Kemah Triathlon. Official Thread (Page 4)

WOW that'a a lot warmer then I remember. I'm going to miss that boat start this year.

Ah yes that explains it, thanks for the update

Getting really pumped about doing the Kemah Tri as my first Oly.  I did a couple sprints last season: the Houston Tri and the Lonestar.  Really had a great time.  I've only done two, but thought the OnUrMark/Houston Triathlon, held in late September, was better when compared against the Lonestar Tri/5i50 held in Galveston last October.  But having only done two I'm no expert like some of you are.  

I grew up down there in that area, but currently live in The Woodlands, so it'll be neat racing in Kemah.  As someone mentioned, there is plenty of wind that rips across the bay and over HWY 146 so keep that in mind.  Once they publish the bike course I'm going to go down there and ride it.  While training for The Woodlands Marathon I ran the Kemah bridge four times during one of my 20-miler long runs.  The grade isn't very bad, maybe 4%, so don't let it intimidate you too much - great view from the bridge though.    

This will make you swim faster...

fyi this is pretty rare.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/Alligator-found-in-League-City/-/1735978/9283538/-/hit05ez/-/index.html

so was the bug alive, or the gator?

I just saw that they published the bike course for the Oly distance.  It's straight south down Hwy 146 to Texas City, go west on Hwy 197 for about a mile and then turn around.  There is one relatively large bridge - the Texas City Bridge over the Dickinson Bayou.  Besides this bridge, the ride will be flat and hopefully fast.  The wind might be an issue.  

http://www.onurleft.com/KEMAH_TRIATHLON/KEMAH_TRIATHLON_-_EVENTS_-_Olympic_-_Course.html

Considering Wetsuit...

A run group friends of mine said most people wore wetsuits last year. With a water temp in the mid 70's is that necessary? I train mostly in an indoor pool at Lifetime and that sucker is kept cold (have to start swimming when you first get in or you'll shiver to death). Anyway, I wouldn't mind if someone has any advise. I've never worn one so not sure what to consider. I've looked into renting one but a little fearful not being able to train any in it. I'm not spectacularly fast (2:00/100).

Wet suit? Yes, no? Sleeveless, Sleeved?

Is it required for Kemah?....no.  Will it help?... yes.

If you rent one get it for a full week and go do the clinic swim the week before... and then an extra time either at 288, or at Sylvan beach, or both.

Totally different conditions man.  Seriously.  If you can use the wetsuit I would or will be.

I'm pretty pumped up for the race. I had to take 3 weeks off (inflamed medial plica) after the Livestrong Marathon. I ran in Karhu which i trained for 2 months in. The Orthopedic said that the up and down hills really put a strain on the inside of the knee resulting in the inflammation. I thought I had tore my meniscus.

Anyone know if there are any special rewards for racing all three TX3 races?

Kemah's swim is more challenging than Clear Lake. There's a cross current that will pull swimmer towards the channel. This year we'll be starting everyone a lot further west in the bay that way the course will be somewhat diagonal and hopefully will stay true in somewhat going with the current. All buoys for all swims will be on your right. For the oly this means that the current will be pushing you towards the buoys so if you keep them on your right you should swim a pretty true path and not add too much extra if you're a decent/good sighter.

As for a wetsuit... ALWAYS wear one if you can. Cold or warm good or bad conditions the flotation alone even in a 300 meter swim is enough of an advantage for almost any swimmer to be worth the time of taking it off in T1. We will have wetsuit strippers as well. The better swimmer you are the less of an advantage it is but even the best swimmers wear wetsuits. Which pros have you seen in any race that say "I won't wear the wetsuit even though I can." Think about it. We all need all the time we can get.

Everything is coming along. We are in the final stages of combining all events into one master site that we'll be adding to all year long. The Kemah information is almost all updated and by the end of next week we'll have EVERYTHING 100% updated and sent out to all those that have registered. The race should have between 1,700-1,800 registered and with attrition we are looking at 1,500-1,600 finishers. An increase of nearly 400 this year and with both events on one day you all will have a BLAST out there racing each other! Fingers crossed for good weather. 

If anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to ask. I get updates via email on this forum.

There's bathrooms on the boat. You won't be on the boat 2 hours. Takes off about 6:00-6:15. Takes 30 min to get out there. Pros start at 6:45. Everyone else starts at 6:55. 15min to dump. This year two exit points and a much better unload situation. There will only be about 725 athletes too. We sell 800 but 10% don't show up. So 725 athletes off the boat by no later than 7:10-7:15. That means you're on the boat an hour if you're the last person off. Not sure how the bathrooms do handling that many but 800 won't have to go so I'd say 200-300 may use it but if we remind them to go in transition and/or hit the one by the boat dock before they get on they should be fine. Plus what happens in the water stays in the water right? haha. Long answer but I want to make sure whomever reads it gets our reasoning. We'll look into how many the bathrooms on the boat can handle. Last year it wasn't an issue from what I heard. There's 200 more people this year, thanks for the heads up.

Aaron