Peak Fitness Outdoor Triathlon

Peak Fitness Outdoor Triathlon

Peak Fitness Outdoor Triathlon

( 1 review )
100% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Rockford/Loves Park,
    Illinois,
    United States
  • August
  • Other
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Jessica

Rockford, Illinois, United States
12 10
2014
"Perfect Tri to Try"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Jessica 's thoughts:

This was my first sprint tri and it was a great experience. I had a prior experience with the Peak Fitness indoor tri and was convinced to give this one a go. Distances: Swim-300yds in the outdoor pool; Bike-14mi on rolling hills on closed off and managed roads; Run-5k on bike path and subdivision roads. I am an avid runner, so I didn't put much thought into the run, but I did spend some time training on my bike and in the pool in advance of the race. Things to know: the swim is in the outdoor pool in a "snake" style. You swim down a lane and back, and duck under the rope. Repeat across the next 5 lanes. If you are a real swimmer, you will push off the wall gracefully on the diagonol under the rope so you are midway in to the next lane. If you are me, you will try not to drown and bonk your head on the rope. I am not a strong swimmer, so I was happy for the way in which the swim was managed. When you register, you put in your swim time. I said 6:00. This did not account for this duck & weave. You are then assigned a number (mine was 57) based on your swim time. Everyone lines up in numerical order. There are no waves.

So how did this whole thing play out? Lovely. The transition area was crowded, as I presume most are. I leaned my Trek MBT (yes, I'm a beginner) against the fence and laid my things out. I checked out the bike mount and entry/exit areas. I then proceeded to the pool for a quick lap. Everything was very well maked, including my body. I chose to participate in a full swimsuit and sports-bra (I don't a tri-suit, again, I'm a beginner), and then throw shorts on for the ride/run.

So we all line up at the pool. You wear a chip bracelet on your right ankle. The people around me were also in the 6:00 swim range. I watched the others dive in and accomplish the snake swim, and the atmosphere was fun, supportive and awesome. They actually started with the parathletes, and it was cool to cheer for everyone since we were there to support the Chariots anyway!

So we swam (I was passed by #58, but he was nice about it). I finished in 6:20. I bolted out to my bike, threw my gear on and hopped on my bike. The bike was tough rolling hills, especially on a MBT, but it's what I have. Course was especially well marked, police and volunteers stopped traffic. My bike took about 56:00. I then threw (literally threw) my bike down and got on with my run. The run was totally flat, an out and back easy 3.1. Just over 25:00. My total time was 1:30:38. I was shooting for under 1:40.

I LOVED this tri. I will absolutely do this again! This is a perfect race for beginners and experienced triathletes training for longer races (many participants are gearing up for Ironman distances later this fall). I enjoyed seeing all of the bikes and gear as well. They also have a relay option (three participants) and a Super-Sprint, which drew a lot of kids and teens. And the parathlete tri, which was inspiring to watch.
Key things: Practice for the "snake swim", make sure you train on hills for the bike, and know that T1 takes a little longer than most. There was some food after the race, the gatorade was gone by the time I checked, but H20 is fine with me. Cookies, granola bars, and a MEDAL worked for me! The medal was on a super-neat ribbon that had siwm-bike-run icons and said "TRIATHLON" on it. It was also a "finisher" medal.

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