200lb Clydes ????????

I don't know if they are considering that, but if that is in fact what you saw I am willing to bet you would see the same things with guys who weigh 214-216 pounds and then a guy that weighs 270 is going to say the weight should be at least 240. As with everything else it is all relative and noone is ever going to be happy. That 200 pounder will be crying that he should be a clyde but for the new BS weight limit. I'd tell them all to just giddyup.

^^ very good point,, no matter where you draw the line, people close to it will act the same.

Unless something has changed there is no Clyde division for clearwater, so I'm guess that the people that were happy were not attempting to get a slot by being in that division.    As a fellow clyde my motto is get faster and thinner so it doens't matter

I am pretty sure that the USAT doesn't give F*&^ all about Clydesdale. I think it is a RD/Race specific thing.
In South Florida, many races have multiple clyde divisions. 185, 200, 225+.
At the Nautica South beach, the 200 clydes were faster than the 185 clydes.
I know for sure that there is no clyde specification for the USAT age group teams. They don't list qualifying times for clydes for the Age group nationals at sprint and olympic distance, etc, although they do have a clyde division.

I also think it is standard practice that if a clyde is an overall winner, they take an overall spot, not a clyde spot.
Although I know a few people who don't want to lose the extra weight to get out of clyde, most I know do, especially when they are close.

That being said, as a 6 ft 205-210 athlete, I find that I will race  as a clyde most of the time, even if my weight after the race may be below 200 (water loss).

The guys who are on the fence....well, not much you can do about them except hope all that water leads to bloating and they crash out on the run. 

I look at it this way:  if a clyde is 205 he's still over 200.  Same thing in AG.  I'm not going to complain if I'm racing against women who are 9 years younger than I am- it is what it is.   

Wait for it...........


My EXACT POST from last year at about the same time.

This question seems to come up about once a month.

First, you need to understand what the category of Athena/Clydesdale was intended for and not what it has become (or the perception (yours, as the OP) of what the category is)

This is a Clydesdale:

Big, strong and muscular, but kind of slow..

and racing against this:


The Clydesdale will have a hard time beating a smaller, faster, leaner horse (most of the time), which is why the category was created. To give big people (like football players and body builders) a chance to compete against people of similar stature and not just against the smaller, leaner marathon runners that are in the same age group and 50 pounds lighter.

This is not a Clydesdale:

but according to your question, (How do you feel about people entering a division they may not need to be in), is what you think should only be racing the category. Because I bet the Clydsale horse above would beat this horse in a race.

Second, and most importantly, Its a race - not a self esteem event where you get a reward for just showing up. You never should be upset if someone who qualifies for your category, is faster than you, wins. It would be like a 44 y/o complaining that the person who won the AG is really 39 but b/c their birthday is 12/30, that puts them in the 40-44 AG.

Personally, my opinion is you should be proud of the clyde that came in 2nd overall, congratulate him and use that as a motivator that you can do it too. A competitive Clyde category is not a bad thing.

Be happy with the accomplishments that you made and be proud of the fact that you completed a triathlon, gave all that you could and left it all on the course. That should be enough. Another racers accomplishment shouldnt effect your enjoyment of the race.

Last month, someone else posted this and I think it is fitting...

"Medals tarnish over time. Memories last forever"

off topic - i LOVE your new avatar.  beautiful!

Hello

Just worry about yourself & race.  Enjoy.

I did my first race for 2010 last weekend and signed up in my AG. 

When I checked the results between my AG & Master Clyde. 

Same result in both. DFL. 

Was I pissed or disappointed?

Hell no I was happy because I beat my goal race time by over 5 minutes. 

I was a winner.  I had fun, did not  get injured and my wife was at the finish line taking my picture.

Kevin

I have no proplem with it.  I'm one of those guys who people look at and say, "you're not a clyde."  I'm 6'1" and 215, and have gotten in real good shape.  I would struggle to get below the 200 lb mark.  I'm down from 255.  My take is, bring it on and I hope they can hang.

The second thing I would do is get a real good look at them and bust my butt to get out ahead of them before the finish.

I've learned to accept 200 + comes in many diffierent packages.  I've also learned there are very athletic people who are 200 +.  I'm glad that many races offer us big guys our catagory, and I'm also glad that the bar to win our group is usually a time that is in the top 10% overall and often better then that.  To me, it gives us more credibility then if the Clyde winner was in the bottom 25% of the finishers.

Of topic:

Does DNF = dead f**king last?

Well   I guess so.

Last in my AG (50-54) # 14 out of 14 & Master Clydes(240 & up) but not last in the entire Sprint Race race.

It is what it is.

Kevin  

DFL is Dead F*ing Last

DNF is Did Not Finish

DNS is Did Not Start


DNS<DNF<DFL<BOP<MOP<FOP<AG Top3<Over All TOP 3

I am a clyde and will probably always be one or dang close to it.  I registered for the Pigman 70.3 knowing that I will probably be one of the last people to finish the event, but my goal is to compLete the race not compete in the race.  When I get near 200, I might be able to deal with some AG races, but I am not there yet.

I will probably always register as a clyde, until my weight is under 200 consistently.  At 6'3", it is difficult to be at a consistant 190 and have good strength also.  

Sorry to the OP if they feel cheated by the system, but it is a rule and that is what that person wants to do.  If I drop enough to be at 199 the day of the Pigman 70.3, and I don't qualify for Clyde, I hope they will automatically move me to AG, if that is still possible.

Another option.  How about weighing after the race ?  That will fix the pre-race fudging. 

Edited by asj10 2010-05-07 9:13 AM

If people are "fudging" to get into the Clyde division then they can have the medal. I hope it is not that important to someone but perhaps my perspective is different.

The "fudging" reminds me of a couple seasons ago when I would just barely come in second to the same guy in the clyde division in three races (a couple races by seconds). He never stuck around for awards so I would joke with my friend that he probably weighed 185. In the races where it was seocnds he either didn't start with other clydes, or was not an "obvious" clyde like me.

The best I have ever felt after a race had nothing to do with winning as I came in 8/16 in AG. It was a half mary and not even my fastest, but it was the best race I have ever had all things considered and I was high from it for days. If there was a clyde division and someone fudged to get in and take first a head of me my feelings post race would not have changed.

There's way too much talk on here about where you finish in a race.  It's all about challenging yourself.  Most of us are racing to prove to ourselves we can do it. It's not about anybody else.

"We do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard." - JFK

Regardless of where the cutoff is, there is always going to be tweeners that are right on the border.  This is actually the first sport I have participated in (or will participate in July) where gaining a few lbs could be advantageous.  Wrestlers and fighters are always striving to cut weight for strength benefits while A 200 pound triathlete is going to benefit by staying put or gaining a few to stay in the upper division.  Seems odd. 

Look at it this way TS, you are 215 competing against 200 pounders.  If the limit was pushed up, the 200 pound guy would be chasing a 160 pounder.  A little bigger difference.

I really don't think gaining a few pounds is ever advantageous in a tri unless you have very little muscle and add some. Usually more weight = slower times and who wants that? Right??

I agree with many of the other posters. It's not about who well you place it's about how well you think you did. This year in my first Tri, I moved up 72 spots from last year but since I moved from clyde to AG I went from 5th overall clyde last year to 5th in my AG this year. That doesn't make it a bad race, I dropped a ton of time and beat my best case scenario time so all in all it was a huge accomplishment for me.

I weigh 201 to 204 here.  I may be right at 200 by June 10.  I will not feel guilty if I weight 199.2 and I need to drink a bottle of water to be in the Clyde Division.  I have raced for 2.5 years in races without a Clyde Division.

I will not gorge myself with water if I go in weighing 197.



Edited by pga_mike 2010-05-08 5:49 PM