Local athletes organize Olympic distance event for July 26
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Swim, ride, walk. It’s a simple combination. But to a triathlete, it’s a race with the clock and a true test of athletic skill and endurance.
TriWaco, a USA Triathlon-sanctioned Olympic distance event, is set for July 26 and open to both experienced participants and beginners.
A 1,500-meter open water swim in the Brazos River will be followed by a mostly flat 25-mile bike ride on country roads. A hilly 10-kilometer run along the river will finish out the race.
A beginner sprint will be offered with a 400-meter swim, 12-mile bike ride and 5-kilometer run ending at the historic Suspension Bridge.
What many people don’t know is that Waco is the home of the first triathlon ever held in Texas. Back in 1980, the Waco Striders started the National Sprint Triathlon Championship, which lasted for 12 years. And in 1987, a 15-year-old Lance Armstrong participated, setting a record of 1:58:17 by competing in the .6-mile swim, 28-mile bike ride and 6.5 mile run. His record was never approached in the event’s 12-year history.
Ideal location
Fast forward to 2009. Local resident Rick Tullis decided Waco is the ideal setting for the three-part competition.
“Having participated in a few of these around the state, I had a vision for Indian Spring Park being an awesome venue especially related to some other events I’ve done,” said Tullis. “To get to swim in Lake Brazos with the Suspension Bridge right there...it’s kind of idyllic.”
Waco’s also easy to get to, making it a draw for the expected 500 or more participants this year.
“For the typical triathlete who would come here from anywhere in the state we are centrally located,” said Tullis. “Bike routes are already in place, and hotels are right there. The running will be along Pecan Bottoms on sidewalks. It just makes for a great venue to pull this thing off.”
Tullis is co-chairing the planning committee of about 15 with Keith Helpert. The City of Waco and the Greater Waco Chamber are hosting the event.
Steve Smith, senior vice president of sports and special events for the Chamber, said the event is a perfect fit for Waco’s “green” image.
“Everyone agreed that the use of the downtown area, the Brazos River, Cameron Park and the bike trail already established by the Skittles Wild West Century Ride it was just a matter of putting all the pieces together to come up with a unique triathlon,” said Smith.
Professional race director Jack Weiss, who puts on two dozen of these around the state, was hired to handle the details.
“The exciting thing for me was when Jack and his team saw what we have going on here, and they were excited about. We’re going to have one of the top venues in the state,” said Tullis.
It’s also a great way to get local residents, as well as visitors, downtown.
“Here’s an opportunity to get people downtown so they can see what’s going on and change perceptions of the river and how it can be used as a recreational spot. It kind of plays into the whole vision that the Chamber and the city are putting forth,” said Tullis.
Just do it
“When everyone thinks about triathlons, they think of the big Ironman Triathlons where it’s three marathon events in a row, but that’s not what we’re doing,” said Tullis.
The Ironman calls for a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26-mile run.
The TriWaco event will follow the swim-bike-run format. “We swim first because it’s the most potentially dangerous one,” said Tullis. “Being an open water swim, we went with kind of a shorter swim. We wanted to make it more attractive to the beginners out there.”
Preparations are being made to get the river ready for the event, he said. The new dam downstream is a key component because that improvement means the water level will be steady.
“We have met with the city to talk about the detailed plan to make sure all the driftwood and logs that float down the river will be picked up before the event,” said Tullis.
The city’s regular quality tests are already within the accepted range for this sanctioned event, but more testing will be done closer to the event.
Brad Boozer, 40, who has done Ironman events and Olympic distance triathlons, said the swimming is where new triathletes should focus.
“It all starts with the swim, and I highly recommend someone being comfortable with not only swimming, but swimming in open water because it’s two different things,” said Boozer. “My favorite part of it is the swim. I can swim for three or four or five miles and get out in the ocean and swim for three hours. I really enjoy it.”
In Boozer’s first triathlon two years ago, he took an hour to do the swim, now it takes him only 15 minutes. “I was just starting out. The bike ride took me about three hours and now I can do it in about one hour and 15.”
But whatever the time, it’s taking it to the homestretch that counts, he said.
“It’s about finishing,” Boozer said. “You’re only racing against yourself. I’m never going to win a race, but I’m dang sure going to finish it.”
He suggests some form of exercise for at least 20 minutes every day just to maintain basic fitness.
“Say you ride your bike for 10 miles you need to get off your bike and run for two miles. Those are called brick workouts. You need to get yourself doing those transitions without shocking yourself,” he said.
That’s what makes triathlons unique — switching gears to another component that taxes different muscle groups.
“A lot of people say they train for a marathon and they go through a 12-week training program and then they’re done and they quit training,” said Boozer. “I basically plan my year out. I’m signed up for seven or eight events through February of next year. I keep myself at a base level and then four weeks before the event I get more intense. If you do something every day you keep that level of fitness and don’t lose your base, but it’s easier said than done.”
Boozer’s wife, Meredith, 37, will compete in the sprint distance at TriWaco, which will be her first triathlon. She’s run two marathons.
“I’ve got her on a workout right now where she’ll ride the bike for 30 minutes and then do the treadmill for 30 minutes .... always doing the brick. We’ll incorporate it outside later,” said Boozer. “It’s muscle confusion. It burns more calories and it gets your body use to switching from the bike to running.”
Sondra Johnson, 35, also is taking on her first triathlon at TriWaco.
“I’m a natural runner, so I’ve got the running down. I’ve been working really hard on the cycling, taking cycling classes indoors and I’m about to buy a bike,” said Johnson, who attended college on a soccer scholarship. “I swam my sophomore year in high school, but that’s the only competitive swimming I’ve done. That will make this a nice little challenge for me.”
It’s also a great way stay fit and healthy, she said.
“I inherited bad genes, so I’ve been trying to be real healthy to keep cancer out of my life. I thrive on the challenge, and I’m kind of competitive and athletic,” said Johnson. “It seems like a good point in my life to try something new. With this triathlon it seems like a perfect time in my workout career to throw in a new challenge.”
Stewart Kelly, 51, also is gearing up for TriWaco by working out five or six days a week.
He says running is his strongest leg of the race so “for this I just ramped up the swimming a little bit more and get on the bike. Now that the weather is really nice you can get out and ride instead of riding indoors.”
With about 60 Olympic distance triathlons under his belt, Kelly wants to make a good showing in his hometown and encourage others to participate or at least cheer on their friends.
“For the folks who have never even seen one, they may not participate this year but they could come down and watch and say ‘Hey I can do that,’” he said. “The mountain bikers love the park, and for the road bikers this whole area has some nice routes.”
While wind is often a concern for bikers, Waco has a lot of routes that work for bikers no matter which way the wind is blowing, he said.
His wife, Tracy, 41, also is preparing for the event.
“She’s done a bunch of them,Kelly said. “We’ve both done Ironman distances, and on our honeymoon we did a triathlon in California called Escape from Alcatraz.”
Training Club
While more experienced triathletes know how to train properly, newbies can benefit from some direction, said Dr. Chris Miars of Southwest Sports Medicine.
The club is open to experienced triathletes who are looking for training partners and groups as well as people who are interested in venturing into triathlons. Open water swims will be scheduled, and guest speakers will provide information on triathlon competition.
“For someone who hasn’t done swimming before, it will take someone two to three months to feel comfortable swimming, especially open water swimming,” said Miars. “In the swimming pool, you can see and in open water swimming you often can’t even see your hand in front of your face. It’s hard to see which direction you’re going, so it’s more common to go off course. You have people sometimes knocking into you that you don’t get in a lane by yourself at the pool.”
Miars started doing triathlons three years ago through his cycling.
“That’s how most people get into it. They are a cyclist or a runner, and it’s a matter of adding on the other sports,” he said. “The appropriate training helps to keep people out of my office. So many times, I see people training for a marathon or a triathlon, and they don’t have a systematic program and then get an injury and can’t participate in the event because the injury often doesn’t show up for two months into their training.”
He suggests cross training prior to a race so the muscles can learn to adjust to the transition between swimming, cycling and running.
Miars is organizing the Waco Triathlon Club, which will meet from 6 to 7:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month. The July 14 meeting will be at Rosati’s. For more information, call (254) 741-1400.
