Age Group Nationals---anyone else?

:)

I think it's awesome that your first oly is going to be AGN.  Good for you! 

In a way, you have a very enviable position.  There is absolutely no pressure on you to perform, you're going to be racing against some of the best athletes in your sport at the AG level, and it is going to be a lot of fun when you're racing and when you're not racing.

You will learn a ton in this race.

Deep breath.

You got this.

I, too, qualified. I'm contemplating it a lot. On one hand, we get to visit my wife's family in Wisconsin. On the other hand, it's an Oly in Wisconsin. Cold water and hills. This Floridian isn't ready for that.

Oh, and I've never run an Olympic tri, either. 

Next year I race at 29, so for worlds I have to qualify for M30-34.  I'm eyeing the sprint to try to get a Worlds spot, but I think that will be just as competitive this year.  I'm in for both, and am looking forward to it win, lose, or draw!

Yeah.  I have a few months to think about what my strategy is.  I've done well with back to back races for Memphis in May, so maybe go 85-90% for the Oly and 100% for the sprint?  I may actually have to get some coaches' advice for this.  Looking at the times from this year, I could make the sprint happen.  However that's not factoring Chicago hype.

Originally posted by switch

Originally posted by Leegoocrapwhen is the sprint? Next day?

yeah, the next day. Lots of guys so both. Psychos

Ya talkin' to me?!!

Apparently the sprint is tougher in that it contains the tough parts of the Olympic bike.  I don't have full intel yet.  I'll be spending a lot of time researching it the next few weeks.

This D-bag just registered for both!!! 

I'm actually psyched to spend some vaca time in MKE.  Two words:  They have beer. 

As for USAT?  Meh.  I don't belong so I can go to this race or that race - for me, it's all just part of triathlon.  Because of that, I pay the dues and race.  Kinda like WTC/Rev/Whatever.  As long as I get to work out and eventually pin a number on, I'm good.  Don't really care about which brand or who sanctions or whether the race "counts" or which WC I can continue to not qualify for and on and on...  All just part of the mix.

I can't wait to see these races as a participant.  Whether it's a TOTAL chit-show and D-bag convention or all sunshine and light, it's going to be fun, interesting and two TOUGH races!

Maybe I'll even wear body glitter. 

Ahem... 

The M45-49 is gonna be faaaaast, so I'll show up as ready as I can be.  As for qualifying?  Not trying to do that - I always try to win! 

Emmmmmm.... Haven't yet, mind you, but that's what I try to do every time.  The body just doesn't always know the plan.

To the OP:  you qualified, so don't overthink it.  You qualified!  Enjoy it in whatever way you can best enjoy it.

OK, 'nuff rambling, but I'm actually really stoked to have just registered for two 2014 races.  Onward!

See y'all there.

Matt

The course is very, very fair.

Milwaukee is a very "doable" city.  It's easy to navigate, not too expensive, lots of close parking by the event.  In terms of logistics I would give it a 9 out of 10.

The swim for the oly is pretty good.  It's a floating start, which is not my favorite, but it's "fine".  One thing that surprised me, but makes perfect sense, is that almost everyone there is a decent swimmer.  You're gonna have a lot more "washing machine" than you do in a regular race, and it lasts quite a bit longer.  There's a narrowing at one of the first buoys that compounds this problem, and then another narrowing at the bridge, which I think was about 400m or so in.  Other than that, it is sheltered, a nice temp (sleeveless is probably ideal), and incredibly easy to sight.  The swim exit ramp is a faching joke, and I personally think it's dangerous, especially for people who have calf, achilles issues, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed they mellow that out for next year. The oly swim was right on distance; the sprint was long by 100-150m, from what I saw and heard.

Transition is HUGE.  I haven't done a lot of events, so I don't have much to compare it to, but it is really big, and that can make it hard to find your bike.  Count on longish t times, but nothing crazy.

Bike mount can be a bit of a cluster too, as there are  surprising number of athletes that don't have a smooth mount (or dismount), and that area can also be a little congested.  Just be ready for that.

The bike. Hmmm.  The bike for the oly is tough, but fair.  There are some decent long, "slow" climbs.  There's on early before the first turn around, which I didn't think was too bad, but it was definitely there.  The bridge is a bit of a suckfest.  It's deceptively long, and you can get some gusts off the lake while you're on it cause you're so exposed.  Again, it's "fine" but it ain't easy.  Once you get off the bridge, things are pretty straightforward.  A few turns, nothing too technical, a turn around which is "fine" and then back to the bridge.  Coming down the bridge the second time you can really build up some speed and there are some crap spots in the road. I stayed aero for that, but in retrospect that was probably dumb.  It wasn't that fast (36mph) just crap roads.  There's a fairly tight set of turns coming back into transition.  Again, just be ready for a little congestion here.  Didn't see a lot of drafting in the oly, but did see big groups during the sprint as they had a timing snafu and bunched up a few waves.

The run is very straightforward.  True to distance, flat, plenty of aid stations.  I would have liked to see it better marked, but I think I was just out of it, and it wasn't necessarily a failing on their part. 

There are lots of cheap places to stay just outside of the city, if you care about that.  I stayed at a Comfort Suites or something like that and it was only $130/night.  Lots of decent food options.

As for Fisherman's dbag comments, I guess I would just say that there are dbags everywhere.  What I saw at this race were a lot of people just really, really excited to be there.  Everyone seemed really nice and there was a fun vibe in the group.

I think even if you can't qualify for Worlds, but you could have a competitive race, it could be worth the trip.  There's something to be said about toeing the line with that many fast athletes.