race simulation.  Bring everything you will be using on race day. You’ll do a complete setup of your transition area, then:

Swim 3-4 laps (further if you want to)

 Bike twice around the park, or optionally, do a full ride of the bike course

Run either down to the boat dock and back, or around the lake.

Before we start (in other words, at 7:00), let’s see if there are any last minute technique questions, and if so, we can go over and work on those before starting the race simulation.

Danskin Tri Training Class

Meet at the beach at 10:00.  We will be focusing on open water swimming and running, and talk about transitions. Bring your swim and run gear; bikes aren’t really necessary this time.

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Lake Andrea cross-lake swims tonight, July 7, and July 9

Lake Swims tonight and next Thursday night at 6pm. Register at the RecPlex for $10; if you register today, just bring your receipt over to the beach. If you pay at the beach it’s $15.

NO LAKE SWIM THIS SATURDAY! The next Saturday swims on July 9 @ 7am and 11am.

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Trek & Pleasant Prairie Tri Training for June 18 & 19

Saturday Class:

Meet at the lake at 7:30am.  Workout is swim and short race simulation, so bring all your gear for the race – swim, bike, & run. Plan on setting up a transition area as you will on race day.

Sunday Class:

Meet at the lake at 7:00am. Workout will be a race simulation. Plan to bring all your gear, set up transition, and do the workout as you plan to race.  For those doing the Pleasant Prairie triathlon next weekend, we’ll have an option for riding the bike course (bring your cue sheets from the previous ride).

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Danskin Tri Training class for 6/18

Class for July 18: we will be meeting at 10am. Meet at the Lake Andrea beach, across the lake from the RecPlex. The class will meet in the grassy area next to the patio – there is usually a picnic table in the grass that we use as our “base”.

Workout scheduled is a bike ride of the Danskin bike course. I will bring a map/cue sheet for everyone, and we will stop at several points along the way to discuss the course. For this first ride, I want everyone to stay together.

You’ll need to bring your bike, bike helmet (REQUIRED), & water bottle (with water or sports drink). No earphones allowed in class at any time.

You will also need equipment to deal with a flat tire. At a minimum, you need to bring a tube of the proper size for your bike. Ultimately you want a small tool kit (usually in a bag you can strap under your seat) with spare tube, tire levers, and some way to inflate the tire – small pump or CO2 cartridge inflator. I will have everything with me for this ride except a tube for your particular tire – that’s why you need to bring one along.

If you aren’t sure about what tube you need, look on the sidewall of your tire to find the tire size. This will look something like 700x23 on a road bike (skinny tires) or 26x1.9 on a mountain bike (wide tires). If there is any question, take your bike to a bike shop and they can help you out. Many of us like Zion Cyclery in Zion; they have great customer service.

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Prepare for the Trek and Danskin triathlons with swim course swims

Lake Andrea Thursday night cross-lake swims begin June 16!

Chicagoland triathletes preparing for the Trek Women’s Triathlon on July 10 and the Danskin Women’s Triathlon on August 21 may want to take advantage of a series of swims following the race courses in Pleasant Prairie. The RecPlex will be offering cross-lake swims of Lake Andrea on Thursday nights and alternate Saturdays throughout the summer.

Prepare for the Trek and Danskin triathlons with swim course swims - Chicago wellness | Examiner.com

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PP Open Water Swim Workout - June 14

The Lake Andrea beach closed early, but staff is coming back  to open up for our class. So if you get there early and the gate is closed, please just wait a bit.

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Tri Training Classes for June 11-12

Saturday – Trek Beginner Class

Swim across the lake at 7am. Meet at the beach a little before 7:00; we’ll start the swim from the south end of the beach, near the green fence.

Note 1 – if you don’t feel confident swimming the half mile distance at this point, then you can either swim on your own at the beach or meet us about 8:00 for an abbreviated class at the beach.

Note 2 – if you want to swim longer, we’ll swim back across the lake once everyone has done the half mile swim.

We will reconvene in the gassy area around 8am for a short class.  Bring your swim and run gear.

Sunday – All Trek and Pleasant Prairie classes

Both Saturday and Sunday classes – Sunday is the Conquer the Open Water clinics with Pro Triathlete Lauren Jensen.

7:30 to 9:00am – Intermediate/Advanced session

9:00 – 9:30am – Fix a bike flat clinic – if you want to see how to do it, then stay a little after the Intermediate Clinic or come a bit before the beginner clinic.

9:30 to 11:00am – Beginner Clinic

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Lake Andrea Swim Changes!

Big, big change in Lake Andrea swimming this year. This change is good for triathletes, but at the same time, if people abuse it, we’ll be back to a very tiny swim lane.

Here are the changes:

• There is no separate swim lane at the beach.
•  From 7am to 10am daily there are no lifeguards officially on duty.  You swim at your own risk.
•  This means you can swim outside the swim area ropes, again, at your own risk.
• BUT, you need to say in the general area of the beach – in other words, swim just outside the buoys/ropes, and a bit further out coming back (basically is a triangle). You cannot go way out into the lake or across the lake.
• At 10am, lifeguards come “officially” on duty, at which time you must swim inside the buoys/ropes.

Now, here’s the bad news. If people start swimming outside the general beach area, like across the lake or way out into the lake, then they’ll be forced to prohibit the free/own-risk swimming and everyone will have to swim within the beach buoys/ropes, and it will be a very, very short course.

Right now, if you enter the water at the usual place and swim down just outside the buoys (with them on your right), then turn around at the last buoy and swim straight back to the first buoy, the lap distance is about 138 yards.  This makes a bit less than 6-1/2 laps = Half mile.

So please keep towards the beach, and if you see other swimmers going out too far, try to let them know that doing that might ruin swimming for everyone, and they should stay around the buoys. There were a number of people out this morning swimming, and everyone seemed to do a good job staying fairly close.

Note: my Tuesday evening Open Water Swim Workouts classes will be going outside the buoys.

Water temperature was 68 degrees this morning.

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