International Triathlon de Deauville - Olympic M distance - 4 June 2016
by Deidre D.
This race was one of the few “bucket list” races I had left to do in France before my assignment ends in Paris. I’d registered for it a few months ago only to be placed on a waitlist. I received an unexpected last minute entry from the wait list late in May and wasn’t quite prepared for the swim and bike distances. I’ve had to take a more casual approach to training and racing for the last few years given my work travel schedule, which means I’ve been largely able to maintain my running fitness (you can always find somewhere to run even if on a hotel treadmill) but the cycling and swimming have been a challenge. Needless to say, this race played only to my weaknesses. I can count on six fingers the number of rides I’ve done this year beyond 10k, all which were flat, and I knew that averaging only one swim per week for the last couple of months wouldn’t quite suffice to have a speedy ocean swim. Fortunately the Quiberon camp gave me confidence to know I would survive the chilly choppy water.
ocean swim
10am start time
easy to get to Deauville from Paris without dismantling bike
sufficient number of port-a-potties in transition
race-day registration allowed
freshwater showers at transition entry following swim
scenic bike course
scenic flat run course along the beach
spectator-friendly swim and run
nice medal and finishers t-shirt
fun place to celebrate afterwards Cons:
ocean swim
sign up early, fills up fast
very hilly bike course
high risk of flat tire
narrow run course in places
running right next to the finish line to begin 2nd loop
run course longer than the advertised 10k<:>
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