Houston Triathlon - Olympic Course : Official Thread

I'm doing it, but probably just the sprint, so I don't drown.

I think I should do a couple Sprints and half marathon before doing an olympic.

KeriKadi - 2011-08-08 7:37 PM Am I the only one who finished Bridgeland and immediately thought - Holy crap! I'm going to have to run 3 more miles at Houston Oly?!?

Nope, that's why I'm seriously considering doing the Sprint instead! My run fitness just isn't there.  I hope I can switch!

AndrewMT - 2011-08-08 8:14 PM I'll be out there for Houston as well.  Any chance the temperatures drop in the next few weeks? 

Yes, already placed the order. Swim start will be 78 so we won't get chilly between swim warm up and race start with a late morning temp of 75 while those of us in the later waves are running. You are welcome.

KeriKadi - 2011-08-08 8:22 PM

AndrewMT - 2011-08-08 8:14 PM I'll be out there for Houston as well.  Any chance the temperatures drop in the next few weeks? 

Yes, already placed the order. Swim start will be 78 so we won't get chilly between swim warm up and race start with a late morning temp of 75 while those of us in the later waves are running. You are welcome.

Why didn't you do that for yesterday!  Seriously, I think I'll just be happy if temperatures have dropped by the time Oilman comes around.  Houston Tri shouldn't be too bad though. 

Has anyone done this before?  Any intel on the course?

AndrewMT - 2011-08-08 8:36 PM

KeriKadi - 2011-08-08 8:22 PM

AndrewMT - 2011-08-08 8:14 PM I'll be out there for Houston as well.  Any chance the temperatures drop in the next few weeks? 

Yes, already placed the order. Swim start will be 78 so we won't get chilly between swim warm up and race start with a late morning temp of 75 while those of us in the later waves are running. You are welcome.

 

Why didn't you do that for yesterday!  Seriously, I think I'll just be happy if temperatures have dropped by the time Oilman comes around.  Houston Tri shouldn't be too bad though. 

You can't place weather orders in the month of August - c'mon Andrew, everybody knows that. However, in full disclosure I got married September 26 and ordered no rain and under 100 - it was 97 but no rain so I got what I asked for.

Yes, Oil Man should be cooler but let's hope warmer than the 37 degrees start time we had last year. Here we go getting picky.

Ken did it last year but it was in Towne Lake and this year is at Bridgeland. So it's going to be dejavu all over again. Remember yesterday? X2ish. Obviously the swim is going to be different, I have heard 2 loops of the lovely cool clear Bridgeland lake and am hoping the run is one loop through the actual neighborhood. The bike should be interesting considering there is both a sprint and Oly that day. You might want to install a horn on your bike.

In and hoping to have a much better bike split than I did at Bridgeland.

New course, new route, new fun.

37?  I thought it was closer to 32 or 33.  Either way, I'll take in the 30s if it means cool temperatures during the run!

That doesn't sound fun.  I can't imagine how they'll fit 1500m in that lake.  Bike and Run shouldn't be a problem as long as they don't stop competitors for traffic and the lane is wide enough for three people.  There were some crazy folks out there yesterday. 

Arron has been negotiating with the authorities on the course.  They were waiting till after Bridgeland to see if it is going to be a two loop course or extend it father.

I'm thinking maybe they need to do a detour through the neighborhood for the cars to avoid having to let them through in front of the racers.  I haven't studied the maps so that might not be possible.

As for the lake.  A loop swim seems pretty much like a mess to me.  I'd think it would be better to zig zag or something.  No matter what I think you will end up having someone cut the course.  Probably no one near the front though.

KeriKadi - 2011-08-08 7:37 PM Am I the only one who finished Bridgeland and immediately thought - Holy crap! I'm going to have to run 3 more miles at Houston Oly?!?

I did not wait til the finish to think that....I was thinking that during the swim.....3x the distance in this murky, warm water.   Guess it should motivate me to swim faster to get out of the water quicker.  

Agreed, I thought it was better than Kona East Side where you couldn't tread water because it was too shallow. 

And it was better than Twin lakes (not a tri, just swam there once) because we could get in the water without weeds or fish biting us.

onurleft - 2011-08-09 5:35 PM Did you do the loops at Towne Lake last year? It turned out fine and most liked it due to the in and out on the beach. You get out run a little and jump back in. ITU style fun fun fun. Y'all sure are gloomy on here talking about gross water (which was very clean btw) and crowded roads and such. Remember we do take suggestions on what you think would work better. There's a lot that people have no clue on that are city/ county rules and things that happen behind the scenes but we are open to ideas if you all have some. You never know. Remember the event is 2 years old. We're still figuring it out with this race. We want to make it the race this city deserves. A city named triathlon is a big deal but super tough in this city since there's no downtown water and the streets downtown are cratered like the surface of the moon. 

No, Kemah was my first tri so I didn't do Towne Lake last year.  If you get out and run a loop on the beach I guess it would be harder to cut the course. 

It was just a little crowded in the water.

None of us are saying this is easy, and we all appreciate your efforts. 

The bike course was crowded at times, but not as bad as our fears.  The worst case I saw was a guy yelling "middle" when he wasn't patient enough to wait to go on the left of a passer in front of him, but that was just once.

The only suggestion I would have would be to look at a detour just around the bike in/out lane on Fry so that you didn't have to let cars through or stop the traffic completely.

Good luck on your meeting.

I should just ask -

Aaron, is it possible for those of us who signed up for the Olympic to switch to the Sprint? 

(I had an injury and I don't think I'll be ready to run 6 miles by the end of September).

KeriKadi - 2001-08-09 5:30 PM Please tell me the Oly folks get to swim first.  Pretty please  

Not according to the e-mail I just got. So the folks that are going to be out there the longest, 3 times the swim, double the bike and double the run have a later start time??? Bummer