View from a Pro – Justin Park
Justin Park is a 31-year-old professional triathlete living in Chapel Hill. He’s been a pro for four years and ranks his 2010 course record (4:01:53) at the White Lake Half as one of his best local finishes and his third place (4:20:07) finish at Ironman 70.3 Muskoka in 2011 as one of his best on the national scene. Here’s what he had to say about living and training in North Carolina:
“The biking in North Carolina is incredible, and I would put it above every place that I have been to train, which includes Maui, Hawaii; Tucson, Ariz.; Victoria, British Columbia; and Boulder, Colo., among other places. Sure, each of those places has certain components that may outdo the Triangle (such as long, sustained climbs in the Rocky Mountains, up Mount Lemmon or on the volcanoes of Hawaii), but from nearly anywhere in the Triangle you can be out of the city and on rural, rolling country roads with little traffic in about 20 minutes. Plus, most of the drivers on those roads are familiar with cyclists, so the roads feel much safer than other places I have been. Great places to ride include out by Jordan Lake and out Dairyland Road in Hillsborough. There is also a very competitive group ride that is 50 miles long and includes many of the best cyclists in the area each Saturday morning; it leaves from Wilson Park in Carrboro. I often use that ride to get a ‘race atmosphere’ feel in my training.
“With regard to swimming, there are opportunities both in open water and in the pool. Jordan Lake is one of the more ideal open-water swimming locations, with plenty of smaller coves that limit your interaction with boat traffic and provide repeatable distances to measure performance over time. In addition, the clean water and relatively calm conditions afforded by the protection of these coves make it an inviting environment for both the novice and the experienced professional. If I am in the mood for work in the pool, it is hard to beat collegiate facilities. UNC offers a wide variety of masters practices in the same pool used by the varsity squad, which is hard to beat. And the Triangle Aquatic Center provides a long course 50-meter pool to use to really strengthen and improve your swim.”
