Blue Water Tri - August 24, 2008 (Page 2)

Congrats on a great race everyone! I got the lowdown from JOGO...I had planned to be everyones cheerleader, but life interupted .

Sounds like a race that will HAVE to be on my calendar for next year.

Congrats to all the greyhounds!!! Quite the hardware hall!!! And Ranger, you are one sick puppy...in a good way of course! The Crim and an OLY, I am pooped just thinking about it!

I am on the injured list (broken a$$) but hope to join up with you all as soon as the PT says its a go!

TrishM

Unreal, the girl that cut the bike course right in front of my team mate got second overall when she should have been DQ'd or stuck with a heavy penalty. It totally altered the outcome of the race for who should have gotten 2nd overall, she was less than 30 seconds back.

  My bike times aren't recorded. 

Edited by jogo 2008-08-25 7:53 AM

Just curious if others felt there swim times were slower then normal, and if there run times were faster then normal?

Did the current affect the swim that much? and I ran a 10 k pr in a big way, so I was thinking maybe the run was short.

My run felt so-so, but I went about 30 - 45 seconds faster. It would not surprise me if it was short. As long as they make it the exact same distance next year as a gauge, I could care less.

Is that before or after she tries to draft you?

Be on the lookout for Tyla Brown in race results, cheat, cheat, cheat.

BTW, nice 1st in AG Miss one nose.

Edited by Nelg 2008-08-25 8:49 AM

My Garmin recorded the run as 5.9 miles, which would be in line with my times

On the swim, I assume that 1000m were the two loops around the buoys, but then we had the 200ft back to shore...

Did anybody else doing the oly distance have problems on the bike at the sprint turnaround? That was pretty hairy with all the cars stopped and the tiny lane to merge with the sprinters!

All in all, I thought it was a good race, except for the last 2 miles....;-(

Well, I have NO splits at all.. so that was a real bummer. I see ALOT of missing splits. For me, its becoming disheartening to go to 3d races and wonder if me, and everyone Im racing with is actually going to come out with all their splits.

I think the run was a bit short due to my run time, but I didnt have my Garmin. I run on RPE alot, and it felt more like a 7:45-8 minute pace for me vs. the 7:30 something I have recorded by my watch. Swim was wayyyy long if you ask me, and the dive/swim/walk back to shore didnt help. But I think that if they can get that swim figured out a bit more, and record the right distance for the run course, that race only being in its second year, has potential!

With the times on the swim, I would have to say they did not figure in the swim back to shore into the 500m and just a guess that that added an additional 75-100m to the distance.  Everyone's pace seemed higher than it should be and I know that I swam my best race but my pace was my worst. 

Edited by jogo 2008-08-25 11:31 AM

That was a little hairy, I wasn't sure what side I was suppose to go down, so I just cruised down the center of the road along the left side of stopped traffic, the two volunteers and deputy had no idea I was coming so I gave them a shout and threaded the needle between 3 different sprint athletes doing the turn.

My fellow BT'ers:
To those of you who made it to this race...congratulations on all of your efforts, and results!
Also...my most sincere apologies. I suck! I was there, as a team member riding the bike portion of the oly course. As it turned out we were the ONLY oly team :-(
I saw the KHS tent and kept telling myself to make sure I stopped by to say hello to anyone who was there at the time. I kept putting it off, and of course wound up not meeting any of you. Again, I suck, and I'm sorry!
Now then, I can't conceive EVER being able to do an entire olympic distance race! I gave the mountain bike all I had, and would in no way have had anything left to run 6.2 miles! You guys rock!

I just wanted to take a quick (actually, long-winded) moment to thank everyone who participated in the Blue Water Triathlon. As a second year event, I am very happy with the turnout. In speaking with several participants and reading the comments on this string, I see several opportunities to make this race even better next year.

Last year, the swim was held closer to shore due to a small watercraft advisory...this caused several swimmers to run in the shallow water. This year we were able to safely move the swim further out. There were a few who still chose to run in chest-deep water (at their own peril), but most actually swam. To improve, we may require participants to swim next year in order to avoid disqualification.

Due to the characteristics of the lake, we can't do anything about the distance participants need to walk in order to get to deep water. There are at least three sandbars which were created by the lake's current. Also, as Lake Huron flows into the St. Clair River the current is very strong...it is reasonable to expect longer swim times.

Last year, there were several bikes stopped at the M-25 & Keewahdin intersection. While we cannot avoid crossing M-25, we did make adjustments in order to significantly reduce bikes being stopped. We paid MDOT to convert the traffic light to a four-way stop for the race. We were successful in reducing bikes being stopped, but we did not eliminate it completely. If traffic backs up to the next intersection, Sheriff Deputies must allow traffic to flow in order to avoid an accident. I suspect some bikes approached the intersection shortly after 9:00AM, encountering heavier traffic as church let out. To improve, we may start at 7:45AM next year...this should allow even more bikes to flow through the intersection before traffic gets too heavy.

The Sprint turnaround was definately a mess! We will make adjustments next year in order to keep everyone safe. This solution will be tricky as we can't compromise safety, but we don't want to shorten the distance.

Regarding the run distance...I will speak with 3Disciplines and try to find a solution for next year if the distance was, in fact, short.

We initially intended to sanction this race with USAT. There seemed to be a lot of confusion regarding the USAT fee for non-USAT members, so I asked 3Disciplines to scrap it for this year...I didn't think it was appropriate to ask people to pay an additional $10 at the last minute, especially since many of them have already paid their registration fee. I intend to sanction this race with USAT next year and have decided to assume control of the registration process. This should ensure that everything is disclosed clearly. I am also considering replacing Active w/ PayPal in order to save everyone that rediculous fee. That will require me to have my own website...I am in the process of building one and have registered www.amcan.us as my domain. I will post a message when the site is launched.

Oh yeah...so sorry for the cold pizza! Would pita wraps be better next year? There were a few other issues (no finishers medals, ChampionChip timing errors, etc.) which I intend to correct for next year. Any suggestions anyone has to improve this race would be greatly appreciated...please send them directly to my e-mail below.

Thanks again for everything!

Mike MacLean
AMCAN Endurance Promotions LLC
[email protected]