Evergreen Lake Triathlon Review

Evergreen Lake Triathlon

Evergreen Lake was the first triathlon I ever did, back in 2010.  I entered in the Olympic distance in 2010 just because I thought it would be a fun challenge.  I ended up finishing in 2:33 something and thoroughly enjoyed my race.  I think was 34:30 (2:06/100m) 1500m swim, 2:06 T1, 1:19:44 (19.6mph) 24.8bike, :52 T2, and 37:17 (6:00/mile) 10k-- for a finish of 2:33:57. I was determined to go sub 2:33 to beat my time on the same course, but I really wanted to go 2:15.  I had popped off a 2:26 at Rockford earlier in the summer, on my 2^nd weekend in a row of racing and in the middle of 70.3 Muncie training.  I figured if I could do that on a tired body up there, then I still had much more time to take off.

Went down on Friday night and camped with Matt, Ross, and Ethan.  Ross and I were racing; Matt and Ethan came down for moral support.  Thanks guys!  We had hardly had any rain all summer, but of course the one night I want to camp, it rains! Luckily, the rain stopped around 7:30, just in time for us to get back from dinner and set up the tent.

Race morning started off with a nice 4:30am wake up call.  My past 3 Saturday mornings have been 6:00am, 3:10am, and 4:30am so it was no surprise when the alarm went off.  We sat in Ross’ car as we ate breakfast.  The night before Ross said he wasn’t going to talk to me in the morning, because I can be “sassy” if I’m up before a certain time.  I don’t think so, but apparently other people do J Anyway, ate breakfast, checked into transition, and got ready for the race to start.

Swim.  You know, I’m not even sure what to say about the swim.  I swam 31:35 at Rockford, and was slightly upset with a slow swim.  Then at Muncie I swam 33:04 for the mile, then I was 33:32 for the 1500 here…oh well haha.  I started in the elite/collegiate wave, so I was pretty far back coming out of the water.  I found some U of I girls to draft off of in the water haha. Exiting the water I knew I was far behind, but I knew the worst was over!

Kind of quick T1.

Onto the bike.  The past few years the bike has been my weak discipline, but this year I made sure to put in some good bike training for Muncie, and I have been getting faster every week.  I knew I could probably pick off a few kids on the bike to set up the run.  I was actually having a great day on the bike (for me) averaging right around 22mph, and with 2 miles to go, my chain got jammed.  I tried to backpedal and it wouldn’t budge.  I tried to hit it with my foot and it wouldn’t move.  So, I hopped off my bike, found the master link of the chain, took it apart, got it unstuck, and put it back together.  I timed this and it took me 91 seconds. Got back on the bike and finished up. Still pulled off a 1:09:48 split, which was a still a big PR on the bike for me.  Had I not list time it would have been 1:08:07 or even sub 1:08 which I would have been super thrilled with! Oh well, I am still happy with my bike split.

Quick T2, but could be quicker.

Run. The run is always my favorite part of the triathlon.  The 10k at Evergreen is known for being flat, but HOT! It is a T shaped out and back on asphalt. No shade.  We got lucky this year with some clouds in the sky to cover up the sun.  I just remember it being a brutal run the first year I was here, so I was ready for another brutal run.  I knew that I would have to run an aggressive 10k to place well.  I wanted to get out in 5:45 for the first mile and try to hold that, but I was already on the struggle bus a half mile in.  I forgot to take my Thermolytes on the bike, and I knew I could expect to cramp on the run.  I came through the mile in 5:55, and was hurting but kept telling myself just to suck it up and get through it.  I ended up running 37:47 to finish in 2:22:44. I was happy with the PR, but still disappointed to not go under 2:20. Overall, it was a good race for me, and I enjoyed racing on the same course that started it all for me two years ago.

13^th Collegiate, 54^th OA

Swim: 33:32

T1: :51

Bike: 1:09:48

T2: :44

Run: 37:47

Total: 2:22:42