Coeur d'Alene Triathlon : Official Thread

I've never been in that lake this early in the year. I am heading up there in June to volunteer for IM CDA so I will be taking the wetsuit to give it a shot and see how cold it really is.

Given the fact that a lot of people wear booties and hoods for the IM swim I imagine the water is pretty cold. Especially this year with so much snow left on the mountains.

Good luck in your first Oly, hope you have a great time!

I'm not a race veteran, but I am a local.

In early August, the lake will be at its warmest.  I'm sure the water will be mid 70's and a lot of people won't wear wetsuits at all, sleeveless will be fine - you might even get too warm in one.

I haven't signed up yet, but I have been training for Cd'A Tri since January.  I haven't done any tris yet, my first sprint is this Sunday.  Assuming I survive a couple of sprints that I'm signed up for, I will be signing up for Cd'A Oly also.

Oh cool, I thought the Oly was the weekend after the IM.

Yeah August should be nice a warm.

Thanks for all your messages.  I was thinking it should be pretty warm in August, but a couple people told me I should consider a full sleeve as that lake stays colder than many all year long, plus all the late run-off this year.  I'm feeling better about the sleeveless option now though - thanks for the insight. 

This is only my second year of doing triathlons - without knowing how much I'll get into it for the longterm, I'm having a difficult time deciding what to get and what I'll use most. So does anyone have any suggestions for deals on wetsuits or economical places to check out for buying one?

Thanks!

This site is usually a good resource. They almost always have a deal on Xterra wetsuits.

Xterra's aren't the best suits on the market but many people use them and are very happy with them. Since you are just getting in it might be better to get a decent Xterra than spend $500-600 on a high end suit.

You might also consider just renting a suit until you're sure you want to commit.  I think Fitness Fanatics, in the Spokane Valley has rental suits.

I figured I would bump this back up to the top to see if anyone is in for 2012?  We will be driving over from Seattle and I would love to hear about the race.

I will be registering in the next couple of weeks.  I did it last year, it was my first oly and I had a blast - it's a fun race.  Good for spectators too - transition, the park, the beach are all right there.

Don't know how familiar you are with Coeur d'Alene.  The start/finish is downtown in the city park, pretty much the same setup as Ironman Cd'A.  The swim is at the city beach. 

The bike goes east along the lake for about eight miles - pretty flat except for one pretty good hill that is about a half mile long.  Then it gets interesting, you climb a long hill for about two miles and end up on the other side of I-90.  You get a little break and then there is a category 4 hill that is about three quarters of a mile long - it's the toughest on the course.  After that, it's some rolling hills and then a big downhill back to the lake and into town.

The run is an out-and-back north along the lake and Spokane river - it's all flat and some of it is pretty well shaded.

http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=450329&posts=539&start=1

Here is the link to the CDA thread. There is a Iron distance subforum that has all of the longer races in it.