Does anyone familiar with the Baton Rouge, LA area have any ideas for triathlon training? I’m from southern California and will be working in BR for about two months. I don’t have a bike, but want to find good running areas and hopefully a masters swim program. Any ideas on good spin classes would suffice for road riding.
Most folks run around the lakes near LSU. LSU has a nice fitness center on campus and I think you can buy a membership there. They have a nice pool and I am sure they have some cycling classes. Baton Rouge does have an active tri club. Do a google search. They also have a velodrome and an active cycling community.
Mike
lots of triathletes, very friendly…
I live in Baton Rouge & would be happy to help you out. Coming from SoCal, you may want to pick up an aqualung on the way – the heat/humidity will definitely shock you. PM me if you need any additional info. Here’s some things that will (hopefully) help you out:
Running:
http://varsityrunning.com/ – very nice group runs on Mondays/Thursdays/Saturdays; check the calendar for details
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Goldenfliers/
Cycling:
I believe the rec center on LSU’s campus now has spin classes & an indoor 25 yd. pool
There are YMCA’s around town – I believe most of them have spin classes & a couple have pools (outdoor/heated)
Spectrum Fitness - have spin classes & outdoor pools
Swimming (for master’s programs):
Crawfish aquatics (indoor 50m pool, outdoor 25 yd pool)
BTAC (Bengal Tiger Aquatics Club) – in the LSU Natatorium – indoor 50m pool
I believe the YMCA on Foster Dr. has a morning masters program/organized swim
Thanks a million. It is nice to know there are some options. For early swims, where would you recommend? I am staying near the I-10 and College Dr.
Thanks
this won’t necessarily help you out training wise, but confidence wise it might. Years ago, before Christian Bustos became a familiar Ironman name, he trained for a couple of years in Baton Rouge, right before he got his big breakthrough at Kona the year he placed second to Mark Allen. If Christian can train in Baton Rouge and become a great athlete, that just shows that it can be done.
That’s a pretty central location & traffic won’t be bad early, so you can pretty much access any of the places I listed within a short (5-15 min) drive. So it’s all in what you want to pay for and for what services.
I personally swim at Crawfish Aquatics, but the rates are steep (considering it’s only a pool - vs. the Rec Center or YMCA where you have access to gym/spin/etc.) & there are very specific (somewhat limited, imo) times you can swim. I believe BTAC is the same way – w/ limited hours – since it is the LSU swim team pool as well.
If you’re looking for a masters team & you’ll be swimming in the mornings, I would probably suggest one of these two, since they are 50m indoor pools (although, I believe short course will be starting soon – I can never remember).
The YMCA on Foster will be close to where you’ll be, and at one time, had an organized swim in the mornings – it’s an outdoor 25 yd. pool. There’s also a YMCA downtown that offers a spin class.
Hope this helps…
Not to mention:
Jan Ripple - '89 pro world champs silver medal and several high Kona placings (didn’t she go 2nd once?)
Julie Dibens (then Ricketts) and Becky Lavelle (then Gibbs) - both LSU swimmers (and good friends) that started their pro careers while in school at LSU. Julie went to the 2000 and 2004 Olympics for England. Becky has won St Anthony’s, Alcatraz and other prestigious races.
There was also a strong group of cyclists in the area. Weird place for multisport to catch on, but it did and people were / are successful there.
I second Crawfish Aquatics for early morning swims! (on Bluebonnet in ketcum fitness center and 50 meters)
Kirk, Thanks for the BRTri plug. Those rides back then were awesome!! That would be a good place to meet other triahtletes from BR.
Garc, when will you be there???
Chuck